An
opinion poll in Spain is hitting the news headlines because it confirms what I
have been saying all along that for the average Spaniard Gibraltar is simply
not an issue. Sure if you ask a Spaniard is Gibraltar Spanish the stock answer
would probably be Gibraltar Español: but then he would go back to watching the
football or she with the task of preparing the family meal and not give it
another thought.
The
poll findings suggest that for 60 per cent of Spaniards the dispute over
Gibraltar is of little importance and should not be on the country’s foreign
policy agenda.
The soundings
by the Real Instituto Elcano published on Thursday also show a split on the
strategy being followed in the confrontation between the fishermen of the Campo
de Gibraltar and our government.
Four
out of ten people believe there should be greater diplomatic pressure whilst
44.1 per cent prefer the tension to be lowered. This is three times more than
the previous percentage seeking a softly softly approach.
Not
surprisingly the answers are significantly different depending on the political
ideology of the person questioned.
Amongst
voters on the right, that is right-wing Partido Popular supporters, 50 per cent
believe that the dispute over Gibraltar is quite or very important in Spain’s
foreign policy. However that percentage drops to 32 per cent amongst voters of
the centre and dips lower to 30 per cent amongst those on the left.
The
same bias is shown when the second question on the fishing dispute is asked
with regard to the banning of local fleets from Gibraltar’s waters.
Amongst
the heirs to Franco on the right six out of ten want to strengthen the
diplomatic pressure however 51 per cent on the left want the tensions to be
reduced. In the centre it is more divided with 44 per cent going for tightening
the diplomatic screw and 42 per cent easing it.
However
as I have said oft times before in Spain as a nation as compared with the Campo
de Gibraltar the Rock does not rate as the burning issue of the day. When you
stand at a bar or queue at the supermarket checkout Gibraltar is not what
everybody is nattering about.
As
the Chief Minister observed earlier this year for Spaniards there are many
burning issues but they are not Gibraltar. The collapse of the economy, the
frighteningly high rates of unemployment especially amongst the young and the
cases of people being made homeless, thrown out on the streets by the same
abusive banks that caused the crisis: this is what resonates amongst Spaniards
young and old.
Any
Spanish politician who cries Gibraltar Español in order to divert attention
from the nation’s woes will simply be greeted with derision. Say what you will
about Spaniards but they are not idiots and smell a red herring a mile off:
especially when being hawked by a right wing politician.
