FABIAN PICARDO’S office is surrounded by guns. In the courtyard sits a huge black cannon, while the entrance is protected by two more goldplated monsters, glinting in the sun.
But the new Chief Minister of Gibraltar hopes he will find a peaceful way to protect the Rock, despite an escalation in the war of words with Madrid.
“We are always hopeful that Spain will follow us into the 21st century and drop its claim on our land,” said Mr Picardo, in his first interview with a British newspaper since winning the December election.
“The Spanish government are playing to their constituency of support and concentrating more on the theory of their claim rather than the realities on the ground. And that is a tragedy for people of both sides of the frontier.”
If Mr Picardo, 39, was expecting a gentle introduction to the 300-year-old tussle over the sovereignty of Gibraltar, then he has had a brusque awakening.
Just as the newly re-elected Cristina Kirchner in Argentina has begun a diplomatic push against British “colonisation” of the Falkland Islands, Spain’s ruling Partido Popular (PP) — freshly in power, following the November general elections — has been pushing sovereignty over Gibraltar up the agenda.
Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister, has abandoned the tripartite talks over areas of co-operation between Spain, Britain and Gibraltar. Instead, on Wednesday, Madrid formally asked Britain for bilateral talks over the sovereignty of Gibraltar to the fury of the excluded overseas territory’s residents.
“They want to turn me into a Spaniard, but not one part of me is Spanish,” said Martin Pickford, a businessman, as he drove through the streets in the shadow of the Rock.
“My ancestors were from Malta. Many more are from Genoese merchants or Italian sailors. No one here wants to be suddenly told they are Spanish.”
The publication of the former Europe minister Peter Hain’s memoirs last month, in which he told how Tony Blair came close to agreeing joint Spanish-british sovereignty, has further raised hackles in Gibraltar. The territory was ceded to Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, and has been British ever since.
José Manuel García-margallo, the foreign minister of Spain, sparked alarm in Gibraltar last month when he greeted a British MEP friend with the age-old rallying cry: “Gibraltar: Spanish!” and he has written to William Hague to demand clarification on Britain’s stance. Mr Rajoy is set to meet David Cameron in London at the end of this month, but the authorities in Gibraltar are trusting that the British prime minister will defend their interests.
Yet Mr Picardo knows he must be on his guard, and inside his office, just off Main Street in Gibraltar, the Oxfordeducated lawyer told The Sun
day Telegraph his government will not be intimidated by sabre-rattling from Madrid.
“We are seeing what appears to be a more proactive desire by Spain to raise the sovereignty issue,” he said, criticising Madrid’s decision to cease tripartite talks.
“The Spanish government does not best serve the interests of its people, especially those in the local area, by snubbing an international agreement to which it has subscribed in principle.
“And with five million or so people unemployed, it seems to me the Spanish have more important priorities than historic claims over my people.”
Certainly, the stricken economy in Spain, where one in two young people are unemployed, has renewed focus on Spain’s British neighbour.
Growth this year in Gibraltar is expected to be more than 4per cent, while there is almost full employment. Gibraltar makes its money through offshore finance, tourism, its port and online gaming, while a low corporate tax rate of 10per cent has brought businesses to its shores. “We believe we can attract the sort of investors that the rest of Europe would be welcoming with open arms,” said Mr Picardo.
Across the border, in the Spanish town of La Línea, residents gaze wistfully at their thriving neighbour.
“Just look at it. It is obviously part of Spain, and it’s crazy that it isn’t accepted as such,” said Pepe, 60, a retired hotelier, who did not want to give his surname.
In the Andalusian plaza in the centre of town, others complain that Gibraltarians use the low-tax business regime to secure deals on mainland Spain. The smuggling of cheap Gibraltarian tobacco into Spain is also a problem. “I am Spanish and I defend Spain, but they insult it,” said Inmaculada Floria, 36. She is one of 7,000 Spaniards who make their living in Gibraltar.
“The people there are really scared of the PP — they asso- ci - ate the party with Franco, who blockaded Gibraltar for 13 years. They should be talking about ways of improving co-operation, not just saying ‘No, no, no’.”
Her husband Tomas Rodriguez, 39, a civil servant, said: “It’s true that a lot of Spaniards aren’t interested in Gibraltar. But it affects us directly. For instance, a coffee in La Línea costs the same as in Madrid, and we are pushed out of the property market. It needs to be sorted out.”
But those within Gibraltar’s ancient fortress walls argue that the territory does help the local area. A study by the Gibraltar Chamber of Commerce found that almost 20per cent of jobs in the immediate region were provided by Gibraltar.
Furthermore, Spanish workers in Gibraltar earned £43million in 2007, the most recent data available, which would be spent in Spain, while Gibraltar firms imported £174million of goods from Spain. “Gibraltar and Spain have a symbiotic relationship and we can do a lot more to work together,” said Edward Macquisten , chief executive of the Chamber of Commerce. “But if Madrid continues to clamp down, then it won’t help anybody.” Beneath Mr Macquisten’s office, Roy’s Cod Plaice is doing a brisk trade. “Last year was the best I’ve had in 24 years here,” said Roy Walker, 62, the owner.
“But there is constant hostility from the Spanish authorities. Not from the people, but from their government.
“I live in Spain and come here every day, as do all my workers.
“The border queues are sometime two hours — why can’t it just be open like with Portugal or France?
“But I’m pleased David Cameron is standing up for us and saying sovereignty is our decision. And we want to stay as we are.”
It is a view shared by 98per cent of Gibraltarians, who in a 2002 referendum voted to maintain the status quo.
And it is something that Mr Picardo is determined to defend.
Is the cannon outside his office pointing in the direction of Spain, I ask?
“It’s pointing in the direction of the governor’s residence opposite — at the representative of the British Foreign Office,” he laughed.
“But that is totally unintentional as in any event it is decorative. We are confident in our position here.
“Gibraltar’s arsenal is intellectual.”