ReachExtra
Lorenzo Perez-Periáñez, one of the founders of the Cross Frontier Group is a firm believer in the need to maintain close ties that unite both cities.
Lorenzo Perez-Periáñez Carmona needs no introduction in the area due to his constant struggles to defend the interests of La Linea and Gibraltar, two sets of people with many differences between them, but also many things in common which this La Linea businessman firmly defends.
“Gibraltar and La Linea have economic, family, social, cultural, linguistic and even gastronomic ties. We are brothers and sisters and unique. We have a clear identity and there are many more things that unite us than those that separate us. We must never give this up”, he maintains.
As president of the La Linea small and medium businesses association (“Apymell”), and spokesperson for the Cross Frontier Group, he continues to work hard despite the problems faced by the area and the changes in political leadership.
The tightening of border controls by Spanish authorities in 2013 and the never ending queues this provoked forced Lorenzo Perez-Periañez to fight back and to undertake a new personal challenge: to fight for peaceful co-existence between Gibraltar and La Linea irrespective of any political issues.
Since then, he has been very critical with political decisions that have stifled and punished the inhabitants and the economy of La Linea and of Gibraltar. The Cross Frontier Group, which comprises trades unions and businessmen from both sides of the border, was born out of those queues; behind the idea were Lorenzo Perez-Periáñez, one of the founders, as well as Alfredo Vasquez and Gemma Vasquez, at that time on the board of the Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses (“GFSB”).
“That affected all of us, tourism in Gibraltar, businesses in La Linea, transfrontier workers, who endured the unthinkable and who saw their jobs in peril….” he says.
Trades unions on both sides had also started to get in touch, so businesses and trade unionists joined to form the Cross Frontier Group. “Everyone’s interests took precedence. We produced a first public declaration with a very clear message: no political decision can or should have a negative impact on the wellbeing and the relationships of the citizens of Gibraltar and of the Campo de Gibraltar”, he explains.
The Cross Frontier Group, faced with ongoing queues, went to Brussels to report the situation and the inhuman treatment suffered by those affected. Old people, children, pregnant women, patients and thousands of workers put up with queues that lasted up to six hours as best they could. “It wasn’t only a question of financial loss but of human rights. Some people collapsed and there were some really dramatic incidents”, he says.
With that difficult episode over and after several years of exemplary coexistence came another threat, Brexit, which is now a fact and about which there is so much uncertainty: “The referendum result in the UK was like pouring cold water on the Cross Frontier Group. We mustn’t forget that 96% of Gibraltarians voted to stay in the EU”, he explains.
The group, far from being resigned to this, found a formula to mitigate the uncertain effects of Brexit, The European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation, something about which the Spanish government is awaiting a reply and which could lead to future prosperity for the area. Despite the adverse circumstances, Lorenzo Perez-Periáñez is optimistic and still dreams of a prosperous future for La Linea and Gibraltar:
“I know it’s very complicated but I can imagine a great common regulatory area between La Linea and Gibraltar with parity of taxation and the same fiscal system. With both cities united”.
