N ICK Squires has been the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph correspondent in Rome since 2008 and usually tends to cover events in other countries in Eastern Europe. However, of late he has been posted to Mallorca twice. Last year this was to cover the anti-tourism protests and last week the growing immigration problem. During his investigation into the latter he came across a 21-year-old from South Sudan who had spent two days in the sea after the engine on his small boat broke down before being rescued. Now on dry land in Mallorca, he told Nick, whose article was published this week, that his aim is to get to the UK.
EU border force
While in Mallorca, Nick quickly came to realise the scale of the problem the Balearics is facing.
He also learnt that, while the Balearic government is calling for more help and support from the EU Frontex border force, according to a Frontex spokesperson, any demand for intervention from the EU border force has to come from central government in Madrid.
“Our operational presence is always based on official requests from member states relating to their governments. Frontex is ready to extend its operations if requested. For now, we have not received an official request to support Spain in managing the border at the Balearic Islands,” the spokesperson told Nick.
Away from Mallorca, Nick covers a range of topics including religion and spirituality, culture and society, and travel and tourism, with a focus on church administration, court proceedings, and religious organisations. Nick’s work has been featured in various notable publications, including The Christian Science Monitor, The Age, and The Sydney Morning Herald as a result of eight years spent based in Australia. Originally from Lancashire, Nick went to Oxford and then embarked on what he described as the “classic training route”.
Regional newspaper
“I started off at the Brighton Evening Argus, a fine regional newspaper covering Sussex. Then I got itchy feet and went to Hong Kong for two years, when it was still a British colony, and worked on an English-language newspaper there. I then came back to London, worked for the BBC World Service for about five years - based in London but travelling quite a lot - then I fled night shifts and went to Australia.
“I spent eight years there. I was freelancing as a stringer for The Telegraph, Sunday Herald in Scotland, The New Zealand Herald and The Christian Science Monitor,” he said during his stint in Mallorca. I actually went for a year but stayed for eight because it’s just a fantastic place.
“I lived in Sydney but travelled a lot, especially round the South Pacific - places like Tonga, covered a couple of coups in Fiji, a civil war in the Solomon Islands.
“Stories about Prince Philip being worshipped as a God in Vanuatu, lots of quirky and interesting South Pacific stories. Papua New Guinea, East Timor as well, and I finished up in 2008 and was moved to Rome as Italy and Vatican correspondent for The Telegraph,” he said. “And I’ve been there ever since,” he added.
“My patch is broadly Italy, Malta, Greece, Cyprus and the Balkans. But I’m Italy correspondent because we’ve got lots or correspondents based around Europe - Paris, Berlin, Warsaw, Brussels and the like, but it’s great to get back to Mallorca. I’ve been to hike in the glorious Tramuntana Mountains on holiday but only recently to work, so getting into the political and social fabric of the island and its key issues and challenges has been very interesting,” Nick said. “But covering the issues facing Britons in Italy? Well not really.
Covering the Conclave
“During and after Brexit we wrote a lot of news stories but I haven’t done a big sweep of how the Brits are faring because I think there are around three million of us in Europe. Obviously we covered the story about the right to vote for British expatriates being won back last year after having lost the vote after being out of the country for 15 years, as was my case for example. But now it’s been restored. Covering the Vatican has been extremely fascinating and interesting. Take the recent election of the new Pope.
“Covering the Conclave and getting into the intensity of the process and how it all works. The white and black smoke - it’s a very complex election process and extremely complicated and tense. You’ve got the whole Catholic world watching and reading about everything and all the developments.
“With regard to the end result, I think that Pope Leo XIV is more cautious than his predecessor, who had a great personality and was a lot more open and visible, but let’s give him time,” Nick said.
And time appears to have worked for the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
“That’s been another very interesting story to follow and she is holding up relatively well in the polls.
“Her current ratings are around 32 percent, which is what she had when she was elected. During my time I’ve seen plenty of prime ministers come and go in Italy; I don’t think I’ve seen one serve the full five-year term. But looking at Meloni’s ratings half way through - she’s now two-and-a half years in - I think she’ll go the distance. Post-war it’s been very rare to have seen a prime minister complete a full term,” he added.
Italy far right
“That said, looking at Italy’s more recent political past, I think a lot of people were of the opinion that they’d given all the other parties a chance, weren’t that convinced or impressed, so why not give Meloni a go. She’s proved to be an extremely astute politician. I would not say she is far right. Yes, there is an extreme far right movement in Italy, but I wouldn’t say she represents them.
“If she was in the United States she would be a Republican, but I wouldn’t say she would be part of the MAGA movement. In the UK she’d be a Tory. When she came to power, immigration was a major problem and burning issue. Italy was having to cope with some 180,000 refugees and immigrants a year, but she got the optics right almost straight away.
“She’s managed to deal with it, get control of the problem. It had to be dealt with but she’s not the firebrand some commentators thought she was or would be. It’s very easy in opposition to be critical and to make wild and bold statements, but once you get into office it’s a totally different political game and she became aware of that very quickly.
Keir Starmer
“She was quick to realise that she needed to get on with everyone, whether it be on the domestic front or in the international field. Political leaders need to have stable and practical relationships whatever the politics. Yes, she did get on well with Sunak. That said she has developed a good working relationship with Keir Starmer and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, for example, and that is how it works. It’s very easy when not in office but I think on the whole, she’s managed to instil some stability in Italy by tackling the most important issues and performing well on the international stage. Hence why she’s managed to retain her poll rating,” said Nick.
He also has a keen interest in the environment, hence his hiking holidays in Mallorca, and there is another story on the island which has also caught his eye. That is the growing raccoon population in the Tramuntana Mountains. He knows well they are causing increasing problems, so perhaps he will be back to the island on assignment in the near future heading back up into the mountains.