RAJOY AND HIS MASSIVE WATER CANNON

Well it seems Mariano Rajoy has sent his letter off to the Three Kings and they are going to get him a new toy: a massive water cannon. Just how they are going to get it down his chimney I have no idea.

The news was broken by Elena Valenciano is who the Vice Secretary General of PSOE, one of the MPs for Madrid and also the Vice President of PES. She reported: “Yesterday (Tuesday) we learned that the police are going to buy a truck equipped with a high-pressure water cannon to break up demonstrations. Known as jug, which has not been used in our country for more than 20 years, it will cost half a million euros and has a capacity of 7,000 litres of water to be mixed with colouring to mark the clothing of the protesters.”

Now why would Rajoy need a water cannon? Well it seems he told the Three Kings to "protect the free exercise of rights and freedoms and ensure public safety" and "in case of having to re-establish public order in the way least harmful as possible".  And so we witness Spain drift from being a full democracy to an authoritarian State.

The water cannon is all part of the paraphernalia of the PP’s new security laws aimed to keep Spaniards in check. The UN rates Spaniards as amongst the most obedient and well behaved in the world. Yet Rajoy insists he needs a massive water cannon and a draconian law to control them. He fools nobody.

So when this most tolerant of people take to the streets to protest at the handling of the economy, to demonstrate against people losing their homes, to voice their anger over the abusive banks and to rail at the corruption of the Partido Popular their Prime Minister has his answer. A new set of laws that has been condemned both in Spain and by international civil rights organisations plus his giant riot control water cannon. The silent majority will be made to remain silent.

Now if Rajoy treats his own people as if he was a dictator: as an all-powerful leader who demands they stay at home and do not use their democratic right of protest, if this is the way Spaniards are treated then his actions at our border with Gibraltar become much clearer.

Of course whilst Rajoy attacks Gibraltar, as we all know, it is the border town of La Línea and the Spaniards who cross to work who take the full brunt of his fascist actions. For Rajoy Gibraltarians may be a non-people but his fellow Spaniards are of no consequence either.

So in 2014 expect more harassment at the border, no doubt his water cannon will appear whenever Spaniards are brave enough to confront his security laws to protest and as for the people of Cataluña, God help them. I doubt if he will waste his water cannon on them when he has a squadron of armed tanks at his command.

A Happy New Year to us all!

WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES A DAY MAKE? NONE!

This time last week we were all studying the runes in the Spanish press to see what we could read in to the meeting in Madrid on the Monday between Spain’s Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, and his British counterpart, David Cameron.

The Foreign Office had made it clear that Gibraltar wasn’t on the agenda: the visit was part of Cameron’s campaign to persuade EU leaders that reform was necessary. However the FO did later concede that Rajoy had raised Gibraltar.

Cameron’s response was to recite his mantra on self-determination and only talks if we wish it and are there under our own flag. Rajoy outwardly expressed his wish to engage in talks but added little more. It is hard to see why he would move from his two flags position although would try to include Gibraltar as part of the British delegation because he had included the Campo de Gibraltar on theirs.

Well we know that is a non-starter but Rajoy and Cameron posed for a happy smiling, handshaking photo call to let us know these two right wing politicians are in accord on matters other than the Rock.

On Tuesday it was back to normal. The Guardia Civil patrol boat Río Pas entered once again our waters and according to quoted diplomatic sources at the Foreign Office the Royal Navy saw them off. The British Ambassador was ordered to stop roasting his crumpets in front of the fire and to scurry round to the Madrid ministry of foreign affairs with a note.

They haven’t shown me the note but apparently it said London was fed up with the constant incursions by the Guardia Civil and Armada in to British Gibraltar territorial waters and it had to stop. If not William Hague is going to stop drinking Rioja. Trouble is many of the world’s wine producing nations are at odds with the UK over one thing or another so the Foreign Office carte du vin must be getting very short indeed.

What I find extraordinary is that one day Rajoy and Cameron are all lovey-dovey and the next Madrid sends a gun boat into Dave’s backyard. I know the Foreign Office has made being two faced into an art form but even the Mandarins would have waited to Wednesday.

