Rumpus on the Rock

...General Francisco Franco's spokesmen have been saying rude things about British imperialism in general, and the Crown Colony of Gibraltar in particular, for a quarter of a century now...

...In mid-February, British tourist bookings in Spain were 12 per cent higher than at the same time last year, and "serious" inquiries from British subjects wishing to buy real estate in Spain for vacations and retirement were almost 15 per cent higher...

...but even if it did not, the Moroccans could scarcely be expected to commute twice a day between Gibraltar and Tangier...

...But most of Gibraltar's Spanish inhabitants moved out to found the town of San Roque, five miles to the north, when the British took over in 1704...

...Its status is all the more humiliating for Spaniards because Spain herself was the first and, for a century and a half, the greatest of the modern imperial powers...

...Spanish plans are long-term and economic, not short-term and military...

...But British tourists are less important to Spain than those from the European Community (France alone sends Spain four times more visitors than Britain), and the number of foreign tourists visiting Spain each year has increased so dramatically (from two million in 1954 to 14 million in 1964) that a hundred thousand or so British abstentions would merely ease pressure on resources that are anyway becoming overstrained...

...British MPS and newspapers have urged their compatriots to put pressure on Spain by staying away from Spanish beaches this summer...

...but he might become one, however briefly, if he appeared on television one day to announce the recovery of Gibraltar...

...A few members of Gibraltar's legislature and city council are appointed by higher authority (the British governor), but the majority are elected by universal adult suffrage...

...Except for certain of the Soviet Union's wartime acquisitions, Gibraltar is the last colonial enclave in Europe...

...Some British officials are toying with the idea of importing Moroccan workers in preparation for the day when the supply of Andalusian labor dwindles, though this expedient would surely create more problems than it would solve...

...Seen from within, Gibraltar is as dismal as most naval and military bases_a cramped conglomeration of barracks, docks, narrow streets, dingy tenements, bleak bars and vomiting sailors though redeemed for tourists by its Mediterranean sun and low-tariff bazaars, piled high with the novelties and knicknacks of four continents...

...The Spanish authorities have set themselves two clear-cut objectives: to starve Gibraltar of labor, by providing employment in Spain for the 10,000 Spaniards who cross the border every day to work on the Rock, and to undermine its importance as a commercial and tourist center...

...This is scheduled to be in operation by the end of 1966...

...The Spanish customs men just stand there smoking and say: "We're under orders " Even foodstuffs and other essential supplies, most of which Gibraltar imports from Spain, are being held up...

...His relations with the Arab League are helped by the indebtedness of so-called "Arab socialism" to Fascist-Falangist doctrine, and by periodic assurances that-to quote a recent statement by one of his Near Eastern envoys -"Spain supports the Arabs in their struggle against Israel...

...Logically enough, King Hassan reportedly assured General Franco of his "sympathy" over Gibraltar when the two rulers met in mid-February...

...Present indications are that the Moroccan government would veto the scheme...

...British companies are among the airline operators most keenly interested in Malaga airport...

...Substantial advantages will be granted to American and other private firms wishing to erect plants in the zone...

...Orders for Gibraltar's food supplies are now being placed in Morocco, and efforts are being made to increase the colony's appeal as a tourist resort in its own right rather than as a mere stopover for travelers on their way to and from Spain...

...It seeks to make Gibraltar "a ruinous burden for the British taxpayer and a grievous prison for Gibraltar's inhabitants...

...The Rock's present occupants (25,700 in 1959) are the descendants of settlers brought in by the British from Genoa, Malta and elsewhere...

...If Gibraltar's inhabitants were Spanish and eager for reunion with Spain, and if Spain were a democracy, the case for a transfer of power would be morally irresistible...

...Franco would be in danger of losing the Army's support, which is essential to his regime, if he withdrew from North Africa without any countervailing advantage...

...3. Hydroelectric and irrigation schemes already started or planned on the Guadarranque, Hozgarganta and Guadiaro rivers, which flow into the sea within a few miles of Gibraltar, are to be expanded...

...General Franco has just replaced the mayor of Madrid-a former Director-General of Security of sinister reputation-with a new mayor, also Director-General of Security until last month...

...4. Three new tourist resorts are to be created on the western shore of the bay...

...Even without any such sensational success, raising a rumpus over the Rock is a welcome means of diverting attention from the agitation for higher pay and free labor unions that is again making itself felt in Spain...

...The only surprising thing about the Anglo-Spanish quarrel over Gibraltar is that it has been kept on ice for so long...

...A Spanish diplomat told his Moroccan opposite number recently: "Give us your support on Gibraltar and you may be sure that the Spanish government will take advantage of the national rejoicing the recovery of Gibraltar will provoke to make a generous settlement of your claims...

...Spanish strategy is to be "aislar para recuperar'' ("isolated to recuperate...

...They will possess bathing beaches, a yacht harbor, two 18hole golf courses, hotels, shopping centers, residential quarters for retired folk, the usual rentable "villas" and splendid views of Gibraltar...

...General Franco's foreign policy, cramped as it is by the refusal of the more mature European democracies to accept him, even as an associate member, in either NATO or the European Economic Community, is unable to go much beyond nostalgic flirtations with Hispano-America and the Arab League...

...Looking at that ugly great thing," an Irish nun told me one day, "my heart bleeds for Spain...

...But to the best of my knowledge nobody outside Ireland seriously expects Franco to march...

...Their loyalty is to Gibraltar, not Spain, though most of them speak Spanish and their integration in a democratic Spain would, in all likelihood, not be difficult...

...The words are those of the influential Catholic Action daily Y a, which has been campaigning for some time for an economic offensive against Gibraltar...

...5. Malaga airport is to be improved and extended...

...On the contrary, despite a certain shrillness in the Falangist press, the Spanish government is playing its hand coolly and raising its eyebrows at what it calls the excitability and irresponsibility of certain British newspapers and Members of Parliament...

...The Counter-measures Britain can take are limited...

...The building of a second, smaller, airport for this coast, near Algeciras, is under consideration...

...Britons and Gibraltarians who work on the Rock but prefer to live in Spain may no longer commute over the frontier daily...

...Left to its own resources, Gibraltar cannot survive...

...General Franco is not exactly a popular ruler...

...Five main projects have already been approved: 1. The Spanish national petroleum company, CEPSA, is to build a refinery-to be known as the Gibraltar refinery-on the northern shore of the Bay of Algeciras...

...The Gibraltar crisis also has a certain usefulness on the international level...

...2. An industrial zone devoted mainly to the manufacture of petrochemical products will be developed alongside the refinery by subsidiaries of the national industrial trust, INI...

...French and German cars pass through the Spanish customs in a couple of minutes ; British cars are allowed through at the rate of two every hour-not that they are all searched very thoroughly, Ray Alan is a British correspondent who has reported on Europe, Africa and the Middle East for many years...

...No democrat, however ardent his dislike of colonialism, could wish to see them snuffed out by General Franco...

...The Spanish press has given prominence to an editorial in the Irish Independent which declared that if Nehru was justified in seizing Goa, Franco would be justified in marching on Gibraltar...

...He must therefore stall, and Gibraltar provides the ideal excuse for stalling...

...Its officials are confident that, aided by frontier vexations, Malaga can attract many of the tourist air services from Britain and other parts of northern Europe which at present use Gibraltar...

...Irish volunteers, always eager for a donnybrook with the British, are offering the Spaniards their services...

...Russia's new bosses are showing no haste to renew the negotiations opened by Khrushchev and Franco through their ambassadors in Paris...

...If one must go there it is best nowadays not to speak English in the frontier zone or to have a British or Gibraltarian license plate on one's car...

...The key word is "democratic...

...The Rock will weigh heavier on John Bull's shoulders each year...

...A regime in which even a city like Madrid is not permitted to select its own mayor would have little consideration for tiny Gibraltar...

...These councils are, in fact, the only free assemblies in the Iberian peninsula...

...despite the Spaniards' insistence that Gibraltar is a hotbed of smuggling (which it is...

...STRUGGLE FOR GIBRALTAR Rumpus on the Rock By Ray Alan GIBRALTAR Seen from across the Bay of Algeciras, Gibraltar is a stirring sight though how it stirs you depends on the sort of history you were taught at school...

...and a Gibraltar cluttered with barracks and bidonvilles housing 10,000 Moroccans would be even less attractive to tourists than it is today...

...There is no hotheadedness whatsoever in official quarters in Madrid...

...A thermal power station will be built there...

...As it happens, too, the British public-bored by Whitehall's perpetual colonial squabbles, and increasingly anti-Commonwealth as a result of colored immigration-does not seem greatly interested in Gibraltar...

...They reflect precisely the dominant trend of official thinking on the subject...

...British investors are already taking an interest in the new tourist resorts planned for the Bay of Algeciras, and for their benefit the restrictions that have hitherto prevented foreigners from acquiring property in this area have been eased...

...But North African Moslem leaders, not greatly interested in Israel, would prefer Franco to demonstrate his goodwill by withdrawing from Ceuta, Melilla and other Spanish enclaves in their continent, and pressure for a showdown with Spain is steadily building up in Morocco...

...He will be unable to stand the strain indefinitely...