SPANISH Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, will not be getting many Christmas cards from the other side of the English Channel this year. His government´s bully boy tactics over Gibraltar have been slammed in the British media and this week he even suggested that an independent Scotland would be outside the European Union. Now Scottish leader Alex Salmond believes that Scotland has a great future within the great European family and there is even talk of a breakaway Scotland joining the euro. But not according to Mr. Rajoy. And unfortunately for Mr. Samond, Mr. Rajoy could veto any attempt by Scotland to join the European Union. So really Rajoy has done the “No” vote campaign a great service but Idoubt that it will have won him many friends within the Scottish government. But Rajoy was not really talking about Scotland. Substitute the word Scotland for Catalonia and you will get the true version of his speech. It wasn´t meant for Mr. Salmond at all but Mr. Artur Mas, the leader of the Catalonian government who is calling for a breakaway from Spain. Now, Iam a democrat. If the people of Scotland want to break away from the United Kingdom then the best of luck to them. I would say the same to the people of Catalonia. What Mr. Rajoy has to understand is that bully boy tactics do not work. They will not work on Gibraltar, they will not work on Catalonia and they will certainly not work on Scotland.