Franco's Squeeze on Gibraltar
MOWRER, RICHARD
THE SQUEEZE ON GIBRALTAR By Richard Mowrer Franco's new plan: less polemics, more action Madrid One day last month, when press and radio clamor over Gibraltar was at its loudest, the dawn's...
...Spain should initiate a new-approach to the controversial question of Gibraltar,'" says Arriba...
...So nothing happened, which probably was just as well, because in the area adjoining Gibraltar the Army was alerted and ready, if necessary, to restrain the Falangists' enthusiasm...
...But our respect, for the Queen and the lack of practical results from such a protest caused us to restrain our enthusiasm...
...The day will come when Spain will have to refuse even water to those who have been offending us for two-and-a-half centuries...
...The regime was not risking a repetition of the January boomerang, and the "affront to Spain" was allowed to pass in silence...
...And what about the 12,000 Spaniards relieved of their jobs...
...if possible, severed completely...
...Importing substitutes from elsewhere would be no solution, because the two-square-mile bit of territory, most of it perpendicular, could not house them...
...Whether the blockade idea can be pushed through without hurting a large number of Spaniards remains to be seen...
...Economic interdependence between Gibraltar and the adjacent Spanish countryside, which has developed to mutual advantage over the years, is to be reduced and...
...The theory is that they would be shifted to the building of the American-financed air and naval bases due to start this summer...
...The 12,000 workers can still commute to their jobs on the Rock, but they are no longer permitted to go there on holidays...
...Madrid has closed down its Gibraltar consulate and barred the Gibraltar frontier to Spanish tourists...
...says the newspaper ABC...
...And would the United States permit American economic aid to Spain to contribute, however indirectly, to an operation designed to weaken an important NATO ally...
...Of action there had been none since January, when Government-tolerated demonstrations against Britain deteriorated into violent clashes with the police...
...Cooler heads, and probably Franco himself, are conscious of the hazards...
...The moving of the 12,000 workers and their families from the Gibraltar area to other parts would be a very expensive undertaking...
...Nevertheless, the squeeze is on...
...The Falange had planned to protest Queen Elizabeth's May visit to Gibraltar by lighting bonfires and tolling church-bells within sight and hearing of the British fortress, but the idea was dropped on orders from above...
...The Rock has no wells, but it gets what it needs from its salt-water distilling plant, from the sky when it rains, or from Britain by tanker...
...As one of Spain's best customers for oranges, wines and mineral ores, Britain is in a position to retaliate with an economic boycott that would hurt...
...Little by little ?because, as Franco has said, Gibraltar is not worth a war?the alien flag which usurped the place of our own banner two-and-a-half centuries ago will gradually be removed...
...THE SQUEEZE ON GIBRALTAR By Richard Mowrer Franco's new plan: less polemics, more action Madrid One day last month, when press and radio clamor over Gibraltar was at its loudest, the dawn's early light revealed these words painted on the outer wall of the Ministry of Justice: "Less polemics and more action?Gibraltar espanol...
...Well, by that time American aid will have brought into being a vast industrial-development scheme which will need all the labor it can get...
...With Franco at the controls, it is being applied with the maximum of caution...
...Deprive Gibraltar of this labor force and the base's efficiency and economy will be so impaired that the British will be forced to take cognizance of Spain's claim—so reason siege enthusiasts...
...Meanwhile, the first moves have been made...
...The plan is to lay economic siege to the British possession with the object of demonstrating that, without Spanish good will and cooperation, the base is of limited military value...
...After the Queen had come and gone, an article either written or inspired by Franco explained things by quoting a group of Falangist youths in southern Spain as saying: "We did not [demonstrate] because a lady was involved, and this would have been discourteous...
...In this connection, the interesting idea is going the rounds that American aid can be depended on to compensate for any economic loss that the Gibraltar operation might entail...
...Later, the Ministry said the order applied to Spaniards only, but the travel bureaus are left with the feeling that any traveler entering or leaving Spain by way of Gibraltar may one day encounter difficulties...
...That, at any rate, is how the more exuberant supporters of the siege have it figured...
...The other day, the heads of travel bureaus in Madrid were summoned to the Ministry of Information and Tourism and advised not to route travelers by way of Gibraltar...
...These measures don't amount to much, and they must annoy Spanish nationals at least as much as Gibraltar merchants...
...Of polemics there had been plenty, all of it controlled, regulated and channeled along specific lines of argument...
...And after that...
...The Queen had no personal responsibility for the role which she was made to play...
...No false move will be made, because Spain does not easily lose her head...
...We can be sure that everything has been calculated," says Arriba...
...At first, we intended to assemble half a million followers on the hills near Gibraltar and to light bonfires to show our protest when the royal yacht arrived...
...The special passes of Spaniards residing near the frontier, which allow them to visit the British colony, are not being renewed...
...If Spain should apply the squeeze to the extent of depriving Gibraltar of the 12,000 Andalusians currently employed there, that would be serious...
...ABC's hint that water from Spain will be denied the fortress is of slight importance...
...It may be necessary to consider whether all contact should not cease with a fortress in which is entrenched an unscrupulous financial system which pays poor wages and carries on smuggling...
...The base would be acutely short-handed...
...There are rumors that the Spanish customs post at the Gibraltar frontier is to be down-graded, which would be one way of curtailing the British colony's role as a port of entry to Spain...
...But there is promise of more to come: "Spain cannot go on supplying workers and food, thus perpetuating the Gibraltar problem...
...How tight it gets will depend on circumstances...
...Fresh water from Spain tastes better but isn't essential...
...Madrid's trump, it is hinted here, is the fact that Gibraltar's smooth functioning as a money-making naval base and coaling station depends to a large extent on the availability of the 12,000 Andalusian workers who commute from homes in Spain to jobs on the Rock...
...Lately, however, Franco has begun to explore a new line of attack for forcing the Gibraltar issue: "Less polemics" perhaps not, but "more action," yes...
...This is the line of action which develops for the future...
Vol. 37 • June 1954 • No. 25
