Election Worries
On Oct. 11, 2007, nearly 82 percent of Gibraltar's electorate turned up to cast their vote in what was to be one of the tensest and most closely fought general elections in the Rock's recent political history. At around 7 a.m. the following day, the news finally filtered through that Peter Caruana's Gibraltar Social Democrats (GSD) had narrowly edged out the GSLP/Liberal Alliance to reclaim the maximum number of seats in Parliament and reinstate Caruana as Gibraltar's prime minister.
Naturally, this was bad news for Alliance supporters, and particularly the devoted followers of their highly loved and charismatic leader Joe Bossano, who many knew would soon be calling time on his distinguished career in local politics. However, whilst just under half of Gibraltar mourned, within the gaming industry, the GSD's victory was more likely to be greeted with a huge sigh of relief.
A case in point are so-called "frontier-workers," gaming industry professionals who live in Spain but commute across the border on a daily basis to work for Gibraltar-based firms. The Alliance had regularly condemned the government for having actively encouraged the influx of these workers, claiming that Gibraltarians could easily have filled their jobs. However, many are of the opinion that because of the gaming industry's proliferation on the Rock, there are plenty of jobs to go around. Nevertheless, there was an arguably irrational fear amongst industry professionals that were the Alliance to come into power, they would be forced out of their jobs or made to relocate to Gibraltar, where rents and house prices are significantly higher than in Spain.
There is also the issue of border queues that most affect those who cross into Gibraltar on a regular basis. Caruana's policy of "uncompromised" dialogue with Spain has met with resistance from a large proportion of the local population who are, perhaps quite rightly, untrusting of Spain on diplomatic issues and unwilling to discuss the issue of Gibraltar's sovereignty.
However, as once-rocky relations with Spain have softened somewhat in recent years, so have border controls, resulting in a freer flow of traffic into Gibraltar. A potential outcome of the Alliance winning the election may have been a premature end to this ongoing diplomatic process. When Bossano was elected into power in 1992, he did so under the slogan "Give Spain No Hope," a hard-line approach on the issue of dialogue with Spain, which may have had a knock-on effect on the flow of frontier traffic. Harassment by Spanish border officials and hour-long border queues are hardly an ideal scenario for those industry professionals who have jobs to get to in the morning.
Another group of individuals who would have patiently awaited the results of the election would have been those foreign "high net-worth individuals" who have made Gibraltar their home. This elite group includes the various e-gaming entrepreneurs who have relocated to Gibraltar to take advantage of the tax breaks on offer to both themselves and their businesses. Whilst the GSD were making changes that benefited foreigners living and working in Gibraltar, many feared that Bossano, a former trade union leader with a clear socialist ideology, would have implemented fiscal changes that may not have sat so comfortably with all of Gibraltar's residents.
Regardless of the political rhetoric, though, one can only speculate that very little would have changed for Gibraltar's gaming industry regardless of which party was elected. Voters are said to be a fickle bunch, but everyone knows gaming is big business for Gibraltar, and doing anything that would risk driving these firms away from the Rock would surely be political suicide for any politician. However, by re-electing the GSD back into power, the Gibraltarian electorate was sending out a signal that if Gibraltar's economy is not broken, it might not yet need fixing.
The fact is not lost amongst many Gibraltarians, however, that this election may have been won by a largely silent minority of foreign professionals who have acquired their voting rights by virtue of having resided on the Rock for more than six months. These individuals may not be around in 10 or even five years' time, but we should not understate their political clout and their ability to influence how Gibraltar is run. With commercial trends in a constant state of flux, it is impossible to predict how long Gibraltar will continue to be the destination of choice for the gaming industry; however, if conditions remain favourable for these firms and their employees, they will continue to be attracted to the Rock and the industry will thrive unabated.
Tristan Cano lives and writes about the gaming industry in Gibraltar.
