And here’s our secret weapon: Miss World battling for The Rock
OUT in the Bay of Gibraltar yesterday lunchtime, a Spanish warship turned up, hanging around like a bully at the school gates.
But it certainly wasn’t spoiling the party mood onshore as the most famous Gibraltarian on the planet was being installed as the mayor.
Well might Spain want to flex its muscles, though. For it has a formidable new adversary — yet another British ‘Iron Lady’ shaping the long, fraught story of the Rock’s determined quest to stay British.
Doing her best to calm the belligerent tone of the latest Anglo-Spanish quarrel over Gibraltar, Theresa May has invoked Churchill’s maxim — namely that ‘jawjaw’ is better than ‘war-war’.
To which one local wag yesterday responded: ‘And so is phwoar phwoar.’
It is neither sexist nor even debatable to describe Kaiane Lopez as the world’s most photogenic mayor. Only a few years ago, in 2009, the then-Miss Gibraltar went on to conquer the globe when she was crowned Miss World, no less.
Having hung up her crown, she now has a mayoral chain. Even Boris Johnson in his zipwire-dangling prime seems something of a dullard compared to the new occupant of City Hall here on the Rock.
Kaiane’s position may be a largely ceremonial and apolitical one, just like that of the Queen, beneath whose portrait and coat of arms she was formally appointed yesterday.
But on one issue, she has no qualms about speaking her mind. ‘I am proud to be British,’ she told me. ‘Gibraltar is British and always will be. Why would we ever want to change our flag?’
She was presented with her regalia by the territory’s Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, who invoked a bit of Blitz spirit as he borrowed another line from the book of Churchill. ‘These are difficult times,’ he declared to the City Hall audience, ‘but we will never accept being discriminated against. We will never surrender!’ Cue thunderous applause from a cross-section of Gibraltarian life. AMONG this crowd, as with any Gibraltarian you stop in the street, there remained festering disappointment after last week’s announcement by European Council President Donald Tusk that the Eu intends to give Spain its very own veto over any Brexit deal for Gibraltar on top of the veto it already enjoys, like all Eu nations, over Britain’s Brexit deal.
No one here is surprised that Spain has been nobbling Mr Tusk and the Eu. But they are hurt that, having voted overwhelmingly to stay in the Eu — Gibraltar’s 96 per cent was by far the highest Remain vote — Europe should single them out for extra-special punishment.
Because Mr Tusk’s announcement effectively gives Spain an equal say in the future of a territory over which, until now, it had no say. As Edward Macquisten, chief executive of the Gibraltar Chamber of Commerce, put it: ‘If this is how the Eu treat their supporters, it doesn’t bode well for the future of Europe.’
Adolfo Canepa, the outgoing mayor, said: ‘ Europe has just legitimised the claim of Spain and that is not just hurtful. I am aghast.’ Like Kaiane, he has been a rigorously non-political public figure — not least because he is also Speaker of the Gibraltarian Parliament — but, on this, he is happy to explode.
Because if there is one subject on which there is absolutely no dispute among anyone here, Left or Right, old or young, it is that they all want to be part of Britain — the same Britain that voted for a Brexit they emphatically did not want.
As Spain prepares to use Brexit as a stick with which to beat this infuriatingly and resolutely red, white and blue pimple on its southern rump, the new Mayor Lopez is one more reason why Gibraltar refuses to countenance, let alone discuss,
the issue of sovereignty. The Miss World contest may have faded in the British consciousness. It’s years since primetime telly would screen the annual crop of ‘lovelies’ as they paraded in swimsuits and trotted out the same old platitudes about wanting to ‘travel, work with children and bring world peace’.
But Miss World is still a huge global phenomenon, watched by up to 1 billion people. And when Kaiane came home with the crown in 2009, almost the entire 30,000strong population turned out to give her a ticker-tape parade.
