ANDALUCIA CALLS ON MADRID TO IMPROVE RELATIONS WITH GIBRALTAR

On Friday I begged the question in Panorama should Gibraltar seek to make common cause with PSOE to pressure the PP Government in Madrid to honour its commitments under the Cordoba Agreement and the Tripartite Forum.

It appears that as I was writing the article the Commission of the Presidency and Equality of the Andalucía Government was talking about the Foro de Diálogo too. The ruling coalition of PSOE and the IU passed a motion calling on the Spanish Government to normalise relations with our Government and to reactivate the Forum of Dialogue for the mutual benefit of Madrid and Gibraltar. It will come as no great surprise to learn that the Partido Popular representatives on the Commission voted against the first part of the motion but not all of it.

The motion was presented by PSOE. The socialists received the backing of the far left Izquierda Unida but some of the motion was passed unanimously with the support of the PP.

It was like back to the good old days of socialist rule in Spain when they promised to make the border a pleasurable and easy place to pass through. Not only did those pigs never fly they didn’t even make it on to the runway. Still we should be happy that the Commission wants to see improvements to benefit both Gibraltarians and those in the Campo, to study the situation of the Spanish workers in Gibraltar, and to increase the coverage given to Gibraltar, the Campo and Ceuta affairs on the Andalucía broadcaster RTPA.

The socialists didn’t hold their punches. Speaking for the motion Rocío Arrabal who represents Algeciras for PSOE stated: “since the arrival of the PP in the Moncloa the relations of coexistence with Gibraltar have deteriorated significantly. The Government of the nation has forgotten permanently that more than 5,000 (Spanish) workers ply their trade in Gibraltar”.

The PSOE MP from across the bay went on to criticise the Spanish Government for announcing earlier this year “the end of the tripartite forum for dialogue on Gibraltar.” Arrabal pointed out that many advances had taken place since its inception for the people of Gibraltar and the Campo de Gibraltar including “the revaluation of pensions for workers in Gibraltar, the joint use of the airport or the opening of the Instituto Cervantes in Gibraltar”.

Another voice from across the bay then spoke up in the form of PP MP Jacinto Muñoz. Well I am sure I don’t have to tell you what Jacinto said but just for the record it included the fact that the arrival of the PP Government has meant that relations will be “bilateral” between Spain and the United Kingdom because Gibraltar “is not a sovereign State with voice and vote”. He went on to argue the Tripartite Forum had produced “damaging” consequences for Spain and added that under the PP government there would be no “submission” to Gibraltar as there had been from Socialist governments.

The IU view expressed by Alba Doblas was that every time there is a PP government in Spain relations with Gibraltar take a step back. Don’t we know it. Doblas called for collaboration and not confrontation.

So there we have it. It seems both the socialists and the IU are holding the PP government to account for Rajoy’s confrontational politics with Gibraltar. PSOE also seems intent on defending the Cordoba Agreement and the Tripartite Process. Which brings me back to my question of Friday – should we do likewise?

I leave the final word today to José Carracao who up to the last election was a PSOE Senator with a special role in Gibraltar affairs. A former mayor of Jimena and president of the Campo de Gibraltar town halls he still holds major influence in PSOE. He told me: “Demuestra que en España no todos pensamos igual, que hay una parte muy importante que pensamos que tener unas buenas relaciones, amistosas, con nuestros vecinos gibraltareños, son beneficiosas para ambos lados. La propuesta del PSOE, en la que he trabajado, aportando mis conocimientos de la cuestión, apoyada por IU, exige al Gobierno de España el restablecimiento del Diálogo, que ha dado importantes frutos en otros tiempos y que debe seguir dándolos, puesto, que hay cuestiones importantes: accidentes marítimos, tráfico de drogas, terrorismo internacional, por poner sólo unos ejemplos, que nos afecta a ambas comunidades y a los que debemos dar respuesta conjunta.

“Creo que desde el máximo respeto a las posiciones de cada cual, el diálogo es algo por lo que vengo luchando desde siempre y por lo que seguiré luchando. Hago grandes esfuerzos personales por intentar convencer al Gobierno de España, que el camino que ha elegido, de la confrontación no es el adecuado. Vivimos en una zona con una renta de situación magnífica que merece ser explota adecuadamente para que la gente que aquí vivimos podamos progresar de manera adecuada, en paz y en libertad y que se reduzca la alta tasa de desempleo que azota a miles de familias y los hace infelices.

"Espero que el Gobierno de España, tome buena nota de esto que el Parlamento de Andalucía a propuesta del PSOE y apoyada por IU le demanda, en representación de los ciudadanos andaluces."

