Michael Mifsud Canilla

Michael Mifsud, aged 16, left Gibraltar with a battered suitcase, ten pounds and all the self confidence in the world. His ambition was to return to the Rock a millionaire and a social lion.

Three decades later these objectives have been achieved. He is a self made millionaire and has let it be known that he has found out that he is a kinsman of the Duke of Ahumada.

Many on the Rock speculate as to how he made his money and seek the secret of his success which enables him to live such a luxurious lifestyle. There are even whispers following the revelation that he was a friend of the executed journalist Fazad Bazoft that Michael is involved with the security services. Rest assured, he has not even the remotest connection with the world of secret agents: Fazad was his friend long before the journalist became an Observer contributor.

Michael owns a flat in Dolphin Square, London, a house in Gardiner's Road, Gibraltar, a four storey residence in Kensington and a country house in Lincolnshire. These are his homes; he also owns many properties whose function is to produce income to support his expensive lifestyle.

This Dateliner has known Michael for more than thirty years and so can vouch for the authenticity of many of the milestones of this extraordinary Gibraltarian who next year celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of his birth.

One of his talents is his photographic memory which with the passage of time enables him to inflate a minor matter into a major event. Michael is an evacuation baby, born in 1942, in the Gibraltar camp at Mona Lisa camp, Jamaica. His father's family emigrated from Valletta, Malta and bought land near the Mount, Gibraltar. The family became known as the Shorthorn farmers and supplied the city with most of its dairy products.

His mother, Isabel Canilla Morejon, was a descendant of the Duke of Ahumada and a relative of Bishop Canilla. It was the Emperor Montezuma's grand daughter who married a scion of the Ahumada family. This is how Michael claims to be a direct descendant of the Mexican emperor.

Michael was educated at St Joseph's school, Scud Hill and the Gibraltar Grammar school. His peers called him ‘the professor’ because he came first in all examinations. He left school after passing 7 GCEs and joined Cable and Wireless engineering course. During his spare time he was involved in amateur dramatics and has remained an aficionado of the theatre.

Then came the momentous move of his life, when against his parents' wishes, he hitched hiked to find fame and fortune in the Mother Country.

His money ran out within days of reaching London. In desperation he walked to the Cable and Wireless head office where a Mr Davies, who had heard about him from Gibraltar, took him under his wing and became his friend and advisor. As Michael was a self taught typist he was able to find temporary secretarial jobs. These jobs enabled him to both survive and to take up further education.

They also enabled him to meet a variety of employers in the political and entertainment sectors. One such employer was Alan Sapper, the then general secretary of the Writers of Great Britain Guild. They became and remain close friends. Sapper went on to become Secretary of the powerful Association of Cinematograph, Television and Allied Technicians.

At the age of 19 Michael was appointed deputy track manager of the White City stadium where his main responsibility was to run the many bars on the premises. He came into contact with many Gibraltararians who visited ‘the dogs’.

For relaxation he studied drama at the City Literary Institute and the British Drama League. His distinguished tutors included Bill Gaskell, director of the Royal Court Theatre and Clifford Williams, director of the William Shakespeare workshop in Stratford on Avon.

Dedicated study in the evenings and weekends produced an A level pass with distinction. A decision was taken to read for a degree at Birbeck College, London University but the 15th economic siege of his beloved Gibraltar intervened. He decided to forsake academe and concentrate on writing for the Gibraltar press to keep them informed of the response at Westminster and Fleet Street to the siege. He became a publisher and founded The Link magazine which was published for several years linking the expatriate Gibraltarians with their homeland.

Mifsud Canilla became a full member of the Commonwealth Press Union. This enabled him in subsequent years to accompany the Queen on many of her State visits. Indeed he went on so many that he became known to many of the Royals as the man from Gibraltar.

By this time he had crossed the divide between journalist and PR consultant. A letter in the Daily Telegraph defending the inalienable right of the Gibraltarians to self determination brought his skills to the attention of an architectural society. He was employed to bring this society to the attention of the general public. In his inimitable fashion he started the on going debate between those in favour of tradition and those supporting the new wave. Perhaps it was Michael who was the hidden inspiration behind Prince Charles's support of tradition in architecture. Michael's public relations campaign was so successful that it resulted in a confrontation with management which resulted in his resignation. His presentational services were swiftly snapped up by Bernie Cornfield's Investors Overseas Services. Mifsud Canilla's antennae did not let him down and, sensing a fraud, resigned before the gigantic crash.

These two different experiences as an employee made him determined to work for himself.

It fell to the late Pepe Holliday to provide the window of opportunity when he gave him the franchise in the Mother Country to sell cheap Sakata watches. Michael made his first financial killing by creating a network of freelance sales persons who would sell on pay day to factory workers the length and breadth of the United Kingdom. A simple idea which he masterminded from his office in Grand Buildings, Trafalgar Square. The thousands of watches sold each week produced the cash flow which he invested in property, starting in the Hounslow district. These houses were let. The property boom ensured that Michael was a paper millionaire by the age of 27. Then he realised that the boom had created a demand for chauffeurs; the new tycoons needed to impress and one way was to engage the services of a peak capped chauffeur. It also solved the problem of parking in London.

