Gibraltar: Between the Rock and an increasingly hard-line place

February 5th, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister, has abandoned the tripartite talks
over areas of co-operation between Spain, Britain and Gibraltar. Instead, on
Wednesday, Madrid formally asked Britain for bilateral talks over the
sovereignty of Gibraltar – much to the fury of the excluded overseas
territory’s residents.

“They want to turn me into a Spaniard, but not one part of me is Spanish,”
said Martin Pickford, a small businessman, as he drove through the winding
streets in the shadow of the Rock.

“My ancestors were from Malta. Many more are descended from Genoese
merchants or Italian sailors. No one here wants to be suddenly told they are
Spanish.”

The publication of former Europe minister Peter Hain’s memoirs last month, in
which he told how Tony Blair came close to agreeing joint Spanish-British
sovereignty, has further raised hackles in Gibraltar. The territory was
ceded to Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, and has been
resolutely British ever since.

Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel García-Margallo, last month sparked
alarm in Gibraltar when he greeted a British MEP friend with the age-old
rallying cry: “Gibraltar: Spanish!” and he has further pressed the
issue by writing to William Hague to demand clarification on Britain’s
stance.

Mr Rajoy is set to meet David Cameron in London at the end of this month, but
the authorities in Gibraltar are trusting that the British prime minister
will defend their interests.

Yet Mr Picardo knows that he must remain on his guard. And inside his office
just off Gibraltar’s Main Street, the Oxford-educated lawyer told The
Sunday Telegraph that he is determined his government will not be
intimidated by sabre-rattling from Madrid.

“We are seeing what appears to be a more proactive desire by Spain to
raise the sovereignty issue,” he said, criticising Madrid’s decision to
cease tripatrite talks.

“The Spanish government does not best serve the interests of its people,
especially those in the local area, by snubbing an international agreement
to which it has subscribed in principle.

“And with five million or so people unemployed, it seems to me the
Spanish have other more important priorities than historic claims over my
people.”

Certainly the dire economic situation across the border, with the highest
unemployment in the eurozone – one in two young people have no job – has
renewed focus on Spain’s booming British neighbour.

New luxury developments are still springing up alongside the sparkling
marinas, and the Lord Nelson pub and Marks and Spencers are doing a roaring
trade.

Growth this year is expected to be comfortably over four per cent, and the
colony’s 30,000 inhabitants enjoy almost full employment. Gibraltar makes
its money through offshore finance, tourism, its port and online gaming –
and an enticingly low corporate tax rate of 10 per cent has brought
businesses flocking to their shores.

“We believe we can attract the sort of investors that the rest of Europe
would be welcoming with open arms,” said Mr Picardo.

“You have to remember the scale of the economy here. Gibraltar has a GDP
of just over £1 billion. A £100m investment here goes a long way, whereas a
£100m investment in Greece, Spain or the UK for instance is a drop in a drop
in an ocean.

“So the highs and lows of the Spanish economy might not affect the bottom
line as it could do, given our physical proximity.”

Across the border, in the windswept Spanish town of La Linea, residents gaze
wistfully at their thriving neighbour.

“Just look at it. It is obviously part of Spain, and it’s crazy that it
isn’t accepted as such,” said Pepe, 60, a retired hotelier, who did not
want to give his surname. “I think it’s absolutely right that Mariano
Rajoy speaks to Britain about the issue.”

His friend Paco, 65, added: “What hurts me most is that they are laughing
at us from across there. During the World Cup they even supported Germany
instead of Spain! It’s not right.”

In the pretty Andalusian plaza in the centre of town, others complain that
Gibraltarians use the low-tax business regime to secure deals on mainland
Spain. Smuggling of cheap Gibraltarian tobacco into Spain is also a problem.

“I am Spanish and I defend Spain, but they insult it,” said
Inmaculada Floria, 36, warming her hands on a coffee beneath a sculpture of
flamenco dancers. Like 7,000 other Spaniards, until recently she crossed the
border daily to work in Gibraltar.

“The people there are really scared of the PP – they associate the party
with Franco, who blockaded Gibraltar for 13 years. They should be talking
about ways of improving co-operation, not just saying ‘No, no, no’.”

Her husband Tomas Rodriguez, 39, a civil servant, said: “It’s true that a
lot of Spaniards aren’t interested in Gibraltar. But here it affects us
directly. For instance, a coffee in La Linea costs the same as in Madrid,
and we are pushed out of the property market. It needs to be sorted out.”

But those within Gibraltar’s ancient fortress walls argue that the territory
actually does a huge amount to help the local area. A study by the Chamber
of Commerce found that almost 20 per cent of all jobs in the Campo de
Gibraltar area – from Tarifa in the west almost up to Estepona in the east –
were provided by Gibraltar.

Furthermore, Spanish workers in Gibraltar earned £43m in 2007 – the most
recent data available – which would be repatriated to Spain, while Gibraltar
businesses imported £174m worth of goods from Spain.

“Gibraltar and Spain have a symbiotic relationship and we can do a lot
more to work together,” said Edward Macquisten, chief executive of the
Chamber of Commerce.

“But if Madrid continues to clamp down, then it won’t help anybody.”

Beneath Mr Macquisten’s office, Roy’s Cod Plaice is doing a brisk trade. “Last
year was the best I’ve had in 24 years here,” said Roy Walker, 62, the
owner. “Life is good here; the economy is good, weather is lovely, and
there is very little crime.

“But there is constant hostility from the Spanish authorities, from the
head of the government all the way down. Not from the people, but from their
government.

“I live in Spain and come here every day, as do all my workers. The
border queues are sometime two hours – why can’t it just be open like with
Portugal or France? But I’m pleased David Cameron is standing up for us and
saying sovereignty is our decision. And we want to stay as we are.”

It is a view shared by 98 per cent of Gibraltarians, who in a 2002 referendum
voted resoundingly to maintain the status quo.

And it is something that Mr Picardo is determined to defend.

Is the cannon outside his office pointing in the direction of Spain, I ask?

“It’s pointing in the direction of the governor’s residence opposite – at
the representative of the British Foreign Office!” he laughed. “But
that is totally unintentional as in any event it is decorative. We are
confident in our position here.

“Gibraltar’s arsenal is intellectual.”