Gay rights in Gib?

Standing in the non-existant bank queue today (Gib not Spain) I glanced at the television screen.

‘Buy a £5 coin for only £5.’ Um, yes? What else would I pay?

Me and a badminton participant in the 1970 something Commonwealth Games rolled our eyes at each other. I learned about his badminton history when we were watching the news together briefly in the queue.

Then I read about the controversy over the adverts on London Transport that have been pulled by Boris Johnson because they are intolerant of homosexuality, or to write rather more slangily, anti-gay.

Link to BBC here and Guardian (better story) here.

This sort of thing is medieval at best, but more accurately pre-historic. This is 2012 and the UK has same-sex civil unions.

Homosexuality is not a disease. And quite frankly, what consenting adults do behind closed doors is neither my business, anyone elses’, and certainly not the business of a church founded in the name of someone who preached tolerance.

If you want to promote your own cause/religion/viewpoint blah blah, it is courteous to point out the advantages of whatever you are espousing. It is offensive and disrespectful to criticise others because their point of view is not yours.

Apparently the churchy group moaned about lack of free speech. Well, there is a difference between free speech and causing offence to others.

Saying that gays have a disease that can be cured is on a par with saying ‘Wogs Go Home!’

I would respectfully suggest that if they can find some advantages for Christian marriages between heterosexual couples they should be promoting that and not slagging off homosexuals.

Here in Gibraltar, we don’t have same-sex civil unions, although last month Chief Minister Fabian Picardo has said the government would support civil partnerships and will publish a command paper on the subject in autumn.

Like his predecessor, Peter Caruana, Picardo has drawn the line at gay marriages. Hmm. We do live in a Roman Catholic country though. Or perhaps that would be one step too far too soon, for what is essentially a conservative place.

For more info on gay rights in Gib, check out this site – Equality Rights GGR.

And back to the beginning, and speaking of queues, here is a quick phone snap that I forgot to include the other day.

Isn’t it great that you can wander into the Post Office in Spain with your birds on your shoulder and no-one bats an eyelid?

Later on, I was at the counter and one of them was next to me happily pecking away at a yellow post-it note on the counter.

I wonder how many rules and regulations exist in the UK these days to stop people taking their birds into a Post Office.

And these people standing in the queue reminded me of one of the best scenes (and best films) I have seen in many years.

And if you have a few minutes to spare you may want to check out some of the other versions where people have performed their own versions, some of them are excellent, especially the Italian wedding scene, which includes the bride running in front of the dancers gathering up ties!!

Scaffold on Saturday

Brings back memories of Lily the Pink?

I was watching the scaffolders on my trip back from the job centre yesterday and was truly amazed at their fluid teamwork. (They are doing it again today so the title of this post isn’t totally inaccurate)

As there are lots of blocks of flats in Gib, there is obviously a lot of scaffolding when the outsides need refurbishment.

I’ve watched scaffolders throwing down the metal clips to each other with serious precision. This lot were passing down the planks (and poles) from one floor to the next – don’t forget none of them can see the one above.

It’s on a slide show as hopefully that conveys the motion.

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And on refurbishment of government housing blocks, this week the Gib government committed to continuing with the programme of refurbishment on the Alameda estate (the one in the slide show). This is probably due to all the whingey residents who keep asking Partner and everyone else on site when their block is going to get done – there are about half a dozen blocks. (Said Partner is the one in white overalls and a red hard hat on the top level (7th) of scaffolding in the photos).

The government has also said:

“Indeed, we will also refurbish Moorish Castle Estate, Glacis Estate and Laguna Estate which were completely neglected by the GSD when they were in Government and where refurbishment is now all the more important,” said Housing Minister Charles Bruzon.

Well they would wouldn’t they? These are not Gibraltar’s most desirable addresses. But they probably do account for that tiny majority that guaranteed success for the GSLP in last December’s election. Pay back time.

Which is probably also why the previous GSD government didn’t bother with those grot estates that needed the work but instead focused on Montagu estate (a lot of owner occupiers, and far more flash), followed by Alameda, probably one where they could have hoped to swing the vote. Trouble with the Alameda estate is, there are an awful lot of older people there, and they actually liked the Good Old Days of Joe Bossano. Tales from the Alameda to follow.

Glacis and Laguna have been crying out for refurbishment for years, so that announcement gets a thumbs up from me. No pix of those as they are, well, grot.

Note: for non Gib readers which is virtually all of you, govt housing is the same as council housing, assisted housing, public housing etc etc, ie cheap subsidised rented housing provided by the govt, which is sometimes bought by the occupiers – but not always. The current rent in Alameda is around £20 a week, so I understand….

Here, is the sign for one of the blocks, extremely well painted I might say. One of the rather more arty bits of work Partner got to do. I think it merits a photo on its own.

Is there hope for the airport?

Time to actually fulfill some of my threats promises.

One of which was writing about the Gib airport (s).

The title, by the way, also refers to um, a photo shot weekly thing, but more of that later.

A while ago, I noticed the new airport shooting up, and quickly snapped some pix of the old building which I think is particularly nice.

Back on ItchyFeet, I wrote briefly about the airport:

Gibraltar is the nearest airport in the world to its city. Coming across the frontier into Gib currently involves driving, cycling, or walking across the airport runway. When planes are due to land/take off, the route across the airport is closed leading to queues and delays.

Crossing the runway

Just so everyone gets the idea of the unique situation here.

Now, the previous government (GSD) in Gib decided to build a new airport at a cost of a very lot of pounds. (Actually it cost 75mill euros – but why in Gib is this price always quoted in euros? I thought we used sterling here? I digress. Back to the expensive plot.)

This was because, apparently, building a new airport would lead to lots more tourists who decide where to go on holiday based on the quality of the airport. There are a handful of flights a day in Gib. Was the cost of millions of pounds for the airport warranted?

The GSLP thought not. But now they are in power, they have to decide what to do with it.

A few more tales about the airport. Apparently on the open day for the public, conveniently held just before the Gib election, unfinished areas were hidden by hoarding.

And the contract for the first two weeks of cleaning the new incomplete airport cost a mere £90,000. I exaggerate. It was £88,281.90. According to the Gib Chron the owners of the firm are two Spanish businessmen. Well, they won’t need to do too much for the rest of the year will they? I could live on £45K a fortnight, even after expenses.

Shame there aren’t any cleaning firms in Gib huh? But wait. There are. So why didn’t they get the tender? Well? Because that is £90,000 that is going out of Gibraltar (less costs) into Spain. Why?

Is there hope for the new airport? Well, it’s pretty. But seriously, do I give a shit? And I would rather the money have been better spent on something that would have helped the vast majority of Gibraltarians. Eg, housing, KGV (mental health), employment for local people etc etc.

I admire the new government for trying to work out the best way to deal with such a white elephant.

So onto hope.

Well Peter Caruana (former chief minister the government, now leader of the GSD opposition) obviously hoped Gib airport was going to be renamed The Peter Caruana Airport.

Hope that someone can retrieve something out of this abyss.

Hope that a Gib cleaning firm might get the contract at some point and not at such a ridiculous price.

A few shots of the airports.

Arrivals at the old airport

Checking in

The roof terrace - looking towards the cloud-covered Rock

The roof terrace - looking towards sunny La Linea

The new airport from the roof terrace

And another take

The new terminal viewed from the (Gib end) of the runway

And.. departures

Onto ‘hope’. The weekly inspirational photo thing from wordpress for those of us who can’t think of anything to post.

In fact, the photo accompanying the new subject over on The Daily Post showed a tree/plant/shrub growing in concrete. I have to say as someone who regularly weeds a concrete path that this photo griped me rather than inspired me. Nothing hopeful about anything growing in concrete – it’s all too easy I tell you.

My thoughts along the hope lines, apart from the above airport comments, were more conventional.

Walking along the beach on at the end of an old year. Wondering what the new year will bring, new hopes, and, the sunshine hoping to break through the clouds – hoping the rain will hold off.

Hope - for good things in the new year, and sunshine to hold off the rain

It rained. But not much.

Our dog. Readers of his blog will know he loves toast, and always hopes there will be some for him.

Hope I can reach

Don’t be silly. Of course he reached the toast. He always gets the toast.

And finally partner. He is an expert skip scavenger and to be fair, we have acquired a number of bikes, four serviceable garden chairs, a load of plants and various other goodies. Here he is excitedly opening up some sort of work bench thing that he had rescued ….

Hope this is going to be a good find

….. Only to discover that it had been thrown out because it was useless.

I think I could do a photo a day on this theme, but I don’t play those games so I shan’t.

Gibraltar Election Result 2011

Always good to be woken up to the sound of chanting in the street as the election results start to be announced.

I went to vote early yesterday morning just after the (12) polling stations opened at 9am.  There were police around, and a queue out of the door and down the street.  I went back home and decided to go in the afternoon.

By about 3.15pm we walked straight in, with only a couple of people in front of us.

There were no polling cards and at the entrance there was a sign saying that you needed to produce an ID card, a passport or a driving licence.

I gave my card to the clerk, she found my name on the register and then read it out, and my address.  Her colleague gave me the ballot sheet and off I went into the booth.

There were three parties – GSD, GSLP Liberal Alliance, and PDP.  Each party fields  up to ten candidates, and 17 are elected to Parliament.

I walked out to put my sheet in the box.  The official in charge of the box keeps the slot covered with a sheet of card with the Gibraltar coat of arms on it.  He checks your folded ballot sheet, and then moves the card aside for you to post your sheet inside the box.  Two  more officials were on duty to make sure everything was carried out correctly.  It was all very professional.

And that was it.  Polling closes at 10pm, and apparently you MUST get the ballot sheet by then.  It’s no good if you are inside the station or in the queue, if you don’t have your sticky hands on the sheet by 10pm – you’ve missed your chance.

Opinion polls had put the GSLP ahead, and so did an exit poll by the GBC with a lead of approximately 8%.

Out of an electorate of 21,712, there were 17,915 voters – a total turn-out of 82.51%.  Not something those of us from the UK are used to at all.  The breakdown is 17,178 people voted in person, 82.28% and there were 835 postal voters, and 737 of those sent votes, 88.26%.

To me that is an impressive turn-out and is to the credit of the people of Gibraltar.  And although it is 1% above the last election in 2007, it is below the ones in 2000 and 1996.  Gibraltarians take their elections seriously.

The count takes place in John Mackintosh Hall, which is a stone’s throw from us, so usually we wake up to all the cheering and clapping.  There were a few bursts of clapping during the night, but nothing to indicate who had won. I woke up a couple of times and had a quick look at the internet to see if there was any indication of the result.

At one point I read on Twitter that it was neck and neck and there would be a recount.  Nerve-racking.  The GSD (Gibraltar Social Democrats) have been in government for four consecutive terms, ie nearly 16 years.  The big question was whether or not the main opposition party the GSLP (Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party) Liberal Alliance, under the new leadership of Fabian Picardo and with their slogan of ‘Time for change’, could oust the complacent GSD under Peter Caruana.

About 6.30am there was more chanting.  We tried to work out what it was. ‘GSLP’ said Partner.  ‘Are you going to go out and have a look?’  Who needs the internet when you can walk out into the street to find out what is happening first hand?

So I pulled on my jacket and boots and skipped outside into the dark.  There were police up and down the street and a small crowd outside JM Hall.  There were lots of flags, GSLP flags.  ‘Have they won?’ I said pointing at the flag. ‘Yes, said a young man with a huge beam on his face. ‘We won.’

GSLP supporters waiting outside John Mack Hall before 7am today

Still there waiting to cheer our new ministers, two hours later, and now daylight

After all the tension - relief

Note:  I’ll add the official statistics later for the votes cast for candidates. (And some of the figures above have been amended after checking the govt press release).

The Gibraltar Government has issued an excellent press release with a statistical breakdown of votes cast by polling station, for each candidate, and a comparison of turnout with previous years.  It’s available here.

