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This daft Gibraltar mock-up reveals sabre-rattling for what it is This daft Gibraltar mock-up reveals sabre-rattling for what it is
(21 days later)
Is this picture ridiculous or frightening, stupid or sinister? The answer is obvious: it is daft. The reasons why it is silly rather than scary reveals a lot about images, reality, and violence.Is this picture ridiculous or frightening, stupid or sinister? The answer is obvious: it is daft. The reasons why it is silly rather than scary reveals a lot about images, reality, and violence.
It was posted by Francisco Javier Pérez Trigueros, the mayor of Callosa de Segura in southern Spain, on his Facebook page, and has angered Gibraltarians with its mocked-up image of a Spanish invasion. For this is a gaudy Photoshop dream of Spain seizing the British territory of the Rock of Gibraltar. The Rock looms up in the middle of the montage, while Spanish troops parade in the foreground, fighter jets stream by and the Spanish flag flutters on high. A metal silhouette of a bull, a popular image of Spain, has been planted on the formerly British territory.It was posted by Francisco Javier Pérez Trigueros, the mayor of Callosa de Segura in southern Spain, on his Facebook page, and has angered Gibraltarians with its mocked-up image of a Spanish invasion. For this is a gaudy Photoshop dream of Spain seizing the British territory of the Rock of Gibraltar. The Rock looms up in the middle of the montage, while Spanish troops parade in the foreground, fighter jets stream by and the Spanish flag flutters on high. A metal silhouette of a bull, a popular image of Spain, has been planted on the formerly British territory.
Imagine if Gibraltar was forced to drink Spanish sherry and snack on tapas into the small hours. Evening meals would not be allowed to start until 10pm and fish and chips would be banned. Yes, the prospect of Spain invading Gibraltar is truly chilling.Imagine if Gibraltar was forced to drink Spanish sherry and snack on tapas into the small hours. Evening meals would not be allowed to start until 10pm and fish and chips would be banned. Yes, the prospect of Spain invading Gibraltar is truly chilling.
Yet in reality this summer's tensions between Gilbraltar and Spain are a will o' the wisp affair of taunts and insults, of which this picture is the latest surreal example. The unreality of this fantasia robs it of real bite. Defenders of Gibraltar and its right to lay down an artificial reef – the supposed provocation that has unleashed Spanish nationalism against one of Britain's lingering outposts – have expressed their rage at the mayor's Photoshopping. It follows a stunt by Spanish police divers who were photographed showing the flag while inspecting the controversial concrete reef.Yet in reality this summer's tensions between Gilbraltar and Spain are a will o' the wisp affair of taunts and insults, of which this picture is the latest surreal example. The unreality of this fantasia robs it of real bite. Defenders of Gibraltar and its right to lay down an artificial reef – the supposed provocation that has unleashed Spanish nationalism against one of Britain's lingering outposts – have expressed their rage at the mayor's Photoshopping. It follows a stunt by Spanish police divers who were photographed showing the flag while inspecting the controversial concrete reef.
This picture's hyperbolic collage of nationalist imagery illustrates how both sides are ramping up the rhetoric. The Gilbraltar government could have chosen to ignore the police divers, yet instead chose to protest about a serious infringement of sovereignty. Francisco Javier Pérez Trigueros has perhaps helped to defuse such rhetoric by the sheer extremism of this picture. For his image cuts through various levels of threat and counter-threat to imagine the worst: a war between Britain and Spain over Gibraltar.This picture's hyperbolic collage of nationalist imagery illustrates how both sides are ramping up the rhetoric. The Gilbraltar government could have chosen to ignore the police divers, yet instead chose to protest about a serious infringement of sovereignty. Francisco Javier Pérez Trigueros has perhaps helped to defuse such rhetoric by the sheer extremism of this picture. For his image cuts through various levels of threat and counter-threat to imagine the worst: a war between Britain and Spain over Gibraltar.
Why is it not alarming? Because such a possibility seems so remote as to be comic. By winning an imaginary war, the picture reveals sabre-rattling for what it is.Why is it not alarming? Because such a possibility seems so remote as to be comic. By winning an imaginary war, the picture reveals sabre-rattling for what it is.
Images are only meaningful when you know their context. If a picture like this came from 1930s Europe it would be disturbing, because invasions were a reality in 1930s Europe. It would also be genuinely worrying to see such a picture from the contemporary Middle East, where violence is an everyday reality.Images are only meaningful when you know their context. If a picture like this came from 1930s Europe it would be disturbing, because invasions were a reality in 1930s Europe. It would also be genuinely worrying to see such a picture from the contemporary Middle East, where violence is an everyday reality.
Yet this picture explodes, through exaggeration, the Gibraltar "crisis" and points to the joyous fact (for Europeans): that Europe in the 21st century is a peaceful continent. Spain and Britain are no more likely to go to war than Virginia and Illinois. It's strange to see this fantasy of war at a time when real war is once again pulling European states towards action beyond their borders: what is the elusive difference between stability and chaos that makes Syria so bloody while Spain and Britain can throw mutual insults without it adding up to anything in particular?Yet this picture explodes, through exaggeration, the Gibraltar "crisis" and points to the joyous fact (for Europeans): that Europe in the 21st century is a peaceful continent. Spain and Britain are no more likely to go to war than Virginia and Illinois. It's strange to see this fantasy of war at a time when real war is once again pulling European states towards action beyond their borders: what is the elusive difference between stability and chaos that makes Syria so bloody while Spain and Britain can throw mutual insults without it adding up to anything in particular?
It is a barrier that western Europe only crossed after 1945 and parts of the continent, like Northern Ireland, much more recently. Maybe we could sink back into being a "dark continent" in the words of historian Mark Mazower. But for now, as a European, I look at this picture with relief and gratitude. It's sheer good fortune to live so far from the house of war that you can make jokes about it.It is a barrier that western Europe only crossed after 1945 and parts of the continent, like Northern Ireland, much more recently. Maybe we could sink back into being a "dark continent" in the words of historian Mark Mazower. But for now, as a European, I look at this picture with relief and gratitude. It's sheer good fortune to live so far from the house of war that you can make jokes about it.
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