SPANISH RIGHT AND WRONGS ON GIBRALTAR

It is the dogma of the majority of Spanish political parties that Gibraltar is an integral part of Spain and should be recovered. The mantra is “Gibraltar Español” and I have always presumed that those on the right of Spanish politics chant it louder than those on the left.

There are those in Gibraltar who welcomed a Partido Popular victory in the last elections because they take the view that you know with the centre right party where you are and you can expect the worst. Not only that but your expectations are likely to be met. The present PP administration certainly is proving the truth of that belief.

In contrast with PSOE you never know whether you are going to get the good cop, the bad cop or whether to an extent on Gibraltar relations they will cop out altogether.

I have held the view that if the centre right and far right could be eliminated from the Spanish political body matters for Gibraltar would change. It is my belief that it is because the parties of the right and principally the Partido Popular have enshrined “Gibraltar Español” on their hearts, minds and souls that all other parties in the political spectrum dare not but chant the mantra. Failure to do so would leave them open to accusations of betraying Spain.

In the 1980s Joe Bossano had talks with the PSOE of Felipe Gonzalez to see if the GSLP could obtain membership of Socialist International with their support. The fact is that if PSOE blocked the move the SI would not grant the GSLP membership. On the face of it this should have been a political matter with a small p. For a socialist party in Gibraltar to join the all embracing socialist movement worldwide should have not been a matter to meet with PSOE’s opposition. However it did as it would do today but the main reason given by Gonzalez to Bossano was that such a move would cost him valuable votes in an election.

Now would a PSOE supporter abandon the socialists and vote with another party because Gonzalez had not objected to the GSLP’s membership of SI? My guess is he or she would not. However if the centre right and right parties got hold of this information then they could blacken PSOE’s name with voters because they didn’t stop the GSLP becoming internationally recognised. That holds a lot of truth.

If you ask the average Spaniard do they believe Gibraltar is Spanish they would answer yes. Not because it is engraved on their hearts, minds and souls but simply because it is the common acceptance. However if you asked a Basque or a Catalan, first they couldn’t answer because they do not view themselves as being Spanish. Secondly they could hardly say yes because what they wish for their own regions is the independence from Spain that Gibraltar currently enjoys.

However the average Spaniard is not a politician. So whilst you will get the knee-jerk reaction to the Gibraltar question when you ask them what are the political priorities in their lives opinion polls have constantly shown that Gibraltar does not even feature. Jobs, the economy, housing score high: even ETA and terrorism scores low but way ahead of Gibraltar which does not register at all.

It is interesting that the present Partido Popular government in Madrid, whose priority is jobs, the economy and housing, has chosen to make Gibraltar a key plank in its foreign policy. However the PP totally fails to understand that for Spaniards the Rock of Gibraltar is simply not important. Hence we find the Spanish Premier Mariano Rajoy being ridiculed in Spain and the wider world for demanding before the UN that Britain hands over Gibraltar.

His country is in economic meltdown, key parts of his country want out, the world is in recession, there are numerous wars, people are starving, Arabs are demanding the freedoms that we take for granted and all Rajoy can ask the gathered UN delegates and leaders is: “please can I have Gibraltar back?” He is like a spoilt child wanting a toy in the shop window which he simply can’t have.

The people of Spain by and large could not care what happens to Gibraltar. If the parties of the centre and the left wished to truly reflect their wishes, neither would they. However they are all caught in the sight of the weaving cobra’s head of the right and centre right and dare not turn away. If Spanish politicians on the centre and left had the courage to break that spell there would indeed be a new era in Spanish – Gibraltar relations to the benefit of both societies. Yet for now no mainstream Spanish politician dare but chant “Gibraltar Español”!

THE CENTRE LEFT REVIVAL: IT STARTED HERE

Social Europe: is it worth fighting for? That was the theme of the Fabian Society conference held in London in February. In her keynote speech Labour’s Shadow Europe Minister Emma Reynolds stated: “The presidential election in France in May presents a great opportunity for Francois Hollande to spark a revival of the centre left in Europe. Only then will social democrats have the chance to start shaping the debate about Social Europe and return Europe back to growth and prosperity.”

Well the two rounds of the French Presidential election have come and gone and indeed Hollande has emerged triumphant. It is understandable that because of the stature of the French Presidency this victory is seen as the great beacon of revival those on the progressive left have been seeking. However in truth the revival started here in Gibraltar in December and has since taken in Andalucía and now France.

In December the voters of Gibraltar returned a GSLP led coalition with the Liberals, the sort of progressive alliance many in the British Labour Party have only dreamed of. Ousted was a centre right administration that had ruled Gibraltar for nearly 16 years. I use the term ruled deliberately because the GSD didn’t govern for the people but ruled for its elite.

