Gibraltar: are the spanish stupid or just taking the Pl55?
Posted by: Tony2011 on 26 November 2013
Probably a diversion from domestic problems but is spain(sic) taking too much of a risk by really getting on the wrong side of Downing Street?
Discuss...
Definitely diversion tactics .
They are a bit stupid.
Frankly, I'd ban all British Tourism to Spain( I know, you can't do that because of Europe etc.etc.) well fook 'em, load the taxes on flights to Spain to discourage tourism . Hit them right in the old income.
Do Greece a favour at the same time by reducing flight costs to there.
Chaps
Spain is going through a tough time. People in the UK complain about the recession, but out here it is much worse. Both political parties are useless and even when the recession ends, Spain is going to be left behind the rest of Europe.
Gibraltar is something that the Spanish government is doing to court popularity. Fortunately it just is not working. The Spanish are so laid back that they are horizontal and to be honest most of them enjoy the tax free fags being smuggled over the border. It really is a non issue over here. I suspect it will die a death next year.
Regards
Mick
Well here's a first. I find myself 100% in agreement with Mr P here.
Whenever a Spanish government finds itself floundering, it cynically attempts to make Gibraltar into an issue. Fortunately, as Mick says, the good people of Spain don't seem that fussed.
I seem to remember Argentina trying a similar tactic once upon a time
I seem to remember Argentina trying a similar tactic once upon a time
They're still periodically trying it on Sniper...
If the Isle of Wight was a Spanish enclave with preferential tax status and proteced waters would we think it a bit odd in the UK? Would we not feel vaguely discomfitted? I really don't know much about Gibraltar but it does seem a curious state of affairs when viewed objectively.
They could take Canvey Island mind you.
Bruce
If the Isle of Wight was a Spanish enclave with preferential tax status and proteced waters would we think it a bit odd in the UK? Would we not feel vaguely discomfitted?
And we can only speculate as to how the music festival may have been impacted.
At risk of raking over old stuff here, the Spanish won't entertain the idea of giving Ceuta or the other 'plazas de soberanía' to Morocco, so at the very least their stance on Gibraltar has to be described as arch-hypocrisy.
These admittedly anachronistic territories - the world over, and 'belonging' to various states - are unlikely to be given up by countries that want to retain them because of other countries wanting them more. The only logical way of deciding their future is to allow those who live there to choose.
This would keep the status quo in Ceuta and Melilla (Spain's main argument) and so it would in Gibraltar. The fact that Spain has existed for longer than Morocco is simply not relevant.
The Spanish government kicking against the pricks on this one is just like de Kirchner in Argentina - a jingoistic distraction. As Mick says, the average Spaniard doesn't care (nor does the average Argentine from my experience).
If the Isle of Wight was a Spanish enclave with preferential tax status and proteced waters would we think it a bit odd in the UK? Would we not feel vaguely discomfitted?
And we can only speculate as to how the music festival may have been impacted.
Blimey yes - flamenco, Ye-Yé and Julio Inglesias instead of Hendrix, Who and Miles!
If the Isle of Wight was a Spanish enclave with preferential tax status and proteced waters would we think it a bit odd in the UK? Would we not feel vaguely discomfitted?
Bruce
Perhaps we would Bruce. But if Wightians wanted to be Spanish, then surely that is all that matters. And if Gibraltarians and Falklanders want to be British then the Spanish and Argentinian governments will have to accept it.
The thing that's puzzling about all this is that Gibraltar's such a dump. Why would anyone want it?
I understand that Spain has 2 historical enclaves in Morocco.
I wonder if Spain feels that it should surrender them to Morocco????
We also still have the Channel Islands just off the French Coast.
History regularly provides us with strange things to deal with.
David