05/12/2012 00:00
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Palma.—Sir Roger Gale, who has maintained close relations with Majorca and the Bulletin, for which he writes a monthly column, was contacted by the newspaper last week in an attempt to see if someone would shed some light as to why the Balearics has been stripped of its Consul.

The new Consul for the Balearics visited the island last week for talks with senior Bulletin staff, the Central Government Delegate to the Balearics and the President of the Balearics, but Andrew Gwatkin is the Consul General in Barcelona and now has a large portfolio to look after, including commerce.

Community
What the Bulletin, and most of the British expatriate community on the island want to know is why we no longer have a full time Consul in place.
The newspaper has been assured that the reasons are not part of a cost cutting and restricting process, hence why the Bulletin decided to try and bring the issue to the attention of the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, William Hague.

With the Balearics attracting over ten million British holiday makers per year and with a large residential community, the region needs a full time Consul on site and even the British travel industry has been surprised by the decision to axe the post of Balearic Consul.

Roger Gale's two questions for William Hague have already posted in Parliament's web site on the business for the coming week link.
Gale, who is the longest serving Conservative MP and will celebrate 30 years as an MP next year having beaten Cherie Blair along the way when she once stood against him in North Thanet, has, among many other causes, championed the benefits and welfare of British expatriates for years.

Firstly Sir Roger will ask the Secretary of State if he will estimate the number of a) annual UK citizen visitors to, b) permanent expatriates UK citizens in and c) other UK homeowners in the Balearic Islands in the latest year for which the figures are available.

Then, Gale will ask Hague for the reasons behind the “downgrading of consul representation in the Balearic Islands and if he will make a statement.” The Foreign Office has already been contacted by a leading British businessman who owns a property on the island.
Richard Chew has been appalled by the decision to strip the region of its Consul and has written to the Foreign Office asking for an explanation under the all-powerful Freedom of Information Act.

Petition “The good thing about the Freedom of Information Act is that the government has to address your petition for information. I am looking forward to getting some answers. The Balearics needs a British Consul and I want to know why the Foreign Office has taken this action,” Chew said.

The Consul General Andrew Gwatkin made it quite clear last week that his “door will always be open to the Balearics” and that he will be paying frequent trips to the island when needed for professional and social reasons.

Gwatkin also told the President of the Balearics, Jose Ramon Bauza, that he is keen to develop a more commercial relationship between the Balearics and Great Britain.

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