The Frontier Closure 50 Years On : Part 1 - The Closure.
“A very convenient political scapegoat” Dr Joseph Garcia, Deputy Chief Minister of Gibraltar.
50 years ago, Spain’s General Franco closed the frontier, the land border between Gibraltar and Spain. Families were split, some faced the difficult choice of having to decide which side of the border to live on.
Supply lines were cut stopping anything from passing over from Spain including food, medical oxygen and communion wine. Spanish workers were forced to leave their jobs in Gibraltar (some even lost their businesses) and many had to move away from the area to find employment elsewhere. Ferry services between the Rock and the Spanish port of Algeciras were suspended and telephone lines were cut.
Starting on Gibraltar Stories this week is a new mini series; ‘The Frontier Closure 50 Years On’. In Part 1 - The Closure, I look back at the build up to the closure of the border, as well as hearing from people who were there on the night of the 8th June 1969.
My thanks to all those who contributed to Part 1: Ambrose Avellano, Dr Jennifer Ballantine Perera, David Bentata, Mrs Irma Casciaro, Paula Galliano, Dr Joseph Garcia, Clive Golt, Aileen Gordon, Juan Carlos Teuma, Annette Tunbridge & Tito Vallejo Smith.
Audio Commentary by the late David Hoare is included in this episode by kind permission of the Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation.
The photograph used to illustrate this mini series is reproduced by kind permission of the Gibraltar National Archives.
The theme for this mini series is ‘Going South’ performed by Philip Valverde, my thanks to him for allowing me to use this recording for this purpose.
Other music on this podcast is by DP Music on www.melodyloops.com mixed with Gibraltar atmospheric sounds
Gibraltar Stories is produced, edited and presented by Lindsay Weston.
The Closed Frontier
(Photo: courtesy of the Gibraltar National Archives)