Michael, whilst in his bath, had a sensational but simple idea. Instead of jumping out exclaiming ‘Eureka’, he picked up the telephone and placed one small advertisement in the Evening Standard – ‘Chauffeurs wanted’. Another small advertisement was placed in the ‘Evening News’ – ‘Chauffeurs available’. The response to both advertisements was sensational. All he had to do was to put the chauffeur in touch with the car owner and charge both a commission. Thus it came about that a Gibraltarian now owns London's largest chauffeur agency which is also one of the most sophisticated in Europe. He started a training school for chauffeurs and the Chauffeur magazine. He also invested in quality limousines and provide a chauffeur driven hire service. He is one of the few people in the European community who took driving lessons in his own Rolls Royce Silver Cloud 11. Mifsud chauffeurs will be found in the car parks of London's major social events.

Money begets money and by borrowing on the greatly increased value of his property empire he was able to buy more buildings. This were let and thus he was able to withstand the ravages of the Seventies' recession.

By now he had moved his office to Oxford Street where his ‘new baby’ was the Gibraltar Group. This has been well documented. Suffice to say that despite his feuds with many expatriate Gibraltarians, history will judge that the Gibraltar Group and its successful charter flights would not have been possible without his energy and financial support. Michael did not expect gratitude for all the hard work and support given to the Gibraltar Group. This was just as well because he never received any; all he received were copious quantities of envy and criticism. Nevertheless he considers that it was all worth while and delighted when the late Aurelio Danino described him in El Calpense as being ‘A Prodigious Gibraltarian Son’.

During this time he tried and failed to revive the Theatre Royal. He brought out Helen Shapiro to sing and lost money. He tried again and flew out the first ever nude review. Even this courageous bid failed because the expected male audience, although wanting to attend, did not wish to be seen coming out of the Theatre Royal.

Mifsud Canilla has always been an unashamed royalist and was invited to become a member of the Monarchist League. He played a key role in persuading the Count of Barcelona to be the guest of honour at the 1965 annual dinner. Membership led to an invitation to be installed as a Knight Templar. This led to the creation of a Gibraltar chapter. He is now a member of the Order's international governing body with special responsibility for the Mother Country. He has been invited to write the official history of the Templars.

In 1988 he was granted the freedom of the City of London; a rare honour for a Gibraltarian.

A llanito at heart he enjoys playing the music of Iberia and looks forward to playing with the Tuna Calpense at Christmas when they play in the streets of Gibraltar.

He regards himself as an expatriate Gibraltarian with close ties with Kensington. The Coronet theatre in Kensington was saved from becoming a fast food restaurant when he marshalled local public opinion. This prompted the Kensington and Chelsea News to describe him as ‘a Gibraltar white knight who rode to the theatre's rescue.

Michael puts his financial success down to being able to spot a gap in a market, obtain a foothold in that market and turn the project over to managers to increase market share. He moves on to spot another gap in a market and so on and so on. His secret is delegation and the selection of managers. Naturally he loses on some ventures and makes the occasional ill advised managerial appointments. But providing he picks more winners than losers the balance sheet shows a healthy profit. It all seems to revert back to his days at the White City stadium.

History has taught him to invest cautiously and he now owns the N.C.P. long term car park at Malaga airport which produces a strong cash flow.

Michael believes passionately in social justice and equality. He deplores the conditions for inmates in the Moorish Castle prison and was responsible for the adverse Howard League report on prison conditions on the Rock. Fazad Bazoft's execution affected him considerably and he is creating a foundation in his memory which will lobby in New York and Geneva for a charter to protect journalists from tyranny.

One of his amusing adventures concerns his voyage to Gibraltar on a small hydrofoil. Together with a friend he resolved to sail the craft down from Valencia without the benefit of ever having sailed before and being ignorant of coastal navigation. The hydrofoil was driven on a lorry from London to Valencia with Michael following in his Rolls Royce. In advertently Michael offended the Spanish crane driver who lowering the craft into the Mediterranean with Michael sitting in the cockpit. The crane driver kept him suspended in the air for two hours. It is not known whether this was because the crane driver had discovered that Michael is a Gibraltarian. Eventually he set off and broke down several times at sea and each time was rescued by the Spanish Mariner services. The hydrofoil was soon sold.

‘Thornholme Grange’ was a derelict mansion complete with its own ghost in Spalding. It caught Michael's fancy so he bought it. The House, in conjunction with British Heritage, is being restored to its former glory. The estate contains a large farm which is to become totally organic. The house will be offered to the British and Gibraltarian Templars for use as a conference centre.

He has become a serious collector of art and in order to make his hobby tax efficient has formed the Corporate Art International company.

Mifsud Canilla has shown what can be achieved in the Mother Country given determination and luck. He has remained a loyal Gibraltarian and mindful of his own experience is ready always to give any young expatriate Gibraltarian advice and help in the quest to carve a career in the United Kingdom.

Provided he can be found, his door is always open.

 
© 1991, Michael Brufal de Melgarejo, Marques de Lendinez