But the short and simple stats are as follows:

GSLP/Liberals received 48.8% of the vote

GSD – 46.76%

PDP – 4.36%

In terms of numbers, that is

GSLP/Libs – 85414

GSD – 81721

PDP – 7622

Total votes cast – 174757

That’s a difference of 3693, if I have done my sums correctly.  It is actually not the ‘some 300 voters’ claimed by the on-line Gib Chron.  To extrapolate how many voters made the difference from the votes cast is not, to my mind, responsible journalism.  Not everyone block votes, or necessarily votes for ten candidates.  If they did, there would be ten GSLP/Libs at the top with the same votes cast, followed by ten GSD etc etc. And there would have been 179150 votes cast.  There weren’t.  Even if you divide 3693 by ten, you still end up with 370, aka nearly 400.  Something tells me the Chron isn’t exactly pro-GSLP/Libs.  Or that someone isn’t very good with stats.

Interestingly I nearly quoted the Chron article for my figures, as I was so surprised at their claim of 300 voters making the difference, but I decided to look for the official government stats.  Just as well.

And our new ministers are:

Fabian Raymond Picardo  8781 votes

John Emmanuel Cortes 8706

Joseph John Garcia 8681

Gilbert Horace Licudi 8605

Joseph John Bossano 8598

Charles Arthur Bruzon 8518

Peter Richard Caruana 8515

Neil Francis Costa 8490

Daniel Anthony Feetham 8462

Steven Ernest Linares 8419

Samantha Jane Sacramento 8335

Isobel Marie Ellul-Hammond 8306

Paul John Balban 8281

Damon James Bossino 8281

Edwin Joseph Reyes 8165

James Joseph Netto 8139

Selwyn Matthew Figueras 8099

On a personal note, I think in politics it is always good to have more than two parties, so I commend the PDP for their efforts and think it is a shame they received such a low proportion of the votes cast. Especially as one would expect them to take votes from the GSD.

So am I pleased with the result?  You bet.  Congratulations to our new government and I wish you the very best for the next four years.  On behalf of me, my partner, and all the other people who cast their votes for GSLP candidates.

Ten good things about living in Spain

Or in Andalucía to be more precise.

1 The weather. I’ve never been a sun-worshipper, but it is nice to know that in summer it will be warm and sunny. It is good to go camping and not worry about getting soaked (especially when the groundsheet leaks). And because Spain has a continental climate there is every other type of weather as well.

2 The food. Not so much the eating out as the local fresh produce you can buy – or if you are lucky, you get some given to you by your neighbours who have bits of ground and grow crops to sell on to the local wholesale market. Although can’t say I am too keen on the way they spray pesticides around with gay abandon.

3 It is cheap to live. It is nowhere near as cheap as it was when we first arrived (or when we first started coming on holiday some 12 or so years ago) but the basics are still much cheaper than northern Europe. And where we live you do not spend a lot of money (if any) heating your home.

4 Public transport. It is a pretty big country but it is relatively easy to get round using long-distance buses, or trains, or a combination. Every time I get the bus from Málaga to La Linea or Algeciras, I am amazed it costs just over ten euros for a 2/3 hours trip of around 140kms. Or you can travel from the south to the north by bus for around 50€. If you take the overnight train from Málaga to Burgos sharing a couchette compartment, and then get the bus to Santander, it will cost less than 70€ for nearly 1000km trip.

The new Málaga railway station

5 Coffee. I loathe instant coffee with a passion. Although you can now get decent coffee in the UK, whereas at one time nearly everything was instant, you are virtually guaranteed to get a decent coffee anywhere in Spain. And it is very strong. I so love a strong espresso (no sugar either).

6 Beer, or rather lager. I don’t drink a lot of it, but I do like Spanish beer, especially the strong ones ie Mahou Five Star and Estrella Damm. And of course it is (comparatively) cheap.

7 Music. I’ve always liked Latin American music, and a lot of the popular music has a real Latin American feel to it. Apart from Juanes and Shakira (both Colombian), Spanish bands I like are Amparanoia, Chambao and Ojos de Brujo. I also like Rosario.

8 Spaniards break the rules with such aplomb. Rules are seen as something that get in the way of daily life, and basically are for other people. They are to be got round as cleverly as possible.

9 Following on from this last one – no “dob ‘em in culture”. I guess this must be a hangover from the Franco régime, but there is a healthy dislike and mistrust of chivas (spies). You can see why. If someone informed on you in the past, there was a good chance that you and/or your family would be carted off to the carcel (prison) and later killed. In smaller communities people accept that they have to live with their neighbours and it’s better for everyone to try and get along.

