Bully boy Spain

Spain and Britain are old friends; they are members of the same clubs, the European Union and NATO and Spain is Britain's favourite holiday destination. So why can't Britain and Spain resolve the issue of Gibraltar as friends? Spain is behaving like a belligerent bully and could even be accused of sabre rattling. Let us remember that the people of Gibraltar are British citizens. If they want to leave their home and cross the border into Spain they face a four-hour delay at the border because Spanish customs officials insist on checking all vehicles. They even face a fifty euro levy if they enter Spain. So why is a good friend behaving in such a way? Well, the answer is simple. Spain is not doing very well at the moment. The economy is in deep recession, the political establishment has been tarnished by corruption allegations and there isn' t much good news about. So what do you do? You engineer a major political and diplomat spat over Gibraltar. The Rock, is a thorny issue in Spain. I always joke that the first word I learnt in Spanish was “Gibraltar.” The majority of Spaniards believe that Gibraltar should be returned to Spain. So Gibraltar is a nice side show. And at the end of the day there is no real dispute. I suspect that things will be soon forgotten. What can't be forgotten, though, is Spain's behaviour. Bullies need to be punished and Britain is right to consider legal action. Spain needs to be told that Gibraltar is not a convenient scape goat.