University address on Military Matters

Monday, February 25, 2019 - 12:36

As editor of Panorama daily, I was invited to deliver an address, in Spanish, at one of the summer courses organised by the University of Malaga. 

The topic was ‘the military strategy of Gibraltar’. The other person invited was a former Spanish navy captain Angel Liberal whose father was the Chief of Defence in the days of hard-line Foreign Minister Castiella and General Franco. The addresses were followed by questions; there was also a round-table, which included a Spanish army colonel.

Captain Liberal illustrated his talk with computer-generated photographs of military installations in Gibraltar. His general theme was that Spaniards should not forget that Gibraltar is a military base and that it poses a danger to the Spanish people.

I spoke for an hour. All questions asked by the audience were directed at me.

I started off by thanking the director of the course, professor Luis Mora Figueroa, for organising the conference, as the exposition of different points of view was important for the good of democracy. I noted Captain Liberal’s detailed presentation, and then made it clear that points of view might differ but that it was not the intention that anyone should feel offended, which I was sure would not be the case.

I went on to say that the question of defence, insofar as what concerns Gibraltar, can be quite sensitive and especially thorny in Anglo-Spanish relations, and this can transcend to public opinion.

One of the questions thrown at me was that Britain did not care about the people of Gibraltar and that her sole concern was the military base. I turned this round and replied that it was the Spanish government that only cared about the military aspect. Proof of the matter was that when Britain offered joint sovereignty to Spain, the Spanish government rejected it because it would not gain military control!

25-02-19 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR