Running with the baton

mistakes. This is very much a can did look at Gibraltar during the last sixty years and how life has changed from the virtually unchal lengeable might of the military as represented by the Governor whose every whim and instruction had to be obeyed by military and civilians alike to the more lenient Colonial Masters as in the person of Darrel Bates,and the slow growth ofgenu ine democracy linked to the evo lution of the Gibraltarian identity.

The downside to writing an au tobiography when the author is known to all 20,000 Gibraltarians is that it has to be accurate or some one will soon provide a different recollection ofany event.To date no one appears to be in contention with the main thrust of the Gaggero family story.

In 1951, aged 24, Joe was elected to the Board of the Gibraltar Cham ber of Commerce.He writes;'Other members were mostly old hands who'd been through the rigours of the war and who,aslong as I didn't encroach on their interests, wel comed my youthful brashness with great goodwill and even a little at tention.

fer repeatedly to these photos as well as the family tree of8 genera tions, the first Gaggero arriving on the Rock in 1811.

There are vivid stories about life in the households of the various members of the family and the paragraphs about his mother, the legendary Mabel, are both truthful and hilarious. This is but one exam ple;'When it's my turn(to die)I will be there too (North Front cem etery).Strangely, Mabel and George do not lie together; my mother is with her own family,the AndrewsSpeeds, some distance from the Gaggero family plot. As it's a more attractive spot, I've decided that I will rest there too. I hope this is a wise decision in the light of our of ten turbulent relationship and that mother doesn't nag me through all eternity'.

Naturally Joe admits to making

But the Chamber of Commerce was widely regarded as protection ist and patriarchal; a haven of the "old guard". Nobody wanted to rock any boats, or change the longestablished ground rules. It was all very pleasant, all very gentlemanly and belonged in another era. Gi braltar's commercial life took place in a time-warp; stuck at least twenty years behind the times. Eve ryone sat behind their neat desks and basically just waited for the business to come in. There was lit tle planning ahead; if your com pany was doing all right that week or that month then God was in his heaven and all was well with the world. But the inward-looking at titudes of the commercial commu nity, though to some extent under standable given the size of our en vironment, were seriously bad for the Rock'.

From that moment in time Joe decided that it was no good look ing inward at Gibraltar but that eventually the Bland Group would have to grasp business opportuni- ties in Spain, Morocco, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Joe has always networked, long before the word became fashion able. Over the decades he has built up an amazing list of contacts to which he adds nearly every day. He learnt from his father the necessity to cultivate senior military figures, senior Colonial Office and then For eign and Commonwealth Office officials, all local politicians, busi nessmen, journalists and indeed anyone who might atsome stage be of use to the Bland Group.

He also used his position as the largest employer on the Rock to obtain access to the succession of governors and chief ministers.

Fro!'nl955 to 1960 Joe was the Chairman of the newly created Gi braltar Government Tourist Com mittee which was in effect the first Ministry of Tourism, There are those who opine that no subse quently elected Minister ofTourism has ever been as effective.

Joe is proud to be a Gibraltarian and writes movingly of what this means to him: "The Gibraltarian's life is filtered through the prism of our turbulent history, our national identity and the continued uncer tainty of our future".

"In my life, this lump of lime stone is almost as much a character as any human being. Throughout my life, this vibrant melting-pot of a place has constantly demanded my attention. In my working world,it has thrown terrible obsta cles in my path, driven me to dis traction and tied me down like Gulliver.In my private world,it has brought pressures and stresses that most outsiders would find impos sible to understand. But the chal lenges it has thrown me have forced me to grow both as a businessman and as a human being and I can never regret that. However much time I might now spend in England orSpain or Morocco, 1 always think of myself as a Gibraltarian. Being one may not have made my life easy, but it has rarely been dull".

Joe warns of a worrying new phenomenon that has reached the Rock; the economic fact that com mercial power is falling out of the hands of the Gibraltarians."All the big new projects on the Rock are being funded by outside interests and that makes the economy so much more vulnerable. If that hap pened, more and more of our young people wilt drift away to make their fortunes in other places".

This is a great read and highly recommended.

Gibraltar-Ballvinena

As part of the ongoing ar rangements for the twinning of Gibraltar with Ballymena. His Worship the Mayor of Ballymena, Councillor Tommy Nicholl and the Cultural Serv ices Manager Mr William Young will be paying a familiarisation visit to Gibraltar from 30th Janu ary to 1st February.

Out0^Africa

Gallety

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