In came Fabian Picardo as Chief Minister, a then 39-year-old winning at the first time of asking: a feat never achieved before in Gibraltar politics. It would be a mistake to believe that the victory of the GSLP only reverberated around the streets of the Rock. It also raised cheers amongst the embattled Labour family in the UK.

When I met with Labour Party officials at the then HQ in Victoria Street close to Parliament in January and February they delighted in telling me of the response generated when they took the news of the GSLP victory to National Executive and other top committee meetings. It was not just greeted with murmurings of approval but cheers and clapping. The GSLP is a sister party of Labour but is also ‘de la familia’: it brought fresh hope to Miliband and his team.

After the drubbing PSOE received in Spain last May at the local and regional elections and then again in November at the general election when a triumphant Rajoy and his arrogant PP cohorts took power, who, yes who would have thought the socialists would have held on to Andalucía in March’s election against all the odds.

The left alliance of PSOE and the Izquierda Unida won 59 seats against the PP’s 50 as the centre right party’s lead in the polls collapse after the briefest honeymoon in political history. So what started in Gibraltar in December crossed into Andalucía in March and in May has moved on to France. The centre left, which I have been arguing all along in the Morning Star and London Progressive Journal never went away, is back and on the march.

In France on Sunday Francois Hollande was elected the next president of France with just under 52 per cent of the vote. He is the first socialist president since Francois Mitterrand was elected in 1995. Nicolas Sarkozy was the first incumbent president not to establish a lead after the first round of voting and also the first since 1981 not to secure a second term.

In his victory speech Hollande said he was “proud to have been capable of giving people hope again” and will honour his pledge to refocus EU efforts away from austerity and on to growth. “Europe is watching us, austerity can no longer be the only option.” Those will be the headlines in the coming days – but don’t forget this much talked about socialist revival started here in Gibraltar.

FAREWELL TO PEPE

The Spanish General Election will soon be upon us (November 20) and one familiar name will be missing from the hustings for the Senate in Cádiz province. José Carracao, Pepe to his many friends both side of the border, has decided he will not be running to retain his seat for the sixth time for PSOE. As the socialists seem set for a drubbing it may be a wise move but his political career does stretch back over three decades and he is now of retirement age – perhaps you could call him the Joe Bossano of PSOE.

Apart from the fact we are both socialists Pepe and myself are also jimenatos by adoption at least. He was the mayor of Jimena, president of the Mancomunidad de Municipios del Campo de Gibraltar and then a five term senator in Spain’s Upper House – perhaps politics enough for any man or woman.

Of course in recent years because of his special relationship with the Campo de Gibraltar and indeed Gibraltar itself the Spanish Government chose him to be their man on the spot to represent it in cross border affairs.

In his role as senator he has worked hard for the Campo de Gibraltar. He has helped attract heavy industry to the area, pushed for the installation of natural gas to homes, worked with the Partido Popular government of the day as well as being the driving force behind the construction of the A-381 Jerez to Los Barrios road and the making in to four lanes the N-340 between Algeciras and Vejer.

Although Pepe is now thought of working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Gibraltar his first stint was with the Ministry of Defence. For Spain as for Britain and wider NATO the Straits zone is of major strategic importance.

Pepe has been a strong supporter of the Dialogue Forum and says he does not believe it is dead even thought there are not likely to be any new talks this side of the Spanish and Gibraltarian elections. He is confident that whether PSOE or the PP win in Spain the process will continue. Pepe admits it will be difficult to see how the current process would fare under the PP because of the views they have aired against it but he has no doubt that dialogue will go on in one form or another. He also believes the old formula of two flags and three voices is dead in the water and the world has moved on.

The senator has in the past had strong words to say about the chief minister but applauds him for agreeing that Spain has the right to submit proposals for the future of the colony (if Gibraltar still is a colony that is. Discuss).

With a general election in the offing in Gibraltar does Pepe believe that will herald a change in relations with Spain. He says not as all the parties on the Rock are agreed that Britain should not return the Rock to Spain. Yes intriguingly he is of the opinion that there are people in Gibraltar, who do not speak out publically, but want an accord with Spain because it would benefit both communities. Of whom does he speak? Caruana? Los Palomos?

Pepe also believes Fabian Picardo has great potential to become the next chief minister of Gibraltar. He has marked him down as a friendly person with whom Spain would want to draw up lines of collaboration but he is fully aware that on the sovereignty issue Picardo clasps to his heart and soul the “No Surrender!” mantra.