Carmen Gomez

Securing our post-Brexit future

Sir Lyndsay Hoyle; Gibraltar’s great friend and defender; the new Speaker of the House of Commons; back in 2014, wrote to the Spanish ambassador to London, complaining about the treatment received by some British people on their way across the border; and the three line response to him at the time was; that this was what “we” should expect as long as “we” continued to pursue outdated colonial desires to occupy a piece of Spain illegally.  Read more

Hidden Agendas

In October this year it was reported that the then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union Chris Heaton-Harris, had met with the vice secretary for International relations from Vox, the ultra right group in Spain. According to open Democracy, it had learnt that the minister in question who later resigned in April this year, less than a year after he had been appointed; had discussed Brexit with the far right representative.  Read more

CARMEN GOMEZ DIARY

Power Cuts/ Control Tower

When you hear of Spanish helicopters flying freely over our air space; when you hear of alien boats landing on our shores; when you walk down Main Street on a day when cruise ships are in town and a power cut occurs, yet again due to another power cable being drilled through; all of which is hugely prejudicial to Gibraltar’s interests; when on top of all that you hear that the MOD forgot, or didn’t bother to inform any civilian authorities that they had laid down an electric cable, and that yet more flights have been diverted to Malaga because there was no one available to man the control tower; you have to wonder whether our authorities are really in control of the safety and smooth running of Gibraltar’s affairs and whether the MOD has some hidden agenda.  Read more

Now that the dust is settling

Now that the dust is settling on the electioneering front, no doubt it will be time to look to the wider stage i.e. Brexit. The next few days will also no doubt be a time for the raising of questions and comments from members of the political parties, as to how they thought their parties presented themselves in their televised appearances etc. and whether the content of their manifestoes worked or not. Some candidates may even feel they were simply there to prop up others; if you know what I mean.  Read more

CARMEN GOMEZ DIARY

Minority groups in Gibraltar?

Am I correct in saying that what I read recently about the Youth forum and one of their requests to Government which was granted there and then, translates into what my argument queries? Firstly, I welcome the fact that an Arabic teacher is to be incorporated at the Gibraltar College. Gibraltar has always had very strong ties with North Africa including our historical connection, and it would be a source of pride to be able to learn their language amongst others. Read more

Sweeping statements without proof...

In the election fever that is whipping up at present, sweeping statements have been made by some; with the idea of hoping to besmirch the reputation of a certain party; without realising that without these being backed by some kind of proof, they remain “sweeping statements;” and therefore do not command credibility. Nevertheless, they can do much damage; not only because they sow the seeds of doubt in some people’s minds; but also as importantly, or more so, because the entire membership of that party finds itself branded by the supposed wrongdoings!  Read more

Gibraltar’s best interests at heart

On the inside sleeve off my book “Memories bound up with life” is written; “at this moment I have felt inspired to wander back, rediscovering in the past a present to remember.” it has reminded me that looking back is healthy, because in so doing there are comparisons to be made between days gone by and now; comparisons which help us to see how far we have come on our journey through life; in the life of our small nation. In so doing, understand what strides we have made, but also what precious things have been lost along the way; like a code of conduct we all lived by which in modern times has lost its appeal, sadly. However, what I have found in rediscovering the past, is something that time has neither erased, nor been affected by the passing of the years; i.e. the determination of the Gibraltarians to live their lives as British citizens and survive any onslaught from Spain.  Read more

Not two, but three players attempt checkmate

As Gibraltar moves closer to the new sewage plant being in action.

Spanish divers taking water samples from the sea in Palma say there are so many fecal remains it actually smells. “But it’s okay” someone says “the fish eat this”. So now we have reduced the fish diet to fecal remains and plastics. Because in Spain they are used to discarding their residues into their rivers and surrounding waters, and the regional municipalities are not for spending money clearing or purifying its rivers, they are now paying a hefty price for it. Due to recent heavy rainfalls many regions in Spain have sadly suffered not only the loss of lives; including that of hundreds of livestock; but of properties all through a lack of maintenance of their rivers.  Read more

OUR INDOMITABLE FAITH IN OURSELVES WILL PREVAIL

This, ladies and Gentlemen is what is remembered today in Spain under the heading “Gibraltar, the great shame of the false Spanish democracy”; concerning that fateful 8th of June of 1969 when Franco decreed the closure of the “Verja.” Not words of woe for their then 5,ooo families who would find themselves out of work and out of pocket; soon to lose homes they could not pay for; destitute; La Linea turning into a ghost town. Nothing like that expressed in said text; just talk of the thorn in the heart and dignity of Spain and words of repulsion towards their own; I quote “although there are many cowardly Spaniards who strive to say that Gibraltar must continue being British because there are thousands of Spaniards working on the Rock.”  Read more

We must never forget the inhumanity suffered from Spain - and ensure new generations don’t either

Promises may come and go; but in the bitter sweet message delivered by our Chief Minister on stage at Europa Point on Monday evening; before the commencement of one of the most beautiful and magical of nights Gibraltar has had the pleasure of experiencing of late; i.e. the Andrea Bocelli concert; I felt we should all of us, want to make the promise of never forgetting what the evening of such exquisite artistry was marking, which was our fifty years since the closure of the frontier.  Read more