Will the negative Coronavirus lead to positive politics with Spain?

She was born Maria Aranzazu Gonzalez Laya in San Sebastian, in the Basque country, and since her early career as a lawyer, the world has been her oyster. She may be able to understand what others have failed to grasp.

However, the fact that she used to hold a high post in the United Nations, an organisation that is regarded on this Rock of ours as anti-Gibraltar, will immediately raise eyebrows. And if I add that she believes in Spanish unity and dialogue as regards the Catalan independence issue, it will immediately make people think that she may well be an advocate of Spanish unity when it comes to the Gibraltar issue - and self-determination is just one issue that may be an inevitable stumbling block.

Let us be optimistic: She has not been taking a hardline policy on Gibraltar since taking on the post at the beginning of the year, and telephoning Mr Picardo in a spirit of goodwill over the virus issue can be regarded as unthinkable with others, where Mr Picardo is called by names as negative as the nasty virus.

Enter Marcelino Oreja, Spain's first foreign minister in the wake of the Franco era. I will always remember and recount, that he broke the ice in respect of inviting me to the Palacio de Santa Cruz for a formal interview, an event that was regarded within and without the Spanish foreign ministry as historic, as it was the first time that a Gibraltarian journalist was interviewing a Spanish foreign minister.

Sr Oreja was effusing tact and understanding, in tandem with the policy of the Suarez Government of recognising the Gibraltarian community . "It is a reality that cannot be ignored," Sr Oreja told me.

But when I asked him if it would be possible to find a solution to the problem without the question of sovereignty being of primordial concern, he said: "The issue of territorial integrity is something which is inscribed in the Spanish position..."

So, Ms Gonzalez is adopting a position of friendship and understanding, but even if she wanted to adopt what in Gibraltar would be seen as realistic postures, she might not be allowed to go far enough before the hawks in Madrid accused her of adopting a soft-line policy on the eternal Spanish problem - and much more!

The other Spanish foreign minister that crossed my path was Fernando Moran. It was at an international press conference held in Geneva about Gibraltar. He,too, offered a hand of friendship, but when I asked him if he respected the wishes of the Gibraltarians, he deflected, by referring to my professional standing, disclosing that he had learned much about the feelings and aspirations of Gibraltarians, through the many articles I used to write in the British press.

Nothing that I say should deter from the goodwill that is forthcoming from the present Spanish foreign minister. In fact, it should be welcomed - because Gibraltar itself has always tended a hand of friendship to everyone.

Much water has gone under the bridge, times have changed. Indeed, time will tell if the impossible becomes possible. And for now, let us thank Ms Gonzalez for her splendid gesture because she has gone out of the way to adopt positive postures that one hopes will surpass the negative times we live in.

20-03-2020 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR