Continual harassment at the Border by Guardia Civil and Policia Nacional.
We are continually getting reports on the bad treatment people are experiencing at the border.
So not only do people have to worry about the queues but in fact ow have to worry about how they get treated. So much so that we are asking people to ensure that they have someone else as a witness when they cross the border, as later all is hearsay unless they have evidence or witnesses.
So like in the case of the local Jet Ski incident, who was shot at not once but 3 times by Guardia civil a few weeks ago - had we not had video footage no one would have believed it!
Like the recent incident with the local gentleman who was on a bicycle and was pounced upon for no reason but mere confusion, allow me to remind you the heat people have been stopped in the queue and that this included bicycle, motorbikes and cars etc. But an unarmed man does not have to be pounced up on his bicycle and thrown to the floor by 4-5 Polica Nacional and worse still kept in the Police Cells overnight! The worse then get charged with assaulting the Police Officers when the video footage clearly shows who was assaulted and the victim!
The next one we have is about a Spanish National.
UK National placed in handcuffs when he drove across the border - because he was a named driver on car insurance and driving a Gibraltar registered car that belongs to his Girlfriend who is a Gibraltar Resident!
Incident Date: 6 August 2013, 9.00am
At the Spanish Border crossing into Gibraltar I was
stopped by a member of the Guardia Civil, He asked me something in
Spanish however I cannot speak Spanish I told him I ‘no comprende
espanyol’ he ushered me out of the car and moved me
to the bonnet of my car and proceeded to place me in handcuffs, he was
not rough or violent towards me. I was then taken to the Spanish customs
office where I was sat waiting for someone for over an hour, They
proceeded to explain the reason why this was happening,
I was driving a car with a Gibraltar number plate and I did not have a
Gibraltarian residence certificate, so apparently I was breaking the
law. They have impounded the vehicle which is owned by my girlfriend who
is a resident of Gibraltar, we are both insured
by Ibex Insurance to drive the car in Europe. I was told by the person
in charge to write a letter in Spanish stating that they could release
the car to Rhoda Crawley and we would have to pay a fine of 200 euros,
however this amount seemed to keep changing
it ranged from 100 euro to 500 euro.
I returned to my apartment and asked my landlord to
write this letter for me, I returned to the border with the letter, my
girlfriend and all the documentation for the vehicle. He then refused
to return the car, we were told we would have
to go to San Roque to get a form and then they could release the
vehicle, he would not tell us what form we needed or where to get it
from, he also would not provide us details of what law I had broken.
************************************************************************So the question has to be asked "When will they STOP?" Does someone have to die or be seriously injured before our UK Government, FCO or the EU and UN step in?
Finally one positive reaction against the inhumane and abuse of power treatment we are seeing and experiencing!
***************
ECAS protests against violations of European citizens’ rights at the border between Spain and Gibraltar
By
17 minutes ago
This article has been read 2 times.
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This situation has been denounced by the Citizens Advice Bureau in Gibraltar.
The EU rights clinic has been flooded by over 80 detailed complaints from European citizens complaining about excessive delays at the Spanish-Gibraltar border ranging from 3-8 hours in each direction.1
1 The EU rights clinic is an independent non-governmental service set up jointly by ECAS and the University of Kent.
Those caught up in the controls often on each and every vehicle and person are residents from Gibraltar, some 7,000 Spanish frontier workers commuting daily and tourists from all over Europe.
Ever since ECAS launched its first hotline on border controls on the eve of the start to the internal market 20 years ago, Gibraltar has figured as the worst black spot anywhere in Europe. Complaints have been sent to the Commission, especially when border controls escalated as they do periodically above average waiting times of 20-30 minutes which are still excessive. The space and infrastructure available are such that this border can easily and without great cost conform to European standards. Evidence of delays at the border is documented on a daily basis. Peaks in the level of controls are the consequence of political disputes between the UK and Spain.
It is regrettable that this dispute which violates the fundamental status of European citizenship has degenerated into national stereo-typing. According to the latest Euro barometer poll, 62% of people in the European Union feel that they are European citizens (68% in Spain). On average 56% rate free movement of people, goods and services above peace and way ahead of other European policies as the most important achievement of the European Union. For many unemployed young people in Spain looking for jobs abroad in the EU, free movement is a tangible benefit of EU membership. It was on the initiative of the Spanish government that European citizenship was included in the Treaty of Maastricht.
And that achievement is being celebrated 20 years on as the European year of citizens in 2013. This is an opportunity therefore to change this particular border over to European standards. 2
ECAS:
-objects strongly to ordinary people and their rights being taken hostage at the whim of government policy and over issues with which they have nothing to do. There is no case on risks to public health alone of creating delays in temperatures of over 30 degrees for children, elderly people or pregnant women. This situation has been denounced by the Citizens Advice Bureau in Gibraltar.
-does not contest the right of the authorities to carry out border checks, but regard current checks as violations of European law and guidance provided by the European Court of Justice.
-regards the threat of imposing a border toll on all travellers to Gibraltar as a return to the Middle ages and a measure which goes so far beyond any “normal” violations of internal market rules that it is scarcely imaginable.
On the basis of the complaints and evidence from the public, the EU rights clinic will be sending a complaint to the European Commission, requesting immediate action. As guardian of the EU Treaty, the Commission should order an immediate stop to excessive delays at the border and withdrawal of any scheme, however far-fetched, to impose a toll on travellers. It is high time the Commission, which for years has been on the receiving end of such complaints, should carry out an investigation on the spot to find a permanent European solution.
In the Daily Telegraph:
Gibraltar dispute is a 'serious concern', says David Cameron
David Cameron has said he is "seriously concerned" about the escalation of tensions over the border between Spain and Gibraltar.
Spain
has warned that it is ready
to impose a new border tax, close its airspace to planes using the
British overseas territory's airport, and investigate the affairs of
Gibraltarians with Spanish economic interests.
"Clearly, we remain seriously concerned by the events at the
Spain/Gibraltar border," the Prime
Minister's spokesman said.
"Specifically on this issue of border fees, the Spanish have not raised
the prospect of introducing border fees with us. We are seeking an
explanation from them regarding reports that they might target Gibraltar
with further measures."
**********************************************Now the headline stated concern really adds insult to injury! The word used "concerned" is a joke!
The word is not strong enough and takes away the seriousness of the issues we are facing in Gibraltar by the lack of action by UK Government, FCO and our Governor in protecting us as a people, protecting our land and sea and air!
How can the leading figure of UK Government use the word "concerned" This word is used for things like I am concerned about what the weather will be like next week. I am concerned about being late for work. I am concerned about running out of petrol in the middle of no where!
The word concerned used on what we are going through is disgraceful!
The word he should have used is This is unacceptable behaviour! He could have used Worried - Troubled - Anxious - Unease - Distress - Anxious!
Concerned what a disgrace - remember this is all about a country supposedly Democratic and within the EU and NATO - who has taken a more aggressive stance towards Gibraltar and the people! We have daily incursions in our British Territorial Waters, Jets flying in our air space, People shot at on jet skis in our waters by Spanish Para Military Guardia Civil, people being treated aggressively and beaten up at the border, queues caused on purpose of 7-8 hours with people in the scorching heat! The Prime Minister then has the AUDACITY to say he is concerned!
Our UK Government and the FCO really have to wake up before we have a death in our hands caused by all this tensions and his lack of stronger words and action!
We are being undermined and our Independence; self-governance, self-determination, self-sufficient economy and autonomy is being discredited. We are being bullied and threatened daily and where is our protection?
**************************************************
We then have the Border Queues and the EU say they will come and visit in SEPTEMBER? What do the EU not get or understand? The queues and the problem is here and now! They should all be flying out and seeing it all for themselves! I mean it is also annoying that before when we wrote to them they ignored us and replied SPAIN was within their right but however, if we have evidence they would gladly look into it! So we have sent over all evidence - photos videos and now they say well we will observe in September! So do they doubt now the evidence and are now giving SPAIN a month to get their act together and stop the queues so that they can say when they come in SEPTEMBER when they are eventually here to observe that there is no issue?
