Eloise Horsfield
CHIEF Minister Fabian Picardo has slammed a Spanish plan to create a special conservation area in the disputed waters around Gibraltar.
The proposal – affecting nearly 27,000 hectares – would ban any environmentally dangerous practices including ship refuelling (bunkering), a major economic activity for the Rock.
Picardo insists the action would cause a ‘serious international confrontation’ and compared the current Spanish government to Franco’s fascist regime.
“Let them try, because there are bunkering stations throughout the bay and that will be a serious international confrontation,” Picardo said.
“However much they say they will tighten the screws on Gibraltar, we have to say that this has been tried already.
“That is the policy of the past, the failed and sterile attempts by Franco’s fascist government.”
Spain had earlier attempted to defend the idea of a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), insisting that the plan had nothing to do with the recent fishing dispute.
“It can’t bother anyone to see EU legislation applied to protect the environment,” a Spanish government source said.
You only have to witness the actions of the paramilitary Guardia civil see Spain still retains it’s fascist roots.
Gibraltar must never give one molecule to the Spanish.
Close the fence.
Guardia civil is paramilitary as much as the bobbies are.
Brujino, is that always the reply of the Spanish when they can’t get their own way “Close the fence”, in case you don’t know, one of the stipulations of Spain joining the EU was that there could be no closed borders, if Spain wants to close the fence, then perhaps they should leave the common market and take their debts with them.
Poor Brujino-Close-the-Fence doesnt know what paramilitary means. It means they carry side arms as the norm and they are considered part of the armed forces of a country. Bobbies dont carry guns unless in a state of emergency that requires it and they are not part of the armed forces.
And Brujino, try to cross the “fence” without a passport..you will find you have to show your passport or your ID Card because “The Fence” is actually a Frontier whether you like to acknowledge it or not!
Cuanto nos quieren estos britanicos les recibimos con los brazos abiertos y en cuanto algo no es de su agrado nos llaman fascistas.
Spain is bankrupt,Spain has squandered all the benefits of joining the EU.Spain cannot be trusted.Spain is trying to divert attention away from its distastrous economic policies.Spain has colonised Ceuta and Melilla and many other places.
Catalonia does not want to be a part of Spain.The Basque region does not want to be part of Spain.British Gibraltar will never be part of Sapin.The people of Gibraltar have voted overwhelmingly to have nothing to do with Spain.
España está en bancarrota, España ha dilapidado todos los beneficios de unirse a la EU.Spain no puede ser trusted.Spain está tratando de desviar la atención de su policies.Spain distastrous económico ha colonizado Ceuta y Melilla y en muchos otros lugares.
Cataluña no quiere ser parte de España.El región vasca no quiere ser parte de Spain.British Gibraltar nunca será parte de la gente Sapin.The de Gibraltar han votado abrumadoramente a tener nada que ver con España.
Poor Picardo!! whinch!! whinch!! whinch!! The EU has given Spain the right to look after the bay!! And it is about time that the tankers are removed from the bay.They are causing enormous damage to bay. Out with the tankers and out with this w*nker Picardo!!
Trust aussie sunshine to come up with such a intelligent, well researched comment. You obviously dont know what you are talking about.
For starters bunkering is carried out in the Bay of Gibraltar by Algeciras as well – not that two wrongs make a right – but those are the facts. Bunkering would not be carried out in the Bay of Gibraltar if the Refinery which belongs to CEPSA were not there. CEPSA is a Spanish refinery right next to Puente Mayorga, which is next to La Linea, near San Roque, near los Barrios, near Algeciras which boasts 25 new tankers to compete even more with the bunkering done by Gibraltar, the only problem (for Algeciras that is) is that bunkering in Gibraltar is much cheaper than doing it from Algeciras – hence the sudden interest for the well being of the Bay. The Tankers that bring Crude oil (now there lies the real danger) to be refined in the Spanish Refinery would not be in the Bay of Gibraltar if the Refinery were not there.
So if you really want to Save the Bay of Gibraltar why not just call for the removal of the Spanish Refinery, and ask for the bunkering which is carried out in Ceuta to be stopped too, now that would be coherent with ecological worries, not just hitting at Gibraltar every which way you can.
aussie sunshine – “The EU has given Spain the right to look after the bay!! And it is about time that the tankers are removed from the bay.They are causing enormous damage to bay.”
This is true. Unfortunately it is also true for a lot of the Spanish fishing methods like bottom trawling, where you drag a weighted net through the sea (and across the seabed) destroying practically everything in the process. That was one of the big issues with the Spanish desire to fish in Gibraltar that sparked off the recent (though still relatively mild) spat.
So I would not expect the Spanish to “look after” the bay when it desires primarily to fish in the same waters because it destroyed the ecosystem and overfished its own. Ultimately whomever is in charge is going to exploit it; neither are acting as benevolent caretakers of the ocean. However Gibraltar does – in general – take more conscious action toward preserving its surrounding waters as far as fishing and natural preservation are concerned. Strictly from an environmental preservationist point of view, it is better to let bunkering continue than to start tearing up the sea with bottom trawling.
Just to add one thing – the article doesn’t say much more about the Spanish plan except that it would ban bunkering. It might actually ban trawling and be a great plan, environmentally. So just from the article there is no way to really examine or criticize the plan itself. I’d be interested in hearing more about what the Spanish conservation plan actually consists of aside from just banning the refueling of ships.
Also, just to correct, the EU doesn’t have the authority “give” Spain the “right” to do such a thing. It’s a dispute of sovereignty and territory and, as such, state sovereignty is always going to take supremacy over whatever international alliances, treaties or agreements are in place. EU law can be used as leverage, but it isn’t the Hand of God when you’re talking about an international dispute. The two nations have to work out an agreement; that agreement may be within, or outside of, EU law (Or UN resolutions, or even an ICJ decision, etc).
James
Disfruta,disfruta que la vida no siempre va igual.
Inthename
It is all the police in EU who carry side arms but you just talk of “paramilitary” when you talk of Guardia Civil there many diferent police in EU with side arms.
Irlanda no quiere ser parte de Inglaterra y Escocia yo creo que tampoco así que o te las vayas a dar de democráticos las únicas colonias que os quieren son las que os necesitan porque están en territorio hostil mira a la India jajaja esos ya no os necesitan si no que os compran poco a poco el país.
we’ll swap the Isle of Wight for it then?! then there’d be no more problems.. or the Isle of Man.. or Ireland
When Germany lost the war, the Gestapo and the SS, being the nazi regime’s principal organ of repression, were dismantled. So why did Spain retain the Guardia Civil after Franco died? It showed its true colours again in 1983 and yet the Spanish state retains the services of this paramilitary force, with a disgraceful history of human rights abuses and civil war crimes. The PP, a front for the phalangist far-right loves them and when in office, the PSOE daren’t touch them lest they try another coup d’etat. Some democracy!
Albert, just to put your facts slightly to right, the Guardia Civil were in existance long before Franco came to power, and were there to keep law and order and protect the people. It must be admitted that Franco did change the role of the Guardia Civil when he came to power, and maybe that legacy lives on today, especially in some of the older guards.
Brujino-Close-the-fence
For starters. it was you who compared the Guardia Civil with the British Bobby
“brujiño
September 22nd, 2012 4:05 pm
Close the fence.
Guardia civil is paramilitary as much as the bobbies are.”
You are wrong! Gibraltar Police do not carry sidearms, the Guardia Civil does so as a norm.
brujiño
September 23rd, 2012 10:07 pm
“It is all the police in EU who carry side arms but you just talk of “paramilitary” when you talk of Guardia Civil there many diferent police in EU with side arms.”
That may be, but it is certainly not the case with the RGP or the regular Bobbies.
It is not an offence to say they are paramilitary, that is what they are. The Royal Gibraltar Police are not.
inthename. I agree with you close down everything that has to do with the oil industry in Spain and Gibraltar.
Fabian picardo deja de comer!!! Que cada vez estas mas gordo!!!
Seguro que no paras de darle a la tortilla y el pescaito!!!
Gordo Ladron!!
And the Spanish Minister said ” We will protect the waters!”
Let the poor fishermen fish until there are no more fish left!! And in the meantime….
“http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=26117”
Whilst all the time what they really are after is monopolizing the bunkering for themselves.
well they should carry arms.If they did two bobbies would not be dead now Manchester.UK
Aussie: What would they have done? Shot the grenade from his hand?
shot him before he threw the granade…
As can be seen from these comments, Aussie Sunshine and other Spanish commentators support fascist paramilitary tactics. And, despite his other posts, rather than protect Spanish jobs in this area Aussie Sunshine would gladly sacrifice these people’s livelihoods just to try and deliver an economic blow to Gibraltar.
Thank God we are British and that Great Britain carries more clout than Spain (soon to become lonely Castilla once the historically forced union that created the Spanish state is finally and permanently dissolved).
Once the Catalans finally have their independence, can that country still be called Spain (especially after the Basque country etc follow suit?) Perhaps the paramilitary Guardia Civil and ‘Spanish’ armed forces will simply drag the country back to the 1930’s (we have already heard the old guard right wing Generals threatening the Catalan people with war if they try to break up the union).
The UK, by contrast, will grant Scotland independence if that is what it votes for…as a real democracy it will have no choice despite not being keen on the idea.
Europe beware, not only is Spain in recession…it is also about to become a victim of historical regression.
Good luck to the Catalan people…once they leave Spain, the ‘territorial integrity’ argument Spain tries to use against Gibraltar will probably have to be thrown out the window (good riddance to bad rubbish).
Vive la resistance!!!
Pretty dramatic John. Sounds like you just finished playing one of those games like Civilization or Risk. Aside from a few political gestures and shifts, it is unlikely that any real change is going to happen in the future (be it in in Gibraltar or any part of Spain). It’s really not in the economic or social benefit of any group. Just political posturing. Despite the crisis everyone is still reasonably comfortable. Takes a bit more pressure to spark an actual revolution.
Is everyone still reasonably comfortable?…I think many ‘Spanish’ people would disagree. With respect Reality, are you looking at this from a purely ex-pat perspective? It seems like you may be.
A breakup would benefit Catalonia and non-Castillians, that is for sure.
Perhaps not enough pressure at this moment, but watch this space as momentum could pick up at any time.
What is important is that democratic self-determination is respected by all countries and exercised by all peoples (and not just some of them).
Brujino you are correct close the border Gib is not part of the EU; until they realy need something from the EU like help or money; or new buses; so yes the border can be closed there is no reason why it should be left open other then the people working there and if you removed all the Spanish from Gib then who would do the work; You see the Gibos need the Spanish or nothing would get done as they are some of the laziest people in the world, i once worked in the land of the Gibo and was told by meny people that they voted this new Government into power so they could smuggle fags and contraband across the border rather then work thinking that the GS will still let them do so as the Gibo police dont care the place is full of Gibos and it would fall to the floor if it was not for the Spanish workers
@ Danny B
Wow, what an intelligent comment. I am speechless with admiration!