Hahahahahahaha

When Spanish politicians start yapping on about Gibraltar, the correct response is to remind them about Melilla, Ceuta and the Perejil Islands.

Here's the funny bit:

Daybreak in the Spanish north African enclave of Melilla revealed a headache for Spanish police, as around 100 illegal migrants had climbed onto the territory’s security barrier.

They evaded Moroccan security to climb the fence in the dark, but as the sun came up they were caught on the wire in full view of the Spanish police. With the deterioration in security in places like Mali and Southern Sudan more refugees are making their way to Spain’s African territories, as once there they can gain right of entry to the EU.

Although illegal under the Geneva Convention, the Spanish are working with the Moroccans to make sure most are sent back.

Fair play though, at least the Spanish don't just give them a through ticket to Calais.

UPDATE: I've just noticed this is the 10,000th post on this blog.

A bit like Gibraltar then...

I knew that Spain occupied a couple of small islands off the Moroccan coast, which the Moroccans say should be given (back?) to them.

I didn't realise that Spain actually occupies small enclaves on the Moroccan coast, as explained in this BBC article:
So that's all sorted then.

The next time the Spanish government wants to distract attention from larger issues and demands the return of Gibraltar, we can tell them to hand back Melilla, Perejil, Ceuta and all the other bits and pieces shown on this map and then we'll think about it.

Gibraltar, Spain, sabre rattling* etc.

When Spanish politicians start yapping on about Gibraltar to their voters minds off the dire state of their economy, corruption scandals, poor safety record of their railways etc, it always reminds me of the mirror image dispute between Spain and Morocco.

They're all as bad as each other.

* How can you rattle a sabre? It's a single, solid object, it's not like a set of keys or a handful of change or something.

That'll teach them

From The Daily Mail:

Almost half of Gibraltar’s famous monkeys could be shipped off the Rock as they are considered 'fearless' of humans.

Although friendly, charming and inquisitive, the wild Barbary Macaques are increasingly running riot through the town’s streets.

"They’ve lost their fear of humans and regard them as a source of rich food," said Gibraltar’s Environment Minister Dr John Cortes.

That is probably one of the most self-defeating plans ever.

If they quietly kidnap half the monkeys and ship them abroad, the remaining monkeys will soon get over it and will then merrily continue pestering people for food, and on a per-monkey basis, will be given even more food. The remaining monkeys might even get the sympathy vote.

If the underlying issue is that the monkeys have become "fearless" then what they ought to do is to wait until there's a pack of them and then simply shoot a few of them at random, repeat this a few times until they've learned their lesson, job done.