MADRID, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos Tuesday became the first Spanish minister to visit Gibraltar in almost 300 years.
Moratinos met Gibraltar's Prime Minister Peter Caruana and British Foreign Minister David Milibrand in Gibraltar, now a British colony. They discussed various matters such as financial service, closer cooperation in political, judicial and customs affairs, education and maritime security.
Moratinos, though reiterating Spain's territorial claim to Gibraltar, said the issue should be solved through diplomatic channels.
"Problems should be resolved by dialogue and cooperation. We are in the 21st Century, and we have to look to the future instead of the past," he said.
Gibraltar, on the southwest coast of the Iberian Peninsula, has been a source of conflict between Britain and Spain since the signing of the 1713 Utrecht Treaty after Spain lost a war to Britain. Under the treaty, Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain.
Spain, however, has never given up its claim to retake the place, while Britain has been unwilling to lose their grip on the colony, which is a vital naval base at the gateway to the Mediterranean Sea.
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