10 The language. It is easy to learn, it is phonetic and quite logical. It also sounds very nice spoken by Spaniards although I dread to think how it sounds with a Yorkshire accent (mine) or a Welsh one (Partner’s). Especially as we have slipped into speaking the Andalucían Spanish of our pueblo and not the perfect Castilian Spanish that is normally taught to foreigners.

That will do to start with off the top of my head. There are others. I also want to write a little more about a couple of these – but that will be for another post.

Romería in my village

Almost forgot the Gibraltar Social Democrats did win the election although it seems to have been pretty tight with less than 4% between the GSDs (49.33%) and the GSLP/GLP (45.49%) coalition. Turnout was 81.4%. At least I haven’t lost my political acumen. :)

Time to choose – but not for me

Well it is election day in Gibraltar today so I thought I would write something appropriate.

To start with, some weeks after we first bought the flat we received a reminder from the Electoral Office that we hadn’t sent in the form.

Obviously not as we had only just arrived in Gib. The reminder was presumably referring to the previous owner.

Anyway eventually I staggered down to the electoral office which turned out to be hidden behind a glut of cafes, instead of prominently displaying its identity on Main Street as I had expected.

The door had an entryphone. I explained my mission and the door swung open. The carpet up the stairs was very thick and plush. The guy looked a bit surprised to get a visitor.

I explained that I had only recently bought the flat and wanted to know what I should do.

“Nothing,” he said. “The register has already been compiled.”

“Do you need my details then? Is there another one for next year?”

“No,” he said nicely. “There won’t be another register until the next election is due.”

“Well, I don’t want to have to pay a fine for non-completion like we do in the UK.”

“Really?” he said, looking even more surprised than he had done at receiving a rare visitor.

I’ve just done a quick search and according to a House of Commons Select Committee Report (July 2007), the maximum current fine is £1000, although rarely enforced.

So I can’t vote today. But to be honest I’m rather pleased as I don’t feel informed enough to make a fair decision. Hopefully I might have a more intelligent view for the next election.

I have, however, been interested in the very glossy political magazines that have been delivered.

The Gibraltar Social Democrats (GSD), the current ruling party, produced some 60 pages to plough through. A large part of this is highlighting their achievements while in power. The rest outlines their proposals for the future.

The poor old Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP)/Liberal manifesto can only manage a mere 20 pages, no doubt because they have no achievements to boast about.

So here are some totally arbitrary comments having read the manifestos.

I’ll start with taxation. Since GSD came to power, they have abolished road tax, tax on savings income, death duties, TV licence fee, and the need to buy a pension annuity. There is no income tax if you earn less than £7,000. They have abolished other taxes too, but these will do as examples.

The GSLP/Liberals obviously have a tough job competing with this, so they have pledged to maintain all the existing allowances (for homeowners, mortgage interest, life insurance etc) and bring down personal tax.

Well I have to say, the Gibraltar economy is good, wages are not brill, but you can get a job. With decent tax breaks. Why would people vote to change the status quo?

Each party also talks about health, older people, sovereignty, the environment, and employment as well as a few other topics.

GSD says there is a new commitment from the UK not to enter into any negotiations about sovereignty without Gibraltar’s consent. Quite right. I fully agree with the principles of self-determination. It is not up to the UK or Spain to arrogantly decide on the future of Gibraltar.

There are discussions from both parties about the airport and the proposed new tunnel and diversion of traffic and pedestrians away from the airfield. I have to say I like the quirkiness of walking across the runway, it must be pretty unique. And it would take even longer if we all had to bus round and underneath. Hmm.

The GSLP/Liberals commit to government work and services being carried out by direct labour. No privatisation or contracting out. I agree with that.

I find the manifesto proposals interesting as Gibraltar is such a small place and they do affect everyone. But I doubt any of it will make any difference. So my prediction, for what it’s worth is that the GSD will be returned. We’ll see. And I will post if I am wrong. Or right.

Almost forgot. Here are the candidates. Ten for each. One woman for each party out of ten people. I don’t really think that is a fair representation of the female population in Gibraltar. And people think women have achieved equality?