Carmen Gomez

How tragic for us and the UK

Dare I say that in Brussels, despite the front set up by Junker and Tusk, the member states are huddling round the queen bee in her hive, more out of fear of the unknown than simple camaraderie.  Read more

What the world witnesses about Spain is a shadow play

It’s interesting how, when Spanish environmental groups like Agaden, Verdemar and Greenpeace, present a document to do with finding ways to mitigate, what they consider to be dire environmental situations affecting the Bay of Gibraltar, they always relate the lack of attention given to this, to disagreements between Spain, the UK and Gibraltar. Read more

What kind of world are we living in?

I heard over the festive season; as passers-by were briefly interviewed on TV as to whether they did their Christmas shopping in stores or on the Internet; one woman say that she had no time to go shopping, so she preferred to buy online and have it brought to her doorstep. Read more

Are we all in an advanced state of political and moral decay?

When authoritarian solutions become increasingly popular in countries like Spain, it’s the result of great discontent which has helped bring the far right influence into politics; whose ideology is very foreign to ours and can end up affecting our trajectory. Embedded in the same system and subjected to the same pressures, political parties in Spain are squeezing and warping political life. But much the same is happening in the UK; with promises unkempt; lies veiled in truths; talk of gloom and doom; all of which can push the ordinary man in the street into a corner; where he finds himself in a quandary and worse still, sees himself unable to find a way out. It feels as if we are all in an advanced state of political and moral decay.  Read more

As the New Year dawns

Carmen Gomez Diary

Come the New Year, it’s a time to plan for the year ahead. In the life of this small nation of ours, I would like to think that we not only leave behind us certain negative attitudes which have troubled us incessantly; but be resolute in our resolve to demand that the UK give us clear and concise answers to our questions.  Read more

Take what’s ours while we still can

Mark Twain once said that “There was but one solitary thing about the past worth remembering and that was the fact that it is past and can’t be restored.” This is something we would like Spanish citizens, but more so its politicians, to think about for a while, digest, and then come to the conclusion, that in the same way that they can’t change many things about their country because they are part of their culture; likewise, they can’t possibly change our ways, because that too is part of our culture. Read more

We really have little choice

It was in 2011, that the then Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister said that Spain could not stop the arrival of submarines in Gibraltar, but that Britain as a partner and ally, could adopt a more constructive and cooperative attitude. Spain, a country that has never worried at paralyzing the community to protect her position over Gibraltar on air liberalization; external frontiers control etc; argued what right we had to export bilateral problems to a multilateral organization such as NATO, where decisions had to be taken unanimously; this after they themselves had brought the proceedings on maritime and air routes to and from Gibraltar.  Read more

What Sanchez is hoping for

From Carmen Gomez Diary

Once the UK is out of the way, Pedro Sanchez hopes that the EU will swing behind its 300 years old claim to recover sovereignty over the Rock. But his particular flirting with foreign policy has left those in Brussels uneasy. His last minute daredevilry, regarded by all as domestic political policy, should not in their view, have put into jeopardy a 3 hour choreographed morning; they were not impressed.  Read more

For once and for all; Will you or will you not?

When Shakespeare wrote “All the World’s a stage and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances and one man in his time plays many parts.” He was talking about life’s cycle; the reality of life; lines not dissimilar to the world of politics and politicians. Ordinary men and women; some not so ordinary, and indeed on rare occasions, “extraordinary” human beings who have captured our imagination.  Read more

How Spain could easily renege on any accord with Gibraltar

As the days go by, it looks like Brexit; with its reassurance from the UK in words at least for now; plus the role being played by our Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister who have come in for much praise from those in high places for their astute and intelligent handling of brexit matters; something which we take pride in; it looks like we are moving in a very positive direction. The desired factor now, for a tailor made relationship with the EU.  Read more