Gibraltar being flooded with Spaniards
After yesterday’s day trip to Gibraltar I’m happy to report that it’s still there and still as it was in September. Petrol, cigarettes and alcohol is still cheap, litre of petrol 95 Euro costs 63p and pack of Gauloises £1.40.
The monkeys are still there, and there are many of them. Locals say that nowadays there are so many of them that they’ve become a menace and are being put away. That, of course, sparks protests. But they are still there, which means British rule on the peninsula is firmer than ever.
As we all know though, the issue of Gibraltar have always been problematic in British-Spanish relations. Spain, despite of the Treaty of Utrecht, wants to impose its rule on the peninsula, but the UK, of course, won’t let go because of Gibraltar’s history and strategic location. As the legend says, as long as there are macaques on the Rock, the British rule on Gibraltar remains.
But it seems that Spaniards have invented new means for gaining control over Gibraltar. I have never ever seen so many Spaniards in Gibraltar as there were yesterday. And I’m not only talking about people on the streets – about 95% of servicing staff are Spanish. Whatever bar, pub, restaurant you enter, you hear waiters and waitresses speak Spanish among themselves and when they address you, they either have an accent, speak poor English or, the worst, don’t speak English at all. There still is a Spanish waiter in a place called The Piccadilly (located on the intersection between Rosia Rd and Boyd St) whose English vocabulary is limited with the word “pint”. And he’s been working there at least a year. See, he doesn’t even bother to learn the language of the place he works in, probably because he can actually do his job without speaking English. (Oh, by the way, food at The Piccadilly is great, highly recommendable.)
I don’t have anything against Spaniards, of course not. Very lovely and friendly people and I lived among them for seven months last year. But I am against the Spanisation of Gibraltar, I am against the fact that more and more Spaniards come to live and work in Gibraltar and by doing that they inevitably transform Gibraltar into Spanish territory. And when there would be a referendum on Gibraltar’s future, the majority is not going to vote for either staying under British rule or for independence, the majority is going to vote for Spanish rule over the peninsula. And then even the monkeys on the Rock won’t help.
Gibraltar’s Government should implement some elegant measures to keep the flood of Spaniards away. Like driving on the left, for example. It would confuse the living daylights out of Spaniards. Like starting to use the same time than the mainland UK (Gibraltar is, by nature, definitely in the same time zone that Blighty, as, naturally, is Spain, but in reality they use CET). Like demanding the ability to speak English if they want to work in Gibraltar, which should be elementary.
It should be the ultimate duty of the Government of Gibraltar to maintain the peninsula’s British identity. Otherwise the UK is going to lose it faster than they blink.
By the way, airplane landing on Gibraltar airport is very cool.
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Spaniards working in Gibraltar is nothing new… it’s been going on for centuries!
Gibraltarians welcome all visitors and workers in Gibraltar (including a significant number of expat Brits) and the Government should do all it can to continue to encourage visitors… ESPECIALLY from our neighbours in Spain who learn a lot from their visits. This goes a long way towards better relations between Gibraltar and Spain.
As for the language issues you raise… perhaps you might like to be innovative (unlike most English people abroad) and learn to speak a little of the local language… you might find that helps!
The ‘ultimate duty’ of the Government of Gibraltar… is to make sure they look after the fundamental interests of Gibraltarians… who by the way do NOT need our Government to hone our Britishness… we have that in our genes!
What might be far more helpful is if you encouraged your own Government (and fellow citizens) to be more aware and supportive towards Gibraltar and stand up for Gibraltar more than they ever do!!
One final point I would ask you bear in mind…
Gibraltar belongs to the People of Gibraltar.
It is neither Spain’s to claim nor Britain’s to give away!
Saludos! :)
Well, I didn’t mean visitors, I meant hordes of Spaniards flooding Gibraltar. And yes, Spaniards have worked in Gibraltar for centuries (with gaps, of course), but it feels that there have never been so many of them. Which is also part of my concern.
But the facts are clear: Gibraltar is part of British Empire and should remain so. Spain does have claims for Gibraltar and legally it is British to maintain or give away.
And, regarding language, since I do speak some Spanish, I would also understand Llanito, and I find Llanito very interesting, but the fact is that Gibraltar is British territory where you should get service in English. And thus hiring people who don’t speak English to service sector is idiotic. You wouldn’t be a waiter in Spain if you didn’t speak Spanish.
“and legally it is British to maintain or give away”
People seem to be associating the word ‘British’ with the term Britain as a short form of Great Britain (an island) itself as a reference to the country the United Kingdom. However, please be very clear British != (does not equal) Britain.
Gibraltar is British, the UK is British – but Gibraltar is not part of the UK, nor is the UK part of Gibraltar. They are both British. Additionally, beyond that, they have an integrated constitutional relationship.
The Treaty of Utrecht confers such power on the HM the Queen (the British Sovereign). Who is Queen of both Gibraltar and the United Kingdom and also numerous other countries that are British with varying forms of consitutional relationship between them and also numerous other non-British countries.
Now as a result of the integrated constitutional relationship, the Government of the United Kingdom handles external affairs on behalf of the Gibraltar.
However, legally, the Government of the UK (aka Britain) is very much NOT in any position to do as it pleases and ‘give Gibraltar away’ – for two reasons.
Firstly the preamble to the Gibraltar constitution – where the UK declares that she can not do this – is actually law in the UK. Secondly, and more significantly, when UK govt acts for Gibraltar she does so on (and legally must do so, under unchangeable UK law) on behalf of Gibraltar – not on behalf of the UK.
As a result, ‘Gibraltar is not Spains to claim, nor is it the UKs to give away’ is a better phrasing because it avoids confustion about Britain being a reference to a country (the UK), especially since both Gibraltar and the UK are British (direct subjects of her Britainic Majestey – who is queen of both of them).
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