LANDALUCE GETS A VOICE IN FOREIGN AFFAIRS

The mayor of Algeciras, José Ignacio Landaluce, has been named the vice president of the commission for oreign affairs in Spain’s lower house of parliament, Congress. For apart from being a mayor Landaluce is also a Cádiz MP for the Partido Popular.

The PP group in Congress met on Tuesday to approve the appointments for spokespersons and presidents of commissions. It was a top level affair presided over by the Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, plus his sidekick Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría and the secretary general of the party, María Dolores de Cospedal.

The presidency of the foreign affairs commission rests with the CiU’s spokesperson, Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, whilst the spokesperson of the commission is the PP’s José María Beneyto, who is the MP for Cuenca.

Landaluce has been in parliament since 2000 and during that time has been a member of both the foreign affairs and defence commissions. There are two differences this time round: he moves up to being the vice president and the PP are in power.

Naturally the mayor from across the bay is relishing his new role as he observes: “This role is important for the Campo de Gibraltar because it makes political decisions.” He added the ministry will have much to say on the Strait of Gibraltar, on relations with Morocco and of course, Gibraltar.

The role of foreign minister is held by José Manuel García-Margallo but Landaluce is in no doubt that he will listen to the members of the commission. With regards to Gibraltar Landaluce repeats the PP mantra of “two flags, three voices” in discussions over the future sovereignty of the Rock.

Such hard line verbiage is all well and good however the PP and Landaluce should realise that in the sovereignty dance it takes three to tango and if Gibraltar wanders off to powder its nose then there’s no dancing!

After his appointment Landaluce observed: “It is a good vantage point to be vice president of this committee on foreign affairs because its decisions affect the Campo de Gibraltar and gives us a privileged position.” He also stressed the importance of the province of Cádiz as it is the home of the port of Algeciras – the most important in Spain – the American base at Rota and another military base in Gibraltar. The PP already insists that Gibraltar has no airspace or waters – now Landaluce seems to be arguing the Rock is just another part of the Spanish province for which he sits in parliament.

With the change of government the Campo de Gibraltar sees its influence in foreign affairs in Madrid switch from José Carracao to Landaluce. Carracao was a senator who stood down at the last election after five terms in office. He held key posts in the commissions for foreign affairs, co-operation, the EU and others. The Campo de Gibraltar now has no voice in the Senate but instead has Landaluce.

The difference between Carracao and Landaluce is profound. Carracao was the mayor of Jimena, then the president of the association of town halls in the Campo de Gibraltar before going to the senate and assuming special responsibilities for cross border affairs. He viewed himself as a friend of Gibraltar’s, albeit from a Spanish perspective. However Landaluce is a sworn enemy of the Rock as is his party. Expect stormy times ahead.

LANDALUCE WHIPS UP TROUBLED WATERS

The Partido Popular is whipping up a storm over the British Government’s decision to appeal the European Court’s decision to reject its original appeal against the EU’s decision to cede control in environmental matters to Spain over its waters.

Of course London isn’t totally innocent in this mess. Spain laid a claim to the waters before the EU. The British Government got its map co-ordinates wrong so asked to protect waters by all accounts off Algeria which isn’t even in the EU. As Britain made no claim over the Rock’s waters they were given to Spain.

This is God’s gift to Spain which doesn’t recognise Britain’s jurisdiction over the waters anyway although under international law Gibraltar has a three mile limit which could be extended to 12.

Sir Graham Watson, Gibraltar’s Lib Dem Euro MP, told PANORAMA: “The ECJ’s decision to reject the initial claim was down to a technicality. I’m pleased to see that the Foreign Secretary has announced the UK will be appealing the Court’s decision.

“Spain continues to be adventurous with regards to its actions relating to the Rock, and this is no exception.   Ultimately this case would not have occurred in the first place if Labour ministers had not been asleep on their watch.”

José Ignacio Landaluce is the PP MP for Cádiz province who has always been a stern critic of Gibraltar but now as mayor of Algeciras has a key interest in what goes on in the waters of the bay. He has called on the Spanish Government to act with “major firmness” and to maintain and protect Spain’s own waters.

Landaluce has also weighed in on Caruana’s plan to create a coastguard agency which could have patrol boats and helicopters to protect the Rock’s waters. The PP, the party that the chief minister assures us he can do business with, says this is tantamount to Gibraltar creating borders. Landaluce talks of the “pretensions” of the chief minister in “creating a service of coastguards charged with defending and guarding the waters the colony defines as its own. Of course the Spanish mantra is not only does the Rock have no waters its only land mass is that agreed in the Treaty of Utrecht.

The mayor’s office in Algeciras sent PANORAMA a statement in which the MP declares:  “A situation is continuing which could lead to another turn of the screw to the already insulting relations between Gibraltar and Spain, which could also lead to yet further clashes between the authorities of the colony and the Guardia Civil in these waters.”

The MP and Algeciras mayor is planning to ask a series of questions in Spain’s lower house of parliament, Congress, on the Spanish Government’s position with respect to the waters and coastguard issue.

The other issue here is does London approve of Gibraltar’s plan to have a coastguard agency? At present the protection of the waters around the Rock lies primarily with the Royal Navy. The waters are British Admiralty and hence it is an issue for London not No.6. The Foreign Office has made it clear it believes the present navy contingent is sufficient for the task and has resisted calls from Caruana to engage in gun boat diplomacy. The last thing London and Madrid wants is a shooting match between armed British and Spanish Naval vessels in the bay. However if Caruana is adamant in having his own air force and navy will that put him at odds with London?

Of course it could all be pre-election talk. The chief minister has spoken in the past about providing the Royal Gibraltar Police with larger patrol boats which have never materialised in the waters around the Rock but could have, of course, amongst the suds and rubber ducks of his bath! Let us not go there!

TRINI IS NOT FROM MARS

Whatever Gibraltarians may think of the Spanish Foreign Minister, Trinidad Jiménez – or Trini to her friends – she isn’t from Mars. Indeed she is a Malagueño from Vélez-Málaga. So we can be pretty sure she knows where Gibraltar is and all about the Campo de Gibraltar too.

Equally it would appear that José Ignacio Landaluce is from another planet to us. Although he is the MP for Cádiz and wannabee mayor of Algeciras for the Partido Popular in May he is not a local lad. He was born in Logroño and before you rush off to find your atlas I can tell you, if you don’t know, it is in La Rioja in the northern part of Spain.

Why am I telling you all this? Well Landaluce has been giving some advice to the Spanish Foreign Minister before she heads off for today’s meeting with her British counterpart, William Hague.

Cheekily he has advised Trini to take a photograph of Gibraltar with her so that she can see – and no doubt tell Hague – that the Rock also has a surrounding area – the Campo de Gibraltar.

Landaluce went on to say that it is a pity the minister did not visit the Campo de Gibraltar before jetting off to London. Had she done so the boy from Logroño tells the Vélez-Málaga lass she could have seen at first hand the reality of the region and the relations that exist between both territories.

Expansionist Gibraltar – expansionist Caruana

Just in case Jiménez was unsure of how to conduct herself in London the Cádiz MP tells the minister she should have “the firm intention and the conviction that she is representing Spain and the interests of the Spaniards in the face of the expansionist pretentions of Gibraltar.

Whilst Landaluce says the Partido Popular is all for talking with Britain on themes that can benefit both sides of the border she is not to give way on the issue of Gibraltar’s waters – which are Spanish!

Finally, the would-be mayor assured us that there is a priority in relations between Spain and United Kingdom concerning Gibraltar “is not other than understanding, but not at any price and much less if the decisions that can be taken only favour the British colony and the expansionist tendencies of its Chief Minister, Peter Caruana”.

So I asked Senator José Carracao, who has special responsibility in PSOE for relations with Gibraltar, what he thought about Landaluce’s words. He told me: “Landaluce once again displays himself as a demagogue with resulting insults. Of course the minister knows perfectly well the Campo de Gibraltar and its parliamentary representatives.”

I suspect the good senator would have vented his spleen further on Landaluce but he cut off as he was on an aircraft about to take off. To where? Is he to be a fly on the wall at the Foreign Office when Jiménez and Hague meet?

Of course Hague needs no introduction to Gibraltar as he visited the Rock in 2009. Wonder when the last time Landaluce was there?