The Catalan alliance 'Convergencia i Unio' has said that the accusations
of the Spanish Government against Gibraltar do not appear to correspond
with reality.
The CiU spokesman on foreign affairs, Ignasi Guardans, put a
series of questions to the Spanish Government about the accusations
of money laundering, smuggling etc.
Having received the answers, and given the reduced numbers of
investigations carried out by Spain over Gibraltar, the Catalan
deputy asks if the reaction of the Spanish authorities in this
matter coincides with the seriousness of the accusations made
by the Spanish foreign ministry.
Throughout 1998, the Bank of Spain have investigated only 18
suspicious money operations concerning Gibraltar, which represents
a mere 2.6% of all suspicious foreign transactions. Another 19
investigations concerned drug trafficking.
It is recalled in the Spanish media that 300 Gibraltar companies
operating in Spain have been inspected over the last 5 years.
Just over 10% of Gibraltar companies are involved in Spain mainly
in property.
CiU is an alliance between two political parties, 'Convergencia'
and 'Unio', which holds the government in Catalunya. It is headed
by Jordi Pujol.