Why Cervantes and not Shakespeare?
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23 June, 2007 08:00
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Dear Sir
Once more I feel compelled to reply to your columnist, who calls himself “El Escorpion”.
In his last contribution to your paper (Vox, 1st June 2007), your columnist asserts that he and I fight are in the same political trenches. I beg to differ. It is very clear to me, as I am sure it is to your readers, that his view of Gibraltar’s future is diametrically opposed to mine.
In his piece, “El Escorpion” justifies his decision to write exclusively in Spanish by suggesting that Spanish is our mother tongue. Whilst I do not argue that point, and whereas I do not seek to condemn him for choosing to write in Spanish, I do find it interesting that a gentleman who is so obviously such a supporter of all things British, and who is presumably one of those who would not hesitate to wrap themselves in the Union Flag and proclaim undying allegiance to Queen and Country, writes in the language of Cervantes and not the language of Shakespeare. This, for me, is the very contradiction on which Gibraltarian “Britishness” is built. Some of us want to portray ourselves as being the very essence of Britishness, more British than the British, but we surprisingly seem far more comfortable writing in castellano.
I thank your contributor for advising me how I should have replied to the question of whether Gibraltarians want to be British or Spanish. I have to tell him that grateful as I am, I much prefer my own answer to his. I do not wish to be British, and he should not count me among the “nosotros” who he claims want to persist in the concept of a Gibraltarian identity under a British nationality. No thank you. My identity is Gibraltarian and I look forward to the day when my nationality will be none other than Gibraltarian too.
Perhaps it is high time we conducted a study of just how Gibraltarians feel towards the “Mother Country”. I hear time and time again the notion that “nobody” in Gibraltar wants independence, and that “everybody” in Gibraltar wants to retain the link with Britain. Has a scientific poll been conducted to determine these issues? I am absolutely convinced that “El Escorpion” and others like him would be in for a rude awakening should such a poll ever be carried out. More and more of my fellow Gibraltarians are beginning to shed the colonial blinkers and the imperial shackles. More and more of them, especially among the younger generations, are coming to realise that our country’s future lies away from Britain and towards independence.
“El Escorpion” accuses me of propagating an unrealistic independentism which, he claims, has been “created” by “mistaken” politicians and which has incurred the wrath of Spanish hatred towards “Perfidious Albion” and towards the Gibraltarian people. He is totally mistaken, in my view, not least because Gibraltar is not “Albion” (perfidious or otherwise) but also because he ignores the fact that what does incur the anger of many ordinary Spanish people (and actually offends some real Britons too) is the artificial, hypocritical ultra-conservative “Britishness” and narrow-minded colonialism, like his, that still infects some parts of Gibraltarian life.
In his last paragraph, your columnist raises two interesting points. Firstly, he states that he is much older than me, and that he can assure me that over time, our political leaders have gained more and more power and that as a result the UK has never again been able to impose anything against our wishes. I would suggest that this gentlemen needs to re-read his post-war history, preferably without his colonialist blinkers on. We need not go back any further than the Westminster Declaration of 2002, when Jack Straw informed the House of Commons that the UK and Spain had agreed in principle to share sovereignty over Gibraltar. The referendum held in 2002, which overwhelmingly rejected that Declaration, was organised by our political leaders IN THE FACE of British opposition. The important point here, which he seems to miss, is that it took OUR political leaders (the Gibraltarians) to stop something which his colonial masters (the British) wanted to impose on us. He would do well not to give your readers the impression that the failure of the joint sovereignty proposals had something to do with the magnanimity of the UK government.
The Westminster Declaration was an example of how British national interests and Gibraltarian national interests have come to a point of divergence. What is good for Britain might not necessarily be good for Gibraltar any more. Therein lies the danger of integration. It has taken us many years of political struggle to wrestle power from the UK for us now to simply hand those powers back on a plate, particularly at a time when the policy objectives of the British government are no longer necessarily in consonance with those of Gibraltar. Food for thought?
The second and final point he raises is the issue of Gibraltar attaining a Channel Island or Isle of Man status. I would not agree with such a status but I actually welcome his suggestion because such options could be interesting and merit, in my opinion, further study, in the same way as Andorra, San Marino or Liechtenstein models might merit a closer look. In any case these options are infinitely better than clinging to the old “British we are, British we stay” doctrine. The important point for me is that we learn to think outside the box, that we break the illusion that we are doomed without Britain, and that we learn to be proactive and imaginative and seize the initiative when looking at options for our future. I am convinced, however, that independence is the best option for us and that now is the time for us to begin to look at it seriously, which is why I would encourage supporters of independence, from all walks of life, to come together to begin to discuss their ideas.
