News

Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar is set to introduce ‘Jack’s Law,’ under which bereaved parents will be entitled to two weeks of paid leave from work. In the UK, this initiative became known as ‘Jack’s Law’ in memory of Jack Herd whose mother, Lucy Herd, campaigned relentlessly on the issue….

The newly appointed Chief Fire Officer Colin Ramirez has been a member of the Gibraltar Fire and Rescue Service since January 2000. He was awarded best overall recruit after completing a 16-week Fire-fighter Development Programme and hasn’t looked back since. During his career, CFO Ramirez has completed numerous specialised courses…

A meeting was held in Madrid today between the Governments of Gibraltar, the United Kingdom and Spain for the purpose of discussing the implementation of the MoUs agreed under the Withdrawal Agreement and, in particular, to prepare for the first meetings of the Committees established under the MoUs. These MoUs…

As part of the Government’s ongoing initiative to tackle the detrimental impact of smoking on health and illicit tobacco activity in the area around Gibraltar, the Chief Minister in close consultation with the Collector of Customs has raised the import duty of cigarettes as follows: Import duty per carton of…

The Gibraltar Tourist Board has released its new generic consumer and trade advertising campaign themed ‘Gibraltar – Time to be enlightened’. The slogan forms part of a new identifying campaign logo, which evolves the previous cultural themes explored by the highly successful ‘Year of Culture’ campaign. The new identifying logo…

The Minister for Justice and Equality has started the consultation process in relation to Parental Alienation which was announced last November in connection with International Men’s Day. The process has commenced with the first meeting yesterday with Mr David Gallardo who was also representing the group Forgotten Fathers. There has…

The Ministry of Equality’s fireside chat event Discussing the effects of gender stereotypes in fairy tales, attracted a full audience at the Garrison Library. The event aimed to provoke discussion and encourage submissions to the Modern Fairy Tales short story competition.  Introduced by the Minister for Equality, Samantha Sacramento MP,…

In the early hours of this morning whilst carrying out a routine patrol of BGTW, Officers from HM Customs Marine Section engaged in a chase of a suspect vessel loaded with tobacco. The vessel, a small speedboat approximately 5.5 metres in length, made numerous evasive manoeuvres before HMC Tango 1…

A preparatory technical meeting between officials from the Governments of Gibraltar, the United Kingdom and Spain will take place in Madrid tomorrow. This meeting was originally scheduled for 14 January but was postponed. Eight officials from Gibraltar will be present in the meeting, led by the Attorney General Michael Llamas….

The Gibraltar Tourist Board (GTB) will be participating at the 40th edition of FITUR, the international tourism trade fair, in Madrid, Spain from January 22 to January 26, 2020. FITUR is one of the leading meeting points for the tourism industry globally. In 2019 10,487 exhibiting companies from 165 countries/regions,…

Mr Azopardi and Ms Hassan Nahon both seem to have lost their political perspective when preparing their New Year Messages. As we have already noted, Mr Azopardi launched an unprovoked, gratuitous political and personal attack on the Government and the Chief Minister and then seemed surprised when it was met…

The Gibraltar Electricity Authority would like to provide the general public with an update in relation to the New Power Station. The New Power Station has been undergoing commissioning now for some time, as part of our needs to satisfy ourselves that the plant will be resilient under any given…

The Department of Education will shortly be providing community use access to the new facilities at the two new secondary schools. As from next week, the Gibraltar Sports and Leisure Authority will be able to provide allocations to various facilities within the schools to sporting associations. These facilities include the…

Summary There will be no change to the way in which citizens and businesses interact with the European Union until the Implementation Period comes to an end on 31 December 2020. This means, for example, that Gibraltar-issued identity cards, passports, pet passports, EU Health Cards and driving licences can continue…

Gibraltar Cultural Services is holding a competition to select a Logo for the Gibraltar Spring Festival 2020. The competition is open to all ages. Entrants may submit up to two original works. Entries must be submitted in an A4 size on paper or card, indicating whether the orientation is ‘portrait’…

Reacting to Ms Hassan Nahon’s response to his New Year statement, the Chief Minister, the Hon Fabian Picardo QC MP, said: “Ms Hassan Nahon’s New Year message is tragic evidence that she has once again repeatedly and dangerously contradicted herself whilst unfortunately abandoning her self-ascribed ‘constructive’ attitude towards politics whilst…

Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar notes that Mr Azopardi has issued a further, deeply partisan statement in which, once again, he vehemently attacks the Chief Minister. By way of response, Mr Picardo said: ‘My New Year Message was forward-looking and utterly non-political. It pointed the way forward for Gibraltar and…

The Chief Minister, the Hon Fabian Picardo QC, left Gibraltar this afternoon for a short visit to London where he will hold meetings with UK Government officials and representatives of various commercial entities.  He will return on Thursday afternoon. During Mr Picardo’s absence, the Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Joseph Garcia…

Gibraltar Cultural Services in conjunction with the Gibraltar Chronicle and the Department of Education will hold a Short Story Competition as part of the Gibraltar Spring Festival 2020. The competition is open to Gibraltarians and residents of Gibraltar who may submit one piece of work, in any subject. There will…

The statements from the former head of the Guardia Civil in the Campo de Gibraltar,  Mr Jesus Nuñez in which he suggests a lack of cooperation on tobacco smuggling from Gibraltar are factually incorrect and totally unfair. The fact is that Gibraltar is already, voluntarily and without obligation, applying the…

Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar has today published the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill for Gibraltar. This follows the third reading of the UK Bill in the House of Commons at the end of last week and its adoption by a large majority. The UK Bill now proceeds to the…

The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Keith Azopardi, in his first New Year’s message since taking up the role, demonstrates that neither he nor the GSD have learnt anything from their historic and crushing defeat at the polls in October last year. The Chief Minister, the Hon Fabian Picardo QC,…

 Gibraltar Cultural Services is delighted to be hosting a group of Moroccan artists and musicians next week, as part of a cultural exchange between Gibraltar and Tangier. The artists will be in Gibraltar from the 12th to 16th January 2020, inclusive. Visits have been arranged to local educational establishments to…

The Ministry of Equality will be holding a fireside conversation to discuss the effects and impact of gender stereotypes in children’s fairy tales. This event follows on from the launch of the Modern Fairy Tales short story writing competition in November 2019 and the writing workshop delivered by author Sally…

Gibraltar Cultural Services is issuing an invitation to all Gibraltarian artists who wish to take part in the long-standing Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition. Applications are now being invited by the Royal Academy of Art in London and in the first instance, artists would submit digital images of their artwork. The…

Two picnic sites on the Upper Rock have been prepared in time for the spring. The site at Jews’ Gate, at the lower entrance to the path leading to Mediterranean Steps, has been refurbished, while a new area with tables and benches has been created at the site of the…

Given the timing for the appointment of ministers and the formation of a government in Spain there will be a postponement of the technical discussions between Spanish, UK and Gibraltar officials which were scheduled for next week in Madrid. The technical discussions were to prepare for the implementation of the…

The Chief Minister Fabian Picardo has written to the leader of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, to congratulate him on the announcement by Moncloa that he will become Vice-President of the Kingdom of Spain. In his letter, the Chief Minister expressed his sincerest hopes for genuine dialogue that is respectful of the…