They couldn’t have given two hoots whether feminists had condemned Miss World as patronising, sexist, dated twaddle. It was the first time Gibraltar had beaten the whole world. Locals here still rank it alongside the two other red letter days in its modern history — the visit of the Queen in 1954, and the wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1981 (their honeymoon cruise on the Royal Yacht set sail from here).
And everyone is acutely aware that, if Madrid should ever win its 300-year battle to absorb Gibraltar into Spain, that would be the end of Miss Gibraltar becoming Miss World. But I think we are going to hear a lot more about this particular young lady — who, at 30, also happens to be the youngest mayor in Gibraltar’s history.
She got off to a flying start yesterday, announcing the mayoralty’s first website and Twitter account (Gibraltar is a little behind the curve in a few regards). Echoing the Churchillian sentiments, she pledged to serve ‘the people of Gibraltar as a community, a nation and together as a family’. HER whole family were there: husband Aaron, a marine surveyor, oneyear-old daughter Kalia, and her parents, Randal and Elke. ‘ British? We are 300 per cent British,’ said Randal, 50, who works for the Ministry of Defence. Lopez’s grandmother, Sonia Czasch, went even further. ‘I might be married to an Austrian, but I am British through and through and I will fight to the end to stay like that.’
Afterwards, as the naval corvette Infanta Cristina was still stirring things up out in the bay, I asked the new mayor what she thought about the Spanish. ‘I prefer to leave the politics to the politicians,’ she said, in her best diplomatic voice. ‘We all enjoy Spain so much and we all enjoy them coming here. We have the best of both worlds.’
So what if there was a Spanish flag rather the Union flag at City Hall? She looked stunned. ‘ I’m British. I couldn’t possibly imagine changing my roots.’
Later, I sat down with Chief Minister Picardo, who was happy to go a great deal further. ‘People regard this European statement as a real slap in the face,’ he said. ‘Spain is behaving perniciously. She is trying to steal a march by having this double veto.’
What really irks him is Spain’s strategy to ensure a solid trade deal with the UK — with whom it has a £5 billion trade surplus — and then have a separate one to clobber Gibraltar.
And he is not about to panic just because the Spanish have sent a warship. ‘ They reserve that for special occasions,’ he laughed, pointing out it was Spain who refuelled the Russian fleet on its way to bomb Syria.
‘The UK and the U.S. are the only reliable partners the world wants to see controlling the Straits of Gibraltar.’
What about the remarks by former Tory leader Lord (Michael) Howard, comparing this dispute to the Falklands War? In Britain, Labour and the Lib Dems have had an attack of the vapours — accusing him of war-mongering — while Madrid has issued stern demands for Britain to ‘calm down’.
Mr Picardo was rather amused, though irritated by the hypocrisy of it all. ‘I’m surprised that people jumped out of their shorts at the thought a retired minister is able to declare war.
‘ Every day, I hear retired politicians, ambassadors and military people in Spain saying they are going to cut off the frontier, cut off our water and electricity,’ he said with a shrug, adding that these Spanish armchair warriors are not terribly well-informed, as Gibraltar is entirely self- sufficient in power and water. ‘Spain spends most of her time kicking us in the shins. Then, when there is a passionate reaction in the UK, she says: “Keep calm”.’ He pointed out the serial pettiness of Spain with its latest act of sporting spite — vetoing Gibraltar’s application to enter the next World Cup.
So, what next? Mr Picardo says he is ‘ confident in the extreme’ that Theresa May will fight Gibraltar’s corner in Brussels. But he will still be watching closely ‘with a cynical eye’ to ensure that the UK stays that way.
‘This now has to be the first item on the agenda when ministers sit down and start negotiating.’
Once a staunch European, he is looking forward to a few changes in his office. Pointing to the European flag alongside those of the UK and Gibraltar, he says he has already decided what will take its place on March 29, 2019, when Brexit is a reality. ‘That European flag is going — and we’ll have the Commonwealth one in its place.’