Apr 01 - Chief Minister Calls For “Climate Of Understanding” In Opinion Piece For Spanish Press
The following opinion piece written by the Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, was published today in Europa Sur, Diario de Sevilla, Granada Hoy, Día de Córdoba, Diario de Jerez, Diario de Cádiz, Diario de Almería, Málaga Hoy and Huelva Información:
Gibraltar At A Crossroads
In politics, opportunism is always to be rejected, because politics should be based on principles and convictions. But there are also opportunities. They help to clarify the position of each political option to the voters.
The Government of Gibraltar has never interfered and will not interfere in Spanish politics, but two very recent incidents involving Spanish authorities are indicative of just how great the prejudice against Gibraltar has become.
The sub-delegate of the Spanish Government in the province of Cádiz has linked the municipal officials of La Línea with “the underground economy of the frontier of La Línea”, stating that aid to this sister town’s Ayuntamiento “will guarantee a smoother traffic flow” at the frontier.
In another development, the mayor of Algeciras is presently in Argentina (in a personal capacity, he says) to twin his city with Río Grande because of the similarities between Gibraltar and the Falklands. I will add little more because I believe that this action speaks for itself. I do not wish to add fuel to the fire. But I will say only this: there is no doubt that a symbiotic relationship between the neighbouring towns of La Linea and Gibraltar exists. Together we suffer the consequences of decisions taken by people far removed from our problems and together we will celebrate when understanding is once again what underpins the framework of our relations.
It is clear that we are now at a crossroads. Some seem to have opted for confrontation 'sine die', attempting unsuccessfully to strangle Gibraltar’s economy, even though, in the process, they are causing more harm to their own nationals.
This is what is happening with the reprehensible and unacceptable queues, already denounced in international fora, which, in cold or hot weather, keep people queuing on foot or in all types of vehicles for many hours, while in Madrid consensus is being extolled as an appropriate political formula to solve the problems.
We have noted with sadness that the Spanish people buried Adolfo Suárez and exalted him as a champion of dialogue and consensus during Spain’s evolution from a dictatorship to a democracy. A transition which, incidentally, Gibraltar celebrated sincerely despite the continuing closure of the border.
Everyone, regardless of ideology and nationality, should honour this legacy and that of those, in Spain and Gibraltar, who with broad mindedness fought to find reasonable solutions acceptable to all.
That is definitely the path the Government of Gibraltar will take at this crossroads.
This is why Gibraltar has defended and will continue to defend the Tripartite Forum of Dialogue, although the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, in April 2012 offered, with our approval, to the Spanish foreign minister, José Manuel García-Margallo, to create 'ad hoc ' working groups as a formula of temporary compromise to solve some specific problems in different areas. Two years later, Gibraltar and London are still waiting for responses from Spain to implement these meetings.
In the field of local and regional cooperation, Gibraltar is convinced of the suitability of possible agreements with the Junta de Andalucía, which, like Gibraltar, holds most of the competences in the areas of environment, health, commerce, culture and fishing, among many others.
Meanwhile, we have to face baseless accusations every day about non-existent land reclamations, which are simple breakwaters to protect a small beach. We suffer attacks because of the creation of an artificial reef to regenerate an over-exploited fishing ground, which, incidentally, has never been considered a shellfish production area, even under the legislation of the Junta de Andalucía. Although there are 130 similar reefs on the Spanish coast, ours is presented as an assault on the Campo de Gibraltar fishermen. In recent months, we have seen evidence of the little interest of the Spanish Government in resolving this crisis. We, on the other hand, are working to do so.
In addition, the smuggling of tobacco, against which Gibraltar has some of the most restrictive laws in the EU, is used as an excuse to undertake an intolerable political action at a European border, and to maliciously attribute a level of tobacco consumption to 30,000 Gibraltarians while wilfully ignoring the 12 million annual visitors to the Rock. We are repeatedly accused of being a tax haven when Gibraltar has signed agreements for information exchange and transparency with 27 countries, including the United States, France and Germany. Spain refuses to sign because she does not recognize us as a jurisdiction separate from the United Kingdom. The OECD and the IMF (from the times of Rodrigo Rato) do not include us in their lists of tax havens.
We are aware that many of these lies and prejudices have permeated Spanish public opinion after the campaign launched by the current Spanish government. But we are determined to keep up our offer for dialogue because we want good relations with Spain.
Fortunately, there is a civic campaign and we are not alone. Bridges are being built - among them I would highlight the work of the different cross-border groups – with the aim of returning harmony to our relations.
Because of this, as the highest representative of the Gibraltarians, I am, now more than ever, absolutely determined to work relentlessly to create a climate of understanding in the region to help us get back to the normal and cordial neighbourly relations that we enjoyed in not so distant times.
Although the Spanish government has rejected any type of meeting since coming to power, be it official or unofficial, I want to express, once again, for the sake of our citizens, my sincere wish to see Spanish counterparts on the other side of the table.
Fabian Picardo, Chief Minister of Gibraltar.
