SEÑOR MORATINOS: DID YOU ASK ABOUT JORGE AND JUAN?

Last Friday the Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, travelled to Morocco to meet with his counterpart Taib Fasi Fihri. The visit came two months after the incidents at the border between Melilla and Morocco which heightened tensions between the two countries.

Moratinos and Fasi Fihri held a working dinner to discuss the events of August in Melilla. A spokesperson said that following this encounter they had been able to smooth over their differences.

At the time Morocco accused the National Police on border duty of racist attitudes and violence against its nationals, a claim that Madrid strongly denied. The troubled waters were not smoothed when the former PP premier, José María Aznar, broke off from his Marbella holiday to go to the frontier in support of the National Police and Guardia Civil.

Last month Moratinos saw Fasi Fihri at the UN in New York when they discussed a bilateral conference to be held in Morocco early next year. This was days after the Spanish premier, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, had also been at the UN and met with Morocco’s King Mohamed VI in another effort to restore relations.

Fine! Morocco lays claim to the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla so tensions will always be present. In addition Spain seems to pussy foot around Morocco over the rights of the people of the Western Sahara having abandoned the territory in the dying days of Franco. But what about Jorge and Juan?

The two men from Los Barrios have been detained in Morocco since June 5 when a Moroccan patrol came to their aid after they drifted close to its shoreline in bad weather. They were first held for having entered the country without the required paperwork then found themselves on trial for drug trafficking and sentenced to three years in jail plus a hefty fine.

The Spanish consul in Tangier agrees there is no evidence to link the two to the drugs. The Spanish coast guard knew the identity of the owner of the Jet Ski that was found near the hashish but refused to hand over the information to the Moroccan court – because it would break the disclosure of information laws. The Andalucía ombudsman described the rejection of their appeal as an “outrage” and the politicians and people of the municipality – Los Barrios – are united in believing in their innocence and demanding their release. Perhaps crucially the ombudsman, José Chamizo, suspects the arrest and jailing of Jorge and Juan is politically motivated!

So I ask again the question – did Señor Moratinos raise the issue of Jorge and Juan with Taib Fasi Fihri?

The indications are he didn’t – which is a crime in itself!

IS ZAPATERO “UN CATETO?"

A “cateto” is a peasant, a country bumpkin. In a recent column the distinguished journalist Francisco Rubiales asks is Spain’s Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero “un cateto”?

What has prompted his question is the appearance of the Spanish premier, who currently is also the president of the EU, at the world financial forum in Davos.

Davos is a prestigious event and Rubiales tell us that Zapatero has in the past been asked six times to attend but has always said “no”. This time he said “yes” but belatedly meaning he had to be shoehorned in to one of the secondary debates.

I have heard it said that because Zapatero does not speak English he has left his foreign minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos – who speaks the language well – to conduct the nation’s foreign affairs. Certainly at Davos Rubiales says that there were embarrassing interludes as the official translator had to interpret for the Spanish premier and then for the audience.

The inference is that Zapatero is an embarrassment to the Spanish nation by seemingly being so out of his league amidst the high and mighty of the political and financial world. In addition Rubiales argues that he has a low standing because of the abject failure of his financial policies in Spain and the dire state of the economy, unemployment and so on.

Of course as a Briton, albeit living in Spain, I bow to the view of Spaniards on whether they find Zapatero an embarrassment or not. True he is my premier also but I am used to British prime ministers speaking only English – but of course that is the key language of the UN and forums such as Davos.

So is Zapatero a “cateto”? Far be it from me to say. What I do believe is that whilst Britain’s premier, Gordon Brown, speaks English and struts the world stage, he has failed miserably to communicate with his own electorate – and it is they and not the delegates at Davos who will hand him or deny him the legitimacy of being elected Britain’s prime minister this year. A status he is yet to hold.

GIBRALTAR ESPAÑOL

I seem to have blogged extensively on Gibraltar in recent days. The row over the age of consent for homosexuals and heterosexuals, Caruana versus Feetham and of course the historic visit by Spain’s Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos – the first such visit by a Spanish Government Minister in an official capacity since the Rock became a British colony.

I decided to see what my esteemed colleague Francisco Rubiales had to say on the subject on his excellent blog – Voto en Blanco – required reading for those who want to know what is on the minds of thinking Spaniards. You don’t have to agree with their views but you should engage with them.

I reproduce Francisco’s words below but the gist of the blog was that Moratinos was forced to go to Gibraltar by the Spanish Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero – who leads the worst Spanish government since Fernando VII – the criminal king.

There is also the feeling that Zapatero does not listen to the views of his people, the visit was an indignity for Spain and in some way implied Spain’s recognition of Gibraltar’s sovereignty. I am not sure I agree with that entire thesis but it is none the less valid for that.

What is a fact is that Gibraltar is physically part of the Iberian Peninsula.

Another fact is that all the major Spanish political parties share the view that Gibraltar is part of Spain and that one day the nation’s sovereignty will be restored. A view Moratinos was keen to publicly state this week in both Spain and Gibraltar.

The people of Gibraltar voted over 99 per cent against Spanish sovereignty in the referenda in 1967 and again in 2002 – so no change in views there.

