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Spanish punch-up over Caruana
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by JOE GARCIA
Ironically, the president of the Andalusian regional government, the Junta, went to Cordoba to launch an attack on Gibraltar's chief minister Peter Caruana. But this was more than a three-sided Spanish punch-up over the Rock.
Chaves was critical about what he considers to be delays in sorting out matters over the New Flame, adding that another 4 months is too much time and that "had they let us do it when we requested it, the ship would not be there now."
But the Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos does not agree with his PSOE sparring partner. Moratinos has been highlighting that there exists good cooperation with the Gibraltar government to solve the problem and that the Rock's authorities had assumed their responsibility over the half-sunken vessel.
Mr Caruana had said earlier this week that the British and Spanish governments were being kept informed about developments and they had expressed satisfaction over the salvage arrangements now in place.
But Sr Chaves threw another punch in Gibraltar's direction, saying that "absolutely unnecessary damage" had been caused in the coasts of the Campo which could have been avoided. Hence, the Junta's legal services were nearing to concluding plans for a legal battle.
The Junta's spokesman Gaspar (not one of the Three Kings) Zarrias joined the fray and eleborated on the judicial developments expected within the next few weeks.
There were two options: To take the matter to the Spanish courts to apply the penal code for the damages caused or to take the matter to the European court as Gibraltar had not handled this matter in a correct fashion.
The former would cost them money and the latter would come out of Madrid's coffers. He thinks they will opt for the latter option.
Sr Zarrias went on to advise the Gibraltar government to use all measures available to avoid any leaks, and should there be any, to immediately advise the relevant Spanish authorities.
So as not to miss out, another Junta councillor named Evangelina Naranjo (does she know more about oranges than ships?) has joined in and caused a ripple in the waves of criticism washing the Rock, also bombarding the lateness in tackling the deepening situation.
The ecologist groups could not stay out of this: Everything that comes from Caruana has to be placed in quarantine because he has been five months without doing anything effective.
Agaden took a more light-hearted approach comparing the situation with a TV serial, offering one episode after another, and suggesting there was never a happy ending. A spokesman urged the Spanish government to be 'firm' over the insurers of the vessel and the Rock's authorities to bring to an end "this nightmare".
As expected, the spectre of Antonio Mu?oz of Verdemar fame was to haunt the developing war of words, as he assured all and sundry that the "public apparition" of Peter Caruana changed nothing. Only one thing kept changing, the names of the companies hired to recover the ship.
Like a flash of lightning, there emerged a brainwave from the ecologist camp: What needs doing, and urgently, is to remove the ship and the 42,000 tons of scrap it carries, to avoid further contaminating leaks which have been affecting the beaches of Algeciras since August.
With so many tons of polluting material having piled up in Algeciras, all from the New Flame so they say, it has to be asked if the sample requested by Caruana has now been made available because if it has not, it might arrive long after the ship and the warring parties have disappeared from this fishy frontline...to fight another battle on some other topic, some other day...
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