46 years later, reflections on image that captured a closed border

Some 46 years ago, Zane Ryan, who at the time was just a few months old, was held up at the closed frontier gates by his grandfather Manolo Pincho in an image which has become synonymous with the closed border era.

Next week, the physical infrastructure which separated a family will no longer exist as the treaty enters provisional implementation on July 15.

The image of Mr Ryan as a baby offers a stark reminder of how families were split on both sides of the frontier.

The photo, taken in June 1980, shows Mr Ryan at around 10 months old being held aloft so that his great-grandmother, Josefa Riquelme, could see him from La Linea.

Another image taken in reverse shows Mr Ryan’s aunt Jessica Link (née Pincho), then eight years old, and his grandmother Juana Pincho.

Mr Ryan said he is honoured to be part of Gibraltar’s history in an image that will be passed down for generations.

He was not aware of the photo’s existence until 2012, when the image was used for the DVD cover of the film Gibraltar by Ana Garcia. From there, the photo has been used to illustrate exhibitions and commemorations marking the frontier closure.

Mrs Link remembers how their family would come down to the closed border every Sunday and shout to their family on the other side.

“It was really sad,” she said.

“Thinking back, it makes you emotional.”

“I was happy to see my family, but it wasn’t a short distance, you really had to shout across the gate.”

On the day the photo was taken, Mr Ryan’s grandfather and Mrs Link’s father, Manolo, were showing off Zane as the first-born grandchild in the family.

When the frontier reopened, they remember being united with Josefa, when Mr Ryan was around six years old.

“People were trying to see and hug their families,” Mrs Link said.

And while the closed-border years are filled with memories of shouting across a man-made divide just to keep in touch with relatives, for Mr Ryan and Mrs Link the removal of the physical frontier infrastructure comes with mixed emotions and concerns as to what the change will mean for Gibraltar.

In common with many in this community, they are uneasy about issues such as security and identity.

“I think it's going to be a trial period,” Mrs Link said.

“We'll see how it goes and hopefully, we trust that if it's not going well, we can always go back and revert.”