European Commission Executive Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