In 1968, the Spanish Government, in their effort to regain back The Rock,
decided to increase restrictions at the Spanish
border. Firstly they ceased to allow vehicular traffic through the Frontier,
that was shortly followed by withdrawing the
Spanish labor force, resulting in thousands of Spaniards who had until
then, been working in Gibraltar, finding themselves
jobless. Many of them from the neighboring Spanish town of La Linea, had
no other option but to leave their home town and find jobs elsewhere in
Spain or abroad.
By 1969 Spain completely blocked all land, sea, air traffic, telephone
links and overland postal mail with Gibraltar, even the
Oxygen Cylinders for the hospitals was not allowed into Gibraltar through
the Spanish frontier. Something which of course
said very little in favor of the Spanish Catholic Government. Friends
and families were torn apart, with their only means of
communication being to gather on either side of the Spanish Border gates
and
pass massages to each others by yelling at the top of their voices. The
Gibraltar
border gates were never closed, which meant that the Gibraltarians would
gather on this side of the border gates, however, the Spaniards were not
allowed close to their own border, instead they had to stand a few hundred
metres away.
Shouting messages across the border was something which friends and families
did every day, news like the birth of a child or the death of a friend
or loved one were heard many times. Traveling from
Gibraltar to Spain or vice versa meant either flying via London or a ferry
trip from Gibraltar to Tangier and then another ferry
from Tangier to Spain.
This situation which lasted for 16 years not only proved to the Fascist
Spanish Government that Gibraltarians were prepared
to put up with anything and everything rather than become Spaniards, but
also served to bond us closer together as a people
and a Nation. By 1985 Spain decided to reopen the frontier.
Obviously living confined in a city of 6.5 square kilometres was at times
quite depressing, however it also had its advantages.
one of them being that since a cheap Spanish labour force no longer existed,
employers had no option than to pay
Gibraltarian tradesmen what they were really worth, other less attractive
jobs left open by the Spanish labourers where taken
over by Moroccans.
Since Spain reopened its frontier with Gibraltar in 1985, we have been
putting up with all sorts of harassment when crossing
the border. Car
queues of over an hour is not uncommon thanks to the Spanish
Customs making it a point searching each and
every car which goes through.
smugglers and money laundering, which is quite amazing considering that most of the smuggling is done by Spaniards.
Actually the nickname "Matuteras", which is given to Spanish women smugglers derives from the name of the father or
grandfather of the Spanish ex-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Matutes, who, prior to the border reopening used to be a
very well known smuggler.
A group of Spanish women (matuteras)
on the Gibraltar side of the spanish
frontier who make their living smuggling
tobacco into Spain.
Spanish smugglers on the British side of
the border keep a watchful eye on the
Spanish customs officers on the Spanish
side of the frontier.
When on the 20th November 1975 the Spanish news media announced that the Fascist Dictator, General Franco had died,
many of us thought that there would be a change in the Spanish Government's attitude towards Gibraltar. Only time would
prove how wrong we were.
Links on this page : The Spanish Frontier - Car queues - General Franco's death announcement