WHY is the EU and UK Government and FCO so slow to react in standing up to the bully that SPAIN is? An ally in NATO should not be allowed to shoot innocent people on a jet ski let alone come into our waters daily - using excuses of smuggling! When the whole world knows that more smuggling goes on in the port of ALGECIRAS, in VALENCIA and Andorra to name just a few places in SPAIN!
One example from thousands!
Civil guard working at the frontier charged with
''contraband'' tobacco offences. http://www.abcdesevilla.es/andalucia/cadiz/20130805/sevi-contrabando-tabaco-frontera-gibraltar-201308051610.html
***************************************************
So we urge or rather demand that UK Government, FCO, Our Governor do more to protect the people of Gibraltar and that SPAIN finally are forced to realise that they cannot continue to bully Gibraltar!
Someone posted this
***************************************************************
We also have more danger signs that UK should not ignore - how SPAIN is selling planes to Argentina for example. How Spanish Minister Rajoy was caught on a microphone making reference to Gibraltar to be taken and invaded like the Falklands - is UK looking and taking into account these warnings?
We have been asking for an appointment with David Cameron for over a year - we are passed to David Lidington - We write and ask for an appointment with Minster W Hague - we are passed to Mr Lidington? Now that things have escalated - oh we are now important enough to be having our Prime Minister start to talk a bit in our defence! Ridiculous Mr Cameron - you could have avoided all this if you stopped hiding and faced the problems of the bully that SPAIN is!
Below are some links to the incident ot the Spanish Minister making reference to invade us. The one of the audio has been removed but you can read what he said!
El pasado jueves, 1 de agosto un micro accidentalmente abierto captó
accidentalmente un fragmento de una inquietante conversación que
mantenían, en los pasillos, el presidente del gobierno, Mariano Rajoy y
la ministra de trabajo.En la grabación, puede escucharse a Rajoy:creo
que no hay más remedio que echar mano de un recurso extremo…”. “¿Un
recurso extremo? ¿Cómo cuál?”, pregunta la ministra. “El recurso
Malvinas, naturalmente”. “¿A qué te refieres?” “No sé, Ceuta, Melilla,
El Peñón, las Islas Perejil… Que lo decidan los asesores…”
El pasado jueves, 1 de agosto, y, momentos antes de que se iniciara el segundo turno de Rajoy
(en el que, sin límite de tiempo, este contestaría al primer turno de
los portavoces de la oposición) en el Senado, donde el presidente del
Gobierno comparecía para explicarse sobre el tema de los sobres, un
micro accidentalmente abierto captó accidentalmente un fragmento de una
inquietante conversación que mantenían, en los pasillos, el presidente
del gobierno, Mariano Rajoy y la ministra de trabajo, Fátima Bañez.
En la grabación, puede escucharse a Rajoy
quejándose, en primer lugar, de sus relaciones de pareja: “esto es que
no lo aguanta nadie, oye, llevamos meses ya durmiendo separados…” (lo
cual se interpreta como un baremo de la extrema tensión que se está
viviendo en la Moncloa, como consecuencia de las dificultades por las
que atraviesa el Partido Popular). Pero, lo que viene a continuación,
resulta inquietante: “…este año no hay fútbol, ni juegos olímpicos
(están las piscinas esas, pero son catalanas…), creo que no hay más
remedio que echar mano de un recurso extremo…”. “¿Un recurso extremo? ¿Cómo cuál?”, pregunta la ministra. “El recurso Malvinas, naturalmente”. “¿A qué te refieres?”, responde la ministra, que sigue sin enterarse. “No sé, Ceuta, Melilla, El Peñón, las Islas Perejil… Que lo decidan los asesores…”
* : Nos informan de que el vídeo ha sido retirado
hacia las 13:30 horas sin que, hasta el momento, medie ninguna
explicación por parte del rotativo.
http://laputadadeldia.
http://www.meneame.net/story/
**********************************************************************************************
This write up was by someone in response to many inaccurate comments about Gibraltar.
Naff off, Juan – Gibraltar is better British
5 Aug 2013 13:28
Apologise for the Inquisition, take peas out of paella and don’t forget the Armada
All right, Spain. You’ve asked for this.
You’ve issued one of your five-yearly threats to seize, impound, disrupt, tax or otherwise penalise Gibraltar and its residents on the grounds that this small bit of rock is attached to the bigger bit of rock you call home.
For some, this provides irrefutable proof that Gibraltar is Spanish. Presumably in the same way that China is Russian and Denmark belongs to Germany.
Not letting logic get in his way, your foreign minister has declared ‘the party’s over’ and threatened 100 euro fines for people crossing the border, banning flights from Spanish air space and generally started behaving like Franco in a particularly belligerent mood.
Very well. Let’s look at the facts, shall we?
1. Gibraltar is about as Spanish as pie and chips. The first recorded occupants were Lebanese traders , followed by Germans, Romans, and the Islamic empire. The first castle was built by a Berber sultan and it wasn’t captured by the Spanish until 1462.
2. Twelve years later you sold it.
3. You spent 200 years or so invading much of the world, killing millions of Amerindians with smallpox , and burning and torturing those that survived because they didn’t think eating a thin bit of flour and water was the same thing as eating the body of a man they’d never met .
4. You tried to do the same here, first by marriage and then by invasion . Not the best way to make friends.
5. You did nothing very much with Gib for two centuries and then lost it in a fight with us and the Dutch. The fight was about whether a French prince could succeed to the Spanish crown and thus rule half of Europe. Most of Europe didn’t like the idea, and you were invaded by pretty much everyone up to and including the Holy Roman Empire.
6. Unsurprisingly, you lost. We all signed the Treaty of Utrecht in which the French prince was allowed to have Spain so long as he promised to be nice and sign away a few things. Article X states: “The Catholic King does hereby, for himself, his heirs and successors, yield to the Crown of Great Britain the full and entire propriety of the town and castle of Gibraltar, together with the port, fortifications and forts hereunto belonging; and he gives up the said propriety to be held and enjoyed absolutely with all manner of right for ever, without any exception or impediment whatsoever.”
7. There’s not a lot of wriggle-room in that. Lawyers, eh?
8. What you gave us in 1714 was a 300-year-old Moorish castle, a medieval town and a fishing port. In the years since we have turned it into a naval base, a financial centre, tourist destination and online gaming base which turns over £650million a year and provides employment for 10,000 of your citizens. You’re welcome.
9. The last person who seriously laid claim to it is the fascist dictator you’d rather forget, and there were referendums in 1967 and 2002 which found 99% of the population wanted to remain British.
10. In 500 years of warring you’ve lost far more often than you’ve won and you have, most noticeably, consistently failed to win against us. You tried to seize Gibraltar by force twice in the 18th century and failed miserably on each attempt, since we smashed your Armada in 1588 it’s never been the same since. Today you’ve got 21,000 sailors and 54 ships, and we’ve got 53,000 with reserves, 97 ships, 61 Royal Marine craft and 170 vessels in the Fleet Air Arm.
Considering all this, it is entirely understandable that with your economy on its arse , suicides endemic following eviction and a government not so much beleaguered as halfway to hell and still digging you might feel the need to hark back to the days of empire and rattle the old sabre a bit.
You are though on rather shaky ground, not just because you signed a contract and the 30,000 Gibraltarians want you in charge of them about as much as they want to contract the ebola virus.
Firstly you claim ownership of a number of bits of rock that are not attached to your main bit of rock – the Balearics, the Canaries, two cities in north Africa and a number of islets which, to an unbiased eye, look very Moroccan .
Secondly your suggestion of border taxes would mainly penalise the 10,000 Spaniards who work in Gibraltar and, er, vote for you. It’s very unlikely to happen, as is your idea of banning planes from your airspace.
Plane companies can get around this very easily and you would soon find that Spanish airports were avoided by British tourist planes and losing millions in revenue.
Seeing as you’re broke, this just isn’t going to happen.
Gibraltar is a place you barely bothered to occupy, sold for cash, lost in wars, and now are trying to grab purely because it’s the only financially successful thing within a 50-mile radius of your border.
Its people are ethnically a mix of Genoese, Portugese, Maltese and Spanish descent and legally they are citizens of the United Kingdom with an MP in the House of Commons and an MEP in the European Parliament.
Our economy’s not brilliant but it’s still doing better than yours, as is what is left of our overseas empire which despite its rotten parts also exported the Magna Carta, democracy and the ability to make a decent cuppa.
You exported the Inquisition and the Molotov cocktail . Thanks for those.
But let’s not be antagonistic – we’ve had centuries of Anglo-Spanish fighting and we should be past that now.
You’ve also given us sangria, sherry, tapas and marzipan, and you do amazing things with ham. We holiday with you, and you need our money.
So just be honest, and admit that this has all come about because you wanted to divert attention from problems at home and your traditionally-antsy fishermen have got upset about an artificial reef built to stop them raiding Gibraltarian waters .
Then perhaps you could tell them to stop nicking our fish in the first place, whether it’s off Gibraltar, in the English Channel, the North Sea or the Irish Sea, and make sure they pay the fines our courts have levied for breaking the rules .
After you’ve done that you can apologise properly for 350 years of the Spanish Inquisition, promise to think before you speak and personally I’d be glad if you could tell everyone there’s no need for peas in paella.
You don’t have to, of course. You could carry on acting like idiots and we’ll carry on ignoring you because you’ve got all the threat and military might of a field mouse squeaking at a cat.
Or you could be glad that the bit of rock next to yours is well-run, productive, and law-abiding and that the people who live on it have a right to determine their own futures which they would rather was not closely linked to yours.
That’s something you’ve not really achieved with your own bit of rock, so you’ll forgive us for thinking you shouldn’t be entrusted with any more.
And in case that’s still not clear: Naff off, Juan.
***************************************************************************************************
This write up was by someone in response to many inaccurate comments about Gibraltar.
Naff off, Juan – Gibraltar is better British
5 Aug 2013 13:28
Apologise for the Inquisition, take peas out of paella and don’t forget the Armada
All right, Spain. You’ve asked for this.
You’ve issued one of your five-yearly threats to seize, impound, disrupt, tax or otherwise penalise Gibraltar and its residents on the grounds that this small bit of rock is attached to the bigger bit of rock you call home.
For some, this provides irrefutable proof that Gibraltar is Spanish. Presumably in the same way that China is Russian and Denmark belongs to Germany.
Not letting logic get in his way, your foreign minister has declared ‘the party’s over’ and threatened 100 euro fines for people crossing the border, banning flights from Spanish air space and generally started behaving like Franco in a particularly belligerent mood.
Very well. Let’s look at the facts, shall we?
1. Gibraltar is about as Spanish as pie and chips. The first recorded occupants were Lebanese traders , followed by Germans, Romans, and the Islamic empire. The first castle was built by a Berber sultan and it wasn’t captured by the Spanish until 1462.
2. Twelve years later you sold it.
3. You spent 200 years or so invading much of the world, killing millions of Amerindians with smallpox , and burning and torturing those that survived because they didn’t think eating a thin bit of flour and water was the same thing as eating the body of a man they’d never met .
4. You tried to do the same here, first by marriage and then by invasion . Not the best way to make friends.
5. You did nothing very much with Gib for two centuries and then lost it in a fight with us and the Dutch. The fight was about whether a French prince could succeed to the Spanish crown and thus rule half of Europe. Most of Europe didn’t like the idea, and you were invaded by pretty much everyone up to and including the Holy Roman Empire.
6. Unsurprisingly, you lost. We all signed the Treaty of Utrecht in which the French prince was allowed to have Spain so long as he promised to be nice and sign away a few things. Article X states: “The Catholic King does hereby, for himself, his heirs and successors, yield to the Crown of Great Britain the full and entire propriety of the town and castle of Gibraltar, together with the port, fortifications and forts hereunto belonging; and he gives up the said propriety to be held and enjoyed absolutely with all manner of right for ever, without any exception or impediment whatsoever.”