As far as I am aware neither our Government nor the Convent has issued any statement on the Madrid talks or the Guardia Civil incident apart from the Foreign Office statement about Spain raising Gibraltar with Cameron. I know not the reason but it is one I approve of. Madrid knows that it can cause mischief by stirring up uncertainty when Spanish and UK government officials meet or watching us jump each time they poke us with a stick. There’s a time for protesting and a time for a sharp, knee in the diplomatic bags. On this occasion we were wiser to go for the later.

Now pass me my glass of Torres Viña Sol. Anything we can do to boost the Cataluña economy the better.

OPERATION MISCHIEF

By the time you read this Operation Mischief will have begun. Correction: it has already begun.

I am not sure how you first heard the news that the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, is due to meet his Spanish counterpart, Mariano Rajoy, in Madrid on Monday. In all likelihood is was from the Spanish media. As I write this no press release from No 6 has been issued on the matter.

On one hand why should there? After all it is a meeting between the UK’s and Spain’s head honchos, both conservatives. One presumes they will be discussing bilateral and EU matters. 

However it would be interesting to know was our government informed in advance of the meeting? Was the Convent? If the latter and not the former did the Convent tell out government? If not, why not etc etc.

I am sure there are more than enough topics to occupy Cameron’s and Rajoy’s time without touching on Gibraltar. Again as I write this there has been no formal statement from the UK that the meeting will take place. Perhaps they hoped we wouldn’t notice. Trouble is Gibraltarians read the Spanish press and have access to their radio and TV networks so the chance of such an encounter slipping us by is nonexistent.

Indeed the Spanish media and Partido Popular wouldn’t want it to either. The word in Spain’s press is that Gibraltar will be on the agenda. As the meeting is in Madrid Rajoy’s clerks probably wrote same agenda so that is no surprise.

So what is the scenario? Will Gibraltar and its sovereignty be on the agenda? Will Cameron refuse to discuss it without us being present and then state in no uncertain terms his mantra on our right to self determination adding in the Falklands for good measure. If that is the scenario then let’s hope so.

Yet is that good enough? Spain is challenging Britain’s sovereignty over our territorial waters. Spain is challenging our sovereignty over our airspace. Logically Gibraltar should be an issue and an urgent issue at that and so be on the agenda? At the top.

However if it is, if Cameron is going to Madrid for more than a photo opportunity and to down some Rioja and tapa, then we should be there too. If our territorial waters, our air space, our right to control our environment, which are all matters of sovereignty, are on the agenda then we should be there. Not our chief minister as a prime-ministerial bag carrier but under our own flag.

Of course if that happened then Rajoy would refuse to meet. Good. The sooner Spain understands that it cannot have it churros and eat it the better. The sooner it realises that it cannot challenge Britain’s and our sovereignty over Gibraltar, our Rock, the better. If that means that Rajoy loses an ally in Europe, so be it. So will Cameron play hard ball with Rajoy or show he has no balls at all: I suspect we know the answer to that one.

In the meantime time the Spanish media will cause mischief by churning out misinformation, sowing the seeds of doubt and creating the impression that two flag talks took place on a three flag issue. Of course all of this will fall on deaf ears here on the Rock. Ok on most of the Rock. There are still ‘palomos’ around who will feed eagerly off these crumbs and make a meal out of them. You have been warned.

WRONG QUESTION, WRONG TIME

On Tuesday the new Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, met his British Conservative counterpart, David Cameron, holding the briefest of meetings at Downing Street. Apart from the security helicopters hovering overhead and the police outriders the tourists gathered in Whitehall had no idea anybody important was coming or going.

The meeting was important for both men because it was about the economy and not Gibraltar. Spain and Britain along with 10 other EU nations have sent a joint letter to Brussels calling for urgent measures to be adopted to stimulate economic growth.

Spain is in the euro zone, Britain is out. Yet both economies are embattled and whilst both Rajoy’s and Cameron’s administrations have grasped the public austerity nettle they want to see flexibility and liberalisation in the markets to help them in the quest for the all important goal of economic growth.

Rajoy had another message too: and no it wasn’t Gibraltar. His government has introduced a labour reform package which on Sunday led to widespread street protests in Spain. The Partido Popular leader had to make it clear to his own country, London and the wider world that he wasn’t for turning and sorting out the economy is his primary goal.

It is ironic that Gibraltar’s chief minister Fabian Picardo should have jetted in to London later on the same day because he has also stressed this simple fact. There is only one item on Spain’s political agenda and that is the economic crisis that is both engulfing the euro nations but also his country. Spaniards couldn’t give a hoot about Gibraltar: they want jobs, they want to be paid, they don’t want to be evicted from their homes and still owe a fortune to the banks, they want to be able to feed their families – they want to live in dignity.

So was Gibraltar on the agenda at Downing Street? Of course it was. It was for the very simple reason that no Spanish prime minister or his foreign minister can meet his British counterpart without Gibraltar being discussed. They know it’s the wrong issue on the wrong day but are equally aware that if it is not raised they will get it in the neck politically and from the media when they get home. The Spanish public couldn’t care a toss about Gibraltar right now but that is neither here nor there.

It was the wrong issue on the wrong day in Downing Street because David Cameron was as clear as he could possibly be in re-stating Britain’s support for Gibraltar and the right of Gibraltarians to self-determine their own future. When he made that statement he also included the Falklands and I have pointed out in print here before that it was Buenos Aires that was the prime recipient of that message. Britain cannot give an inch on Gibraltar without giving Argentina hope of a deal on the Malvinas. As long as Argentina sabre-rattles on this issue Gibraltar is safe.

Which brings us nicely to Spain’s new big idea on Gibraltar. It wants meaningful and constructive talks with Britain over the future of Gibraltar. It wants the Campo de Gibraltar to be included in those talks. It wants Gibraltar to sit alongside the UK delegation as the Campo representatives will sit alongside its own: so it will be two flags with two supporting delegations. William Hague quickly but politely kicked that in to touch which means both London and Madrid can now get back to concentrating on the economy as Fabian Picardo said they would and should.

GIBRALTAR: 15 WORDS

I was strap hanging on the London Underground last Thursday next to two young students who were deeply in love. I know this because between each segment of conversation they embraced and kissed passionately. It was annoying because the lad, when coming up for air, had mentioned Gibraltar.

It transpired that one of his tutors was a Spanish lady who also happened to be a surgeon, so obviously he was studying medicine. The subject of the Spanish General Election had come up in a chat and he asked how Gibraltar played in to all this. She was obviously rather taken back and said it didn’t, it wasn’t even an issue. La doctora was obviously surprised he should think it would be.

Now I have often written here in the past that whilst Gibraltar may be a hot topic in the Campo de Gibraltar in wider Spain it isn’t. Indeed it is mainly only an issue for Partido Popular politicians and right now they have more than enough on their plate without worrying about Gibraltar.

This was underscored on the same day when El País carried a major interview with Mariano Rajoy ahead of Sunday’s general election. The questions and answers spread over five pages and covered such headings as cuts and spending limits, the budget, street protests, Europe, reforms, tobacco – abortion – gays, ETA and the law, foreign affairs, Europe and various speeds of development, change, corruption and Valencia. Out of all of that how many words did Gibraltar get: 15.

Question: Gibraltar. Rajoy: Yo no voy a renunciar a lo que creo que es nuestro, como es natural.

As widely predicted Rajoy will be the new prime minister of Spain. In his interview he did talk a lot about Cameron because both are now Conservative prime ministers. He discussed Cameron over a fifth of a page but never once mentioned Gibraltar.

He said he had not spoken to Cameron directly recently as Britain is not in the euro but stressed that the Spanish and UK governments were in contact continuously. Anyway Rajoy certainly doesn’t speak English, I am not sure if Cameron speaks Spanish but he does have languages other than his native tongue.

Apparently last October the media had carried interviews with Rajoy where he had praised the policies of Cameron since becoming British prime minister although he added some of what he said had been used against him in Spain. He added he spoke of Cameron not slashing spending on the health service or education and had ruled out tax rises all of which he strongly approved of – perhaps Britons would argue on those points.

However both Cameron on taking office and now Rajoy find their countries in an economic mess. He supported the British premier’s intention to slash the deficit and says that is what he will do in Spain. Rajoy pointed out that these problems were shared by the major European countries but being a politician added that the previous PSOE government had made matters worse.

Last October Rajoy was quoted in an interview saying: “Yo haría algo similar a lo de Cameron en España.” He stresses he isn’t going to cut education, the health service or raise taxes but criticises Cameron for cutting social welfare. Rajoy is going to continue with investment as that is necessary, he says, for Spain to improve pensions, education and its health service. But Gibraltar – just 15 words!