14 August

I feel compelled to write to you after having read the correspondence from Terence Mustoe in your issue of 12th August.

In an ignorant and highly illogical correspondence Terence Mustoe maintains that when religions flourished in Europe in the past there was totalitarianism, but whatever the historical facts the question of homosexual same sex marriage has absolutely nothing to do with this.

What he forgets is that it is not religion that causes conflict and dictatorships. Our vulnerability would appear to lie in Politics and Politicians when Dictators are created like Hitler and Franco.

As for racism, in Spain it was a combination of British Tourism and American Arms that had maintained General Franco in power and not the Catholic Church and consequently denied the Spanish people liberty.

There seems to be a fashionable argument amongst homosexuals that they are being discriminated and do not have equality because they have not been granted same sex marriage.

But how can you determine that you are being discriminated by a non-existent right? We must not forget that same sex marriage is not a human right as given in a recent Human Right court ruling by the United Nations Organisation.

It is to me, at it is, to a majority of people in this country a matter of total indifference whether some countries have granted homosexual same sex marriage or not and certainly does not alter the fact that it is still immoral in this enlightened age.

Finally it is the electorate who must decide by a democratic referendum, the question of same sex marriage and not the politicians by legislating in Parliament.

Yours sincerely,

Francis Gonzalez

14-08-15 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR

Art and politics top the bill for Gibraltar Literary Festival

August 14, 2015

Details of the prestigious authors and speakers who have confirmed their participation in the 3rd edition of the Gibunco Gibraltar International Literary Festival have now been released.

A Government statement says that over the past two years the Gibunco Gibraltar International Festival has become one of the most outstanding literary festivals in the English speaking world, featuring distinguished novelists, historians, biographers, food writers and public figures from Britain, the USA, North Africa and Asia.

The festival will again be based at the Garrison Library and other historic venues around Gibraltar.

This year the festival will run for four days (as opposed to three days in 2013 and 2014) and the festival bookshop at the Garrison Library will be open for six days from Wednesday 11 to Monday November 16.

The Schools' Festival will once more be staged over two days - Thursday 12 and Friday 13 November in association with the Department of Education.

Among the highlights will be a talk by art historian and acclaimed JMW Turner biographer James Hamilton entitled 'Turner in Gibraltar,' and another by author Andrew Lownie on his new book 'Stalin's Englishman' a biography of Soviet spy Guy Burgess.

There will also be contributions from Professor Andrew Lambert on Gibraltar's Royal Navy role during World War II and by Andrew Chislett, veteran English journalist, author and expert on the Spanish transition to democracy. Mr Chislett will give a talk entitled 'Spain Forty Years after Franco.'

A full programme for schools and a panel discussion on Brexit - Britain's possible exit from the EU and its potential implications for Gibraltar - chaired by Dr Charles Powell, King Juan Carlos I of Spain's biographer, are also planned. Dr Powell is the current director of the Instituto Elcano think-tank.

Minister for Tourism, Equality, Social Services and Housing, Samantha Sacramento, said she was delighted that the literary festival has again secured an impressive field of worldclass speakers.

"The Gibunco Gibraltar International Festival is going from strength to strength with each successive edition. The varied and exciting programme includes culture, art, politics, gastronomy and history. I am confident the talks will appeal to a wide cross section of the community.

"The literary festival has become an important part of Gibraltar's cultural calendar and forms part of the Gibraltar Government's event-led tourism policy which we have worked hard to promote, and which has proved such a success in opening up the Rock as a major cultural venue to the rest of Europe.

"We are looking forward to a third edition which has been made possible through the close collaboration of the Gibraltar Tourist Board, with the support of the Ministry for Culture, and in partnership with other key stakeholders in the private sector."

14-08-15 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR

Bye, bye Llanito!

August 14, 2015

Gibraltar's unique 'Spanglish' dialect of Llanito is under threat. Is it a natural consequence of modern times or are Gibraltarians turning away from Spanish for political reasons?

The residents of Gibraltar have long spoken a mixture of English and Spanish in their daily lives; living so close to the Spanish border has meant the British overseas territory has developed a unique variety of Spanglish known as Llanito.

But the dialect - a mixture of English, Spanish with Portugese, Italian and Jewish influences - is now under threat as younger generations increasingly live and learn in a monolingual environment.

"These days, children are taught in English in school and for the past 20 years it has been English, English, English," Tito Vallejo Smith, told The Local.

"We have much less contact with Spain than in the past," he added, "in the past mothers were Spanish and children spoke English and they communicated in a mixture of the two which was Llanito. Nowadays all the mothers speak English," he added.

"The damage that Spain has inflicted on Gibraltar with its insults and constant bullying makes it a language of the oppressor," a source close to the government of Gibraltar told The Local.

14-08-15 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR

Concerns regarding an incident

August 14, 2015

Dear Sir,

It is with regret that I contact you with concerns regarding an incident involving my 9 year old daughter. We were shopping in Morrisons Gibraltar on Tuesday 11 at approximately 19.30. An adult male hit hard my daughter causing pain swelling and bruising to her upper arm. The police are involved.

My concerns towards a big shopping store like Morrisons is that the cctv is not in operation.

The Management were reluctant to disclose how long this system has been 'out of use'. There were no security when this incident took place. The Management disclosed the security officer finished shift at 19.00 hours. This incident happened at approx.19.30 hours. They informed that if the cameras had been in use, where the incident took place (express tills 18/19) the cameras do not cover that area.

There are no cctv covering the car park area.

Thank goodness that we had helpful citizens at the time and managed to obtain this person's car number plate, consequently resulting in his arrest. No thanks to Morrisons as with no cctv and no security we would have been left in a very difficult situation; I believe to be a huge Management flaw that needs reassessing for everyone's safety.

We would very much like to thank the citizens that day as without them this assailant would have no doubt got away. I did not have enough time to personally thank them that day. We are on holiday and unfortunately has now tainted it with emotional scars, and rightfully the ongoing police investigations.

I thank you in advance to hopefully help with a message to the Gibraltarian citizens that helped us that day.

Much regard,

Miss S A Segovia/Hutchinson

14-08-15 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR

Six Gibraltar Scholars as 'A' results hit 96%

August 14, 2015

Many positive elements, says minister Licudi

Students from Bayside, Westside and the Gibraltar College have again achieved a good set of 'A' Level results, with six Gibraltar Scholars as results hit the 96% mark.

Results were issued as from 8am to ensure that students were given every possible chance of competing with their UK counterparts in the race to secure the much prized University places, said the Government.

The pass rate A* - E was up from 2014 to 96% consistent with the general pattern observed over the last three years.

Each of the three schools had an increase of 2% in the overall pass rate compared to last year. Top grades of A* - B have been predicted in the UK to suffer a drop. Despite this, Bayside actually achieved an increase of 2% in the pass rate for the top grades. Both Westside and Bayside saw an increase in the top grades for mathematics.

Minister for Education, Gilbert Licudi, welcomed the results and said: "There are many positive elements in these results. A considerable number of our students will go off to take up places at some of the top Universities in the UK. Credit must be given to the students as well as to the teaching and support staff. It is, however, inevitable that there will be some students who are disappointed with their results. They will require help and guidance in the coming weeks as they seek to secure a university place through the Clearing process. They should rest assured that all necessary help will be afforded by their teachers and by senior staff at the Department of Education."

There were six Gibraltar Scholars overall: four from Bayside and two from Westside.

14-08-15 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR