Peter isola's confidence
Peter Isola is a confident man : 'An inflation- ary spiral won't necessarily harm Gibraltar. If the British Ministry of Defence chooses to increase its expenditure on the dockyard here, that's more money coming in to us from outside sources' The sceptics, however, believe that the British will only keep the dockyard going 'as long as it suits them'. In their judgment, integration with Britain could bring the day nearer when the British might find it worthwhile to withdraw from the dockyard because the costs would then be so much more for the British. It is cer- tainly true that for some of the shopkeepers the halcyon days seem to have vanished. British visitors were in the habit of spending sprees in the colony while they were en route to and from the Costa del Sol. Soviet crews would come in from the south Atlantic after six months at sea and would spend up to £80,000 in a few hours shopping up and down Main Street. Gibraltar suspects that this diversion of trade is due to pressure from Spain.
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