There was a surprisingly constructive article about Gibraltar in El Mundo today, though I was confused by the author’s description of Sir/St. Thomas More [author, of course, of Utopia] as an ‘English moor’. In other words, an English Arab. There is clearly some confusion here. Either I am not understanding some subtlety in the article or the writer is way off beam.

Meanwhile, back on earth, it has been announced that the police have been persuaded by Spain’s motoring associations to publish the exact locations of all radar traps. The police have accepted, we are told, that they should not be seen as a revenue-oriented organisation and that it is in the interests of safety that drivers know where the traps are. This is such a ludicrous argument that credulity is stretched beyond at least my breaking point. I suspect that the decision has far more to do with Spanish concepts of ‘nobility’ and equity. When it comes to maintaining their freedom to enjoy themselves ‘individualistically’, the Spanish can display a belief in fair play way beyond even that of the British. You may recall the earlier example of the press believing it wasn’t appropriate to show really terrifying pictures on cigarette packets. Mangled bits of the victims of suicide bombers on the front page, yes. Severely damaged lungs on fag packets, ‘inappropriate’.