On December 2, 1987, in a joint British-Spanish declaration about the use of the airport, as well as in several EU acts, the UK has acknowledged that Spain disputes the sovereignty of the isthmus (The ... arrangements ... are understood to be without prejudice to the respective legal positions of Spain and the United Kingdom with regard to the dispute over sovereignty over the territory in which the airport is situated.), although they reject the basis for that dispute.
Pada tanggal 2 Desember 1987, dalam deklarasi bersama Britania-Spanyol tentang pemakaian bandara, serta dalam beberapa undang-undang UE, Britania Raya mengakui bahwa Spanyol mempersengketakan kedaulatan tanah genting ini (Perjanjian .. dipahami tanpa prasangka apapun terhadap posisi hukum Spanyol dan Britania Raya dengan menghormati sengketa kedaulatan wilayah tempat bandar udara ini berdiri. ), meski mereka menolak dasar atas sengketa tersebut.