7. There’s not a lot of wriggle-room in that. Lawyers, eh?
8. What you gave us in 1714 was a 300-year-old Moorish castle, a medieval town and a fishing port. In the years since we have turned it into a naval base, a financial centre, tourist destination and online gaming base which turns over £650million a year and provides employment for 10,000 of your citizens. You’re welcome.
9. The last person who seriously laid claim to it is the fascist dictator you’d rather forget, and there were referendums in 1967 and 2002 which found 99% of the population wanted to remain British.
10. In 500 years of warring you’ve lost far more often than you’ve won and you have, most noticeably, consistently failed to win against us. You tried to seize Gibraltar by force twice in the 18th century and failed miserably on each attempt, since we smashed your Armada in 1588 it’s never been the same since. Today you’ve got 21,000 sailors and 54 ships, and we’ve got 53,000 with reserves, 97 ships, 61 Royal Marine craft and 170 vessels in the Fleet Air Arm.
Considering all this, it is entirely understandable that with your economy on its arse , suicides endemic following eviction and a government not so much beleaguered as halfway to hell and still digging you might feel the need to hark back to the days of empire and rattle the old sabre a bit.
You are though on rather shaky ground, not just because you signed a contract and the 30,000 Gibraltarians want you in charge of them about as much as they want to contract the ebola virus.
Firstly you claim ownership of a number of bits of rock that are not attached to your main bit of rock – the Balearics, the Canaries, two cities in north Africa and a number of islets which, to an unbiased eye, look very Moroccan .
Secondly your suggestion of border taxes would mainly penalise the 10,000 Spaniards who work in Gibraltar and, er, vote for you. It’s very unlikely to happen, as is your idea of banning planes from your airspace.
Plane companies can get around this very easily and you would soon find that Spanish airports were avoided by British tourist planes and losing millions in revenue.
Seeing as you’re broke, this just isn’t going to happen.
Gibraltar is a place you barely bothered to occupy, sold for cash, lost in wars, and now are trying to grab purely because it’s the only financially successful thing within a 50-mile radius of your border.
Its people are ethnically a mix of Genoese, Portugese, Maltese and Spanish descent and legally they are citizens of the United Kingdom with an MP in the House of Commons and an MEP in the European Parliament.
Our economy’s not brilliant but it’s still doing better than yours, as is what is left of our overseas empire which despite its rotten parts also exported the Magna Carta, democracy and the ability to make a decent cuppa.
You exported the Inquisition and the Molotov cocktail . Thanks for those.
But let’s not be antagonistic – we’ve had centuries of Anglo-Spanish fighting and we should be past that now.
You’ve also given us sangria, sherry, tapas and marzipan, and you do amazing things with ham. We holiday with you, and you need our money.
So just be honest, and admit that this has all come about because you wanted to divert attention from problems at home and your traditionally-antsy fishermen have got upset about an artificial reef built to stop them raiding Gibraltarian waters .
Then perhaps you could tell them to stop nicking our fish in the first place, whether it’s off Gibraltar, in the English Channel, the North Sea or the Irish Sea, and make sure they pay the fines our courts have levied for breaking the rules .
After you’ve done that you can apologise properly for 350 years of the Spanish Inquisition, promise to think before you speak and personally I’d be glad if you could tell everyone there’s no need for peas in paella.
You don’t have to, of course. You could carry on acting like idiots and we’ll carry on ignoring you because you’ve got all the threat and military might of a field mouse squeaking at a cat.
Or you could be glad that the bit of rock next to yours is well-run, productive, and law-abiding and that the people who live on it have a right to determine their own futures which they would rather was not closely linked to yours.
That’s something you’ve not really achieved with your own bit of rock, so you’ll forgive us for thinking you shouldn’t be entrusted with any more.
And in case that’s still not clear: Naff off, Juan.
***************************************************************************************************
So I call upon you all out there tat read and support our Gibraltar - stand by us and help make our voices heard!
Yes we are and have been in the news media spotlight for over 2 weeks now but we need to continue until such time as there is NO MORE BULLYING TO REPORT AND WE LIVE IN PEACE!
Anne-Marie Struggles
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