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The tale of two stories
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By David Eade
On Friday afternoon the Gibraltar Government issued a press release on the progress in the talks with the local Spanish fishermen who are barred from fishing in our waters.
You may have since read it here or online but I will repeat it so there is no confusion. The press release reads: “Chief Minister Fabian Picardo today met representatives of Spanish fishermen from La Linea and Algeciras at No 6 Convent Place.
“At the meeting Mr Picardo outlined the very considerable progress that has been made by the Commission established by the Government. Monday will see a further meeting between Gibraltar and Spanish experts. The Government expects that this will lead to a preliminary report with the experts’ recommendations being provided to the Government some 5 to 10 days thereafter.
“The Chief Minister made clear that the Government will await the recommendations of the Commission’s report before deciding whether any further data is required by the Government. If further data is required, the Government will expect to have all such data provided by the end of November.”
Then it adds the critical paragraph: “Only when all necessary data and information is available will the Government make final decisions in respect of the representations being made to it by the fishermen from Gibraltar and Spain.”
The statement is very straightforward, no political double speak, what it says is what the situation is. So imagine my amazement when I took coffee on Saturday morning in the Vecina Bar in Jimena to be told: “The fishing dispute is over. Gibraltar has caved in!”
I restated the message of our government’s press release but that was waved aside. It’s been on the radio and TV I was informed: read the paper I was instructed – so I did.
The headlines all gave the same message: “Gibraltar cede y permite a los pescadores faenar cerca de sus aguas hasta diciembre.” Obviously the actual write up varied from paper to paper but here is just one that is typical: “Los pescadores españoles podrán pescar en aguas próximas a Gibraltar desde el 16 de agosto hasta diciembre, según el acuerdo al que han llegado este viernes con el ministro principal del Peñón, Fabian Picardo, para solucionar un conflicto que comenzó hace cuatro meses.”
I doubled checked with our government because it was possible there had been another press release I had not received or a second page I had not read. “No” was the answer: what you read is what the situation is and the only fishing that will be allowed will be for scientific reasons.
From our standpoint then the situation is crystal clear. There are no hidden deals which we have not been told about: so what is the Spanish media playing out? This is not one rogue report but the theme of the day on radio, TV and in the press.
There are a number of possible answers. It could be the spokespersons for the local fishermen were determined to present a successful message: perhaps to accuse Gibraltar of later breaking its word by going back on a non-existent accord. It could be that a Spanish press agency, deliberately or mistakenly, gave out an incorrect version of events and as Spain’s newspapers tend to copy such releases verbatim that became the official version. However it has to be said if you were a fisherman in La Línea or Algeciras you would believe you can start fishing again shortly when in fact you can’t.
FAR FROM OVER
What is clear from our government is that the fishing dispute is far from over: our chief minister is not going to be pushed and shoved in to a position not of his choosing: that a settlement will only be reached when all the scientific and other reports have been studied in detail and whilst the eventually position of Gibraltar will be finite it may not be to the liking of Spain (or Whitehall).
07-08-12
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