Spain wants to 'harden' sanctions against bunkering in the bay; Minister's connections with the practice

Bunkering in the bay

GIBRALTAR Bunkering, the supply of fuel to ships at sea, is one of Gibraltar's most lucrative marine services. A couple of days ago, the Spanish Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Miguel Arias Cañete, announced that Spain was looking into creating sanctions against the practice under present tensions about fishing and territorial waters and warships headed for the Rock. An article dated February 2, 2012, in Europa Sur, said that 32.3% of all bunkering carried out for Spanish ports in 2011 happened in the Bay of Algeciras (a.k.a. Bay of Gibraltar). More recently, it was announced that several Spanish companies had bid for bunkering services through the Algeciras Port Authority - that is, not via Gibraltar, but offering the same services. One of these companies>>>

Taxman plans action against cigarette smuggling - in Britain

Very expensive smugglers' boat, beached

BRITAIN / GIBRALTAR / SPAIN Yes, there is definitely a Spanish angle to all the hullabaloo raised by David Cameron when he spoke out loud recently about the damage to the UK's economy brought about by cigarette smuggling. Some of the headlines of the last couple of weeks: How cigarette smuggling fuels Africa's Islamist violence (Guardian); IRA's cigarette-smuggling millionaires: Former terrorists flooding the UK with potentially lethal fakes, cheating taxpayers of billions (MailOnline); Taxman's plan to curb tobacco smuggling in question after stinging report (Telegraph) Taxman’s plan to stop tobacco smuggling goes up in smoke (The Times) Third of cigarettes are illicit as smuggling is new ‘crime of choice’ (London Evening Standard). Not entirely dissimilar headlines have been around the Campo de Gibraltar area for years. More so with the unemployment crisis - permanent in La Línea and worse now. The fact is>>>

'Gibraltar - Britain in the Sun' series coming up

Not many of these in Britain, surely

GIBRALTAR We are reliably informed (we have to be, we don't have a TV) that a series called 'Gibraltar - Britain in the Sun' is to be broadcast on Channel 5 (The Express calls it 'Little Britain'). The first episode is to be aired on Tuesday 11 - tomorrow! - at 8pm BST, or 9pm in Spain - and on five successive Tuesdays. We are also informed that you can see it online at http://www.filmon.com/#Channel-5, if your soon-to-be-if-it-isn't-already-bollixed sky tv thingy is giving you grief. Please don't ask us about the bollixing satellite problems as we haven't a clue - but we would like your opinion on the programme, please! (Thanks to Simon&Iris for the info.) (Another soon-to-be-released-or-maybe-edited programme is former Conservative Minister Michael Portillo's - he of close Spanish heritage - train travel piece on the Algeciras-Ronda railway - it of British heritage.)

Spanish Embassy in London opens employment website

LONDON The Spanish Embassy in London recently opened a website with information for Spanish people now living in the UK, but also for those in Spain who might want to move to there to find employment. It lists companies seeking employees, as well as useful advice on interviewing, and several how-tos: banking procedures, registering for social security, rental procedures, etc. The UK has become one of the preferred destinations for a new generation of Spanish emigrants with plenty of qualifications -many are university students- in the 25 to 35 age bracket. The Spanish Consulate in London says there are some 71,000 Spanish citizens living in Britain, a significant increase owing to the crisis. Ambassador Federico Trillo says that if the experiment is successful, it may be applied at other embassies through the world. He and other embassy staff are quick to point out that the website is not aimed at encouraging emigration; the labour market there is 'highly competitive' but there is 'only' a 7.8% unemployment rate, compared to Spain's 26%.

'So what's wrong with horse meat?'

While British authorities are thrashing about looking for someone to blame the horse meat 'scandal' on, in Spain, and no doubt in France, people are scratching their heads and wondering what all the fuss is about. They do understand, though, that if you are buying beef, you don't expect horse. Talking about why Spain and Holland are being blamed for producing the horse meat, we heard a comment heard this morning on the Spanish national news radio: 'Who cares where the horse meat comes from? It's where it's processed, or mixed in with the beef, that matters.' True enough. In the meantime, the BBC asks Why are the British revolted by the idea of  horsemeat? As for the pork mixed in, one can only feel for Jews and Muslims and anyone else not allowed it. But then, if they didn't know, they may yet get into Heaven.

Cameron to Majorca and Clegg to his wife's pueblo

Camerons on holiday

Ministerial holiday rota is in effect

LONDON/SPAIN (GibChronicle/Agencies) David Cameron yesterday headed off on his summer holidays on the Balearic island of Majorca, as the leaders of the three main political parties joined the post-Olympics exodus from the UK. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg was also setting off for his traditional two-week sojourn with his wife’s family in Spain, in Olmedo, Valladolid. To his wife's pueblo as Spaniards would say. Labour leader Ed Miliband was following through with the Olympic theme for a fortnight in Greece. Have no fear, Britain is in good hands: in Mr Cameron’s absence, Foreign Secretary William Hague will take charge of the day-to-day business of government as the senior duty minister in London this week. There is a ministerial holiday rota put into effect every year, to keep the home fires burning, as it were. Well, at least the two leaders of the coalition agree on something ... Spain is the best country for a holiday. (But you knew that, didn't you?)

Gibraltar Government statement following Guardia Civil actions on Friday

One of many incidents
(Photo: elmundo.es)

"...actions such as these [...] must be repelled by the Royal Navy ..." 

GIBRALTAR (Press release) "Her Majesty's Government of Gibraltar has received confirmed reports that officers of the Guardia Civil vessel Rio Ceden boarded and took control of a Gibraltar registered vessel in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters and then forcibily conveyed it and its occupants to Algeciras at high speed and without navigational lights. They subsequently confiscated perfectly legal equipment aboard the vessel.  The individuals aboard the vessel were not suspected of being involved in any illicit activity of any kind. HM Government of Gibraltar condemns the actions of the relevant Spanish Civil Guards without reservation.  Official reports received by the Government state that the Guardia Civil even turned off the navigational lights on the Gibraltar vessel that they boarded and on their own vessel as well in an attempt to avoid detection. This points to the fact that they must have known that they were acting in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters where Spain has no jurisdiction.  It is important to recall that the Civil Guard commenced these illegal incursions in 2009, unrelated to any fishing dispute and that they have continued at regular intervals ever 

since. Indeed, at one point Spanish Civil Guards even entered the Port of Gibraltar and landed on our soil. This has been the case regardless of who was in Government in Spain or in Gibraltar.>>>

Britain calls Guardia Civil 'infamous' for arresting two Gibraltarians

Illustration only

Lidington "shocked by disgraceful behaviour"
MADRID (Agencies) The British government yesterday levelled energetic criticism against the Spanish authorities for the alleged arrest of two Gibraltarians in the sea that surrounds the Rock, an action Britain called 'intolerable and illegal'. Secretary of State for European Affairs David Lidington said he was "shocked by the disgraceful behaviour of the Spanish Guardia Civil" who he said detained the nationals in British Gibraltar territorial waters and transferred them to Spain on Friday." "The government will be making it clear to Spain that such action, on the part of the law enforcement agencies of a EU Partner and NATO Ally, is intolerable and unlawful," he warned. The move comes amid a row over fishing rights between Madrid and Gibraltar, a mostly self-governing British overseas territory on Spain's southern tip that overlooks the only entrance to the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht but has long argued that it should be returned to Spanish sovereignty. Britain refuses to renounce sovereignty against the wishes of Gibraltarians. According to the British government statement, the Spanish Guardia Civil intercepted a local Gibraltarian sports fishing boat approximately 200 meters (yards) off the coast of Gibraltar. The two were transferred to Algeciras in Spain before being released.

New Residency Requirements for EU citizens planning to live in Spain for more than three months

SPAIN (Press release from British Embassy, Madrid) The Spanish Government has introduced new residency requirements for all EU citizens – including Britons – who plan to reside in Spain for more than three months. Under the new rules, EU citizens applying for residency in Spain may be required to produce evidence of sufficient financial means to support themselves (and dependants). Applicants may also be asked for proof of private or public healthcare insurance. The Ministerial Order sets out the new requirements and some of the documentation applicants may be asked to present. A British Embassy (and therefore unofficial) translation with more detailed information is available on the UKinSpain website. All EU citizens planning to reside in Spain continue to need to register in person at the Oficina de Extranjeros (Foreigners Office) in their province of residence or at designated Police stations. More information is available on the Ministry of the Interior’s website. Ministerial Order 1490, which came into force on 10 July, attempts to clarify the entry and residence requirements for EU citizens based on the Royal Decree 240/07 of 28 March 2007 which in turn transposed into Spanish legislation the EU Directive 2004/58/EC of 29 April 2004 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States.

Foundation proposes 'strategic turnaround for Gibraltar'

'A Strategy for Gibraltar'

CAMPO DE GIBRALTAR A Spanish foundation called Ciudadanía y Valores (FUNCIVA, Citizenship and Values) on Friday presented a report that proposes, to the Spanish government and political parties, a pact that would lead to "stability and a long-term" strategy towards Gibraltar. Included are such measures as the creation of a new forum and re-opening the Spanish Consulate on the Rock. This, says the report, would give the Campo de Gibraltar more "political and fiscal weight" that would allow it to compete with Gibraltar and make any future status changes there more attractive. The report also asks that more pressure be placed in international forums, to diminish the fiscal privileges now enjoyed by Gibraltar, and that it becomes integrated into Europe so that the frontier ceases to have any meaning.>>>

Guy Fawkes and the Spanish connection

Guy Fawkes
by George Cruickshank (1840)

Many of our Spanish readers have no idea who Guy Fawkes was, and why he was important to British history. On the other hand, many of our English readers don't know that Fawkes has a strong connection with Spain. Born on April 13, 1570 (and died on January 31, 1606), Guy Fawkes was also known as Guido Fawkes, the name he adopted while fighting for the Spanish in the Low Countries. He belonged to a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Fawkes was born and educated in York. His father died when Fawkes was eight years old, after which his mother married a recusant Catholic. Fawkes later converted to Catholicism and left for the continent, where he fought in the Eighty Years' War on the side of Catholic Spain against Protestant Dutch reformers. He travelled to Spain to seek support for a Catholic rebellion in England but was unsuccessful. He later met Thomas Wintour, with whom he returned to England>>>

UK/Spain facts and figures

SPAIN/UK Here are some facts and figures drawn directly from the British Embassy website:

Population and size
Spain has two-thirds of the UK´s population, but is twice as big geographically:

• UK: 62 million people and 243,610 km2 / 94,060 sq. miles
• Spain: 46.6 million people and 504,030 km2 / 195,364 sq. miles>>>

Spain is more democratic than Britain, says study

WORLD (Image: Mail OnLine) - A study by the University of Zurich and the government-funded Social Science Research Centre in Berlin concludes that Spain has a better quality democracy than Britain. The so-called 'Democracy Barometer' project used a series of criteria to determine the quality of democracy in 75 countries. Over a period of eleven years (1995 to 2005) thebarometer measured nine quality indicators: the protection of personal freedom from infringements by third parties, especially the state; the rule of law; an active citizenship; transparency; participation; representation; political competition; a system of checks and balances; and the ability to implement democratic decisions. The conclusions are listed in the 'League Table' image (click to enlarge).

Spanish royals 'expenses are uncontrolled', Brits subject to Brown's 'transparency'

If there are no impediments, The Independent will soon be publishing over 100 letters written between Buckingham Palace and the British Government, all referring to the need for a raise among British royals. This would be impossible in Spain as the Royal Household here is not obliged to divulge its accounts, or even to account for its expenses. However, King Juan Carlos is to 'earn' €8.896.920 this year, with which to keep his family and homes. It is the same amount as his household received last year. Nevertheless, there are calls for his accounts to be 'more transparent' from several left-leaning politicians andparties, who say, "Trying to find out how this public money is spent is like hitting a brick wall."