Albert Buhagiar
Once more I feel compelled to reply to your columnist, who calls himself “El Escorpion”.
In his last contribution to your paper (Vox, 1st June 2007), your columnist asserts that he and I fight are in the same political trenches. I beg to differ. It is very clear to me, as I am sure it is to your readers, that his view of Gibraltar’s future is diametrically opposed to mine.
In his piece, “El Escorpion” justifies his decision to write exclusively in Spanish by suggesting that Spanish is our mother tongue. Whilst I do not argue that point, and whereas I do not seek to condemn him for choosing to write in Spanish, I do find it interesting that a gentleman who is so obviously such a supporter of all things British, and who is presumably one of those who would not hesitate to wrap themselves in the Union Flag and proclaim undying allegiance to Queen and Country, writes in the language of Cervantes and not the language of Shakespeare. This, for me, is the very contradiction on which Gibraltarian “Britishness” is built. Some of us want to portray ourselves as being the very essence of Britishness, more British than the British, but we surprisingly seem far more comfortable writing in castellano.
I thank your contributor for advising me how I should have replied to the question of whether Gibraltarians want to be British or Spanish. I have to tell him that grateful as I am, I much prefer my own answer to his. I do not wish to be British, and he should not count me among the “nosotros” who he claims want to persist in the concept of a Gibraltarian identity under a British nationality. No thank you. My identity is Gibraltarian and I look forward to the day when my nationality will be none other than Gibraltarian too.
Perhaps it is high time we conducted a study of just how Gibraltarians feel towards the “Mother Country”. I hear time and time again the notion that “nobody” in Gibraltar wants independence, and that “everybody” in Gibraltar wants to retain the link with Britain. Has a scientific poll been conducted to determine these issues? I am absolutely convinced that “El Escorpion” and others like him would be in for a rude awakening should such a poll ever be carried out. More and more of my fellow Gibraltarians are beginning to shed the colonial blinkers and the imperial shackles. More and more of them, especially among the younger generations, are coming to realise that our country’s future lies away from Britain and towards independence.
“El Escorpion” accuses me of propagating an unrealistic independentism which, he claims, has been “created” by “mistaken” politicians and which has incurred the wrath of Spanish hatred towards “Perfidious Albion” and towards the Gibraltarian people. He is totally mistaken, in my view, not least because Gibraltar is not “Albion” (perfidious or otherwise) but also because he ignores the fact that what does incur the anger of many ordinary Spanish people (and actually offends some real Britons too) is the artificial, hypocritical ultra-conservative “Britishness” and narrow-minded colonialism, like his, that still infects some parts of Gibraltarian life.
In his last paragraph, your columnist raises two interesting points. Firstly, he states that he is much older than me, and that he can assure me that over time, our political leaders have gained more and more power and that as a result the UK has never again been able to impose anything against our wishes. I would suggest that this gentlemen needs to re-read his post-war history, preferably without his colonialist blinkers on. We need not go back any further than the Westminster Declaration of 2002, when Jack Straw informed the House of Commons that the UK and Spain had agreed in principle to share sovereignty over Gibraltar. The referendum held in 2002, which overwhelmingly rejected that Declaration, was organised by our political leaders IN THE FACE of British opposition. The important point here, which he seems to miss, is that it took OUR political leaders (the Gibraltarians) to stop something which his colonial masters (the British) wanted to impose on us. He would do well not to give your readers the impression that the failure of the joint sovereignty proposals had something to do with the magnanimity of the UK government.
The Westminster Declaration was an example of how British national interests and Gibraltarian national interests have come to a point of divergence. What is good for Britain might not necessarily be good for Gibraltar any more. Therein lies the danger of integration. It has taken us many years of political struggle to wrestle power from the UK for us now to simply hand those powers back on a plate, particularly at a time when the policy objectives of the British government are no longer necessarily in consonance with those of Gibraltar. Food for thought?
The second and final point he raises is the issue of Gibraltar attaining a Channel Island or Isle of Man status. I would not agree with such a status but I actually welcome his suggestion because such options could be interesting and merit, in my opinion, further study, in the same way as Andorra, San Marino or Liechtenstein models might merit a closer look. In any case these options are infinitely better than clinging to the old “British we are, British we stay” doctrine. The important point for me is that we learn to think outside the box, that we break the illusion that we are doomed without Britain, and that we learn to be proactive and imaginative and seize the initiative when looking at options for our future. I am convinced, however, that independence is the best option for us and that now is the time for us to begin to look at it seriously, which is why I would encourage supporters of independence, from all walks of life, to come together to begin to discuss their ideas.
Albert Buhagiar
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