As for Britain it has given its word, enshrined in the Gibraltar Constitution, that it would not return the Rock to Spain without the clear consent of the Gibraltarian people. However I don’t think there is any doubt that the Foreign & Commonwealth Office would hand over the Rock to Madrid tomorrow if it thought it could get away with it.

Hence Gibraltar is fundamentally a problem for Spain and the people of the Rock. However the two mind sets are poles apart and it will take a lot of jaw-jaw to sort out this political and sovereign war-war.

“El jefe de la Diplomacia española, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, siguiendo órdenes expresas del presidente del gobierno, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, llevará a cabo este martes la primera visita de un ministro español a Gibraltar desde que los ingleses ocuparon el territorio en 1704. Es el fin de una línea de dignidad y firmeza que España ha mantenido durante más de tres siglos, ininterrumpidamente, compartida por todos los gobiernos.

“El entreguismo, la cobardía y la indignidad en el asunto de Gibraltar es otra herida que abre a España Zapatero, el peor gobernante de la Historia de este país desde los tiempos de Fernando VII, el rey felón.

“La visita de Moratinos ha levantado una tormenta política de rechazo en España, ante la cual, como es su costumbre, Zapatero permanece insensible, manteniendo su tesis de que el gobernante debe gobernar incluso en contra de la opinión mayoritaria de los ciudadanos, una concepción del poder más totalitaria que democrática.

“Desde que se supo que Moratinos se desplazaría al Peñón para participar en el III encuentro ministerial del Foro de Diálogo creado en 2004 por los Gobiernos de España, Reino Unido y Gibraltar con el objetivo de avanzar en la cooperación local, el PP ha convertido la visita en otro caballo de batalla contra el Gobierno de Zapatero. Sus principales dirigentes piden la suspensión de una reunión que consideran "un insulto a la dignidad de España, como país soberano". Estas son palabras del secretario general del Partido Popular andaluz, Antonio Sanz, que argumenta que "lo más grave de la visita es el rango de quien la realiza, lo cual supone un reconocimiento a Gibraltar como país soberano".”

DIDN’T WE HAVE A LOVELY TIME…?

How does the old song go – “Didn’t we have a lovely time the day we went to Gibraltar?” OK so Fiddlers Dram sang Bangor but same difference.

Earlier this week in the respected Gibraltar Daily ‘Panorama’ its editor Joe Garcia wrote: “Superficially, the visit to Gibraltar of the Spanish foreign minister will be remembered as the day Miguel Angel Moratinos came to Gibraltar for lunch, almost like any other tourist, spending a few hours on the Rock and then returning to his native Spain.”

I take his point but it wasn’t Miguel Ángel Moratinos who was the day tripper but Britain’s Foreign Secretary, David Miliband and in his relaxed demeanour it showed. Parliament is now on its summer hols and Tuesday’s meeting of the Tripartite Forum was a chance for the perhaps future British Prime Minister to press the flesh with Caruana and Moratinos, have a nice lunch, go to the top of the Rock, see the apes (I hold my tongue here) and then home again.

For Gibraltar’s Chief Minister, Peter Caruana, and Spain’s Foreign Secretary, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, it was an historic occasion because it was the first time a Spanish government minister made an official visit to the Rock since it became a British colony.

Britain wants to see good relations between Spain and Gibraltar and the Córdoba Agreement signed by Britain, Spain and the Rock underpins the Tripartite Forum. However the fact is that the nitty gritty of these talks does not affect Britain at all.

The issue that nearly scuppered these talks before they started – Gibraltar’s territorial waters – does concern the UK because it claims the internationally accepted three mile limit. None-the-less it would prefer Madrid and Gibraltar to sort it out amongst themselves.

The other key issues such as the airport, ease of access across the border, pollution and management of shipping in the bay, cancer studies, co-operation between Gibraltar and the Campo de Gibraltar are all parochial matters far from London and more importantly do not affect votes in British elections.

Which really only leaves the issue of sovereignty. I do not believe that the current British Labour Government would have any objections to Gibraltar becoming Spanish or as a first step holding joint sovereignty. After all it was that very agreement the former Prime Minister Tony Blair tried to impose on the people of the Rock. Britain will uphold the right of the people of Gibraltar to decide whether they remain British or join Spain – but the Foreign Office, of which David Miliband is the head honcho, would be very happy for the Union flag to be hauled down or at least share the same pole. So it is hardly surprising that Miliband had a relaxing day away from the Westminster village on the Rock whilst Caruana and Moratinos got down to business with cat calls from their respective opposition parties ringing in their ears.

HISTORIC HANDSHAKE

Ok it might not rival the anniversary of man or men first landing on the moon or Freddie Flintoff’s heroics at Lords where England beat Australia for the first time in 75 years at cricket but in relations between Spain and Gibraltar it is historic.

Today Gibraltar’s Chief Minister, Peter Caruana, welcomed Spain’s Foreign Minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, to the Rock Hotel where they were joined at the Tripartite Ministerial talks by Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband. It was historic because it was the first official visit by a Spanish minister to Gibraltar since it became a British colony.