Refreshing views from free thinkers in Spain.

I found an interesting Spanish website with two very unusual articles on the recent visit by Moratinos to Gibraltar. Why were they unusual? Well, check out the title of the first one and you'll get the gist: Gibraltar, britanico para siempre.

The article by Pedro Schwenzer Pfau was so refreshing to read, I thought I'd post the link here and cite his conclusion, which speaks for itself:

"España haría mejor en reconocer un hecho histórico y dejar que los gibraltareños vivan bajo la nacionalidad y la soberanía en las que se reafirman constantemente. Nuestros políticos se tendrían que haber levantado antes para evitar la pérdida. Después de 300 años ya no merece la pena perder el tiempo y usar la roca como medida populista cuando no se sabe resolver los problemas nacionales. A muy pocos les importará Gibraltar, y como territorio español perdería rápidamente todo interés económico y político, cuando el estratégico lo había perdido ya hace mucho tiempo."

I liked this other piece too, not because I agree with the author's view on Gibraltar - I don't - but because he takes the PP opposition to task in no uncertain terms. On the day of the Moratinos visit I had to report on a PP press conference at the border and the anti-Gib vitriol I heard there, the sheer nonsense they spouted to try and manipulate public opinion, was truly shocking.

Beach trouble.

Was it or was it not a Great White shark? Here's the video. It's not great but it's the only one I could track down, so be grateful. (Thanks to Burkhard Menn at Beedivers Gibraltar for this...) Some say it was a great white, others a basking shark. Whatever it was, it was just a few metres from the shore and, frankly, close enough to scare the living daylights out of any sane person. If anyone saw it and has more pics or photos or juicy eye witness accounts, do let me know.

Braced for the flu.

I have mixed feelings about this swine flu thing. I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry, worry or take the mickey. It's partly because of the mixed signals we get. Reassurance on the one hand, doomsday scenarios on the other.
"Comparing flu's with flu's, this is a pretty mild illness," said one doctor I spoke to recently. "Some people may have already had it and thought it was nothing more than a bad summer cold."
But in the same breath he's talking about containment strategies, about the need for strict hygiene to avoid infection, about vulnerable groups most at risk, about huge numbers getting sick.
Frankly, it's all rather daunting.
In the UK, health officials are warning that the flu may infect up to 30% of the population and kill up to 60,000 people. 'But there's no need for alarm,' they quickly add. 'Panicking will only put more burden on the NHS.' That's OK then...
We have two cases in Gib now and in all likelihood, it's going to spread. Last year, a measles outbreak here spread so fast that health officials even wrote a paper about it in a medical journal.
I was in the Primary Care Centre interviewing the health minister the other day and the message was very much the same, cautious reassurance coupled with extensive, behind-the-scenes contingency planning for a worst case scenario. Whichever way this thing pans out, at least the health people appear ready for it: a separate clinic, protective gear that makes nurses look like aliens, ample stocks of Tamiflu, vaccines on order.
There was something decidedly odd about the flu clinic. The prospect of a pandemic is serious, no doubt, but we all felt slightly ridiculous walking around in masks, taking notes while doctors tested two snuffly patients in closed cubicles. (One newsroom wiseguy came up with a good headline for the occasion: 'Hacks break out in rashers following swine flu visit!' Quite...)
While I waited for the interview, I was browsing through the leaflets in the PCC. Below a sign on the wall giving advice about swine flu, I saw a pile of literature on bird flu. Remember that? Six months ago, it felt like the world was about to be swept by an apocalyptic feathered plague that would do for us all. Now it's swine flu. What next? ("Fake flu," remarked someone yesterday, relishing the prospect of a couple of weeks off work.)
Let's take a step back and try to get some perspective in all this. There have been 30 swine flu deaths in the UK so far, most involving underlying medical causes. Every year, up to 9,000 people die from common seasonal flu.
If you listen to what the experts say, then, for the vast majority of us, this swine flu epidemic is going to be relatively inconsequential. A fever, sore limbs, a few days in bed feeling like death warmed up.
As The Independent on Sunday pointed out in a leader, if we hand't read about it in the papers, we would probably be none the wiser about the flu pandemic.
Fingers crossed they got it right.

About that visit...

I’m not going to write in any detail about yesterday’s visit to Gibraltar by Miguel Angel Moratinos, Spain’s foreign affairs minister. Acres of copy have already been published about this trip in English and Spanish and if you want to read the official statement in detail, you can do it here. (Also worth watching is this astounding attack on Moratinos by Pedro J. Ramirez, editor of El Mundo...)

Make no mistake about this, yesterday’s visit was of monumental importance. The presence of the Spanish foreign minister in Gibraltar was an incredibly powerful image, one that has brought Moratinos some heavy flack from the Spanish opposition. Gibraltar’s own opposition parties have also criticised Peter Caruana for his decision to go ahead with the meeting while the waters issue remained unresolved. It was a risky move for both of them. (The UK parties and press were largely indifferent to the whole thing...)

Personally, I don't think anyone gained or lost any ground on the core issues as a result of yesterday’s meeting. Each side’s red lines on sovereignty are clearly marked out. So Spain will never renounce its sovereignty claim? Well, fine, but Gibraltar will never be Spanish against the wishes of its people.

Beyond all of that, why not talk about matters that will benefit both Gib and the Campo? Most of the people I spoke to in the street seemed to agree. The whole dynamic of the so-called ‘Gibraltar question’ (I hate that phrase, but it works…) is shifting dramatically. The old paranoia is fading.

That doesn’t mean Gib must not remain alert to threats, particularly as the fine detail of each area of cooperation is hammered out in the coming months. We still have a date in court over the waters row.

My view? Dialogue on equal terms must also be welcomed, but Gib must proceed with caution. Others, of course, have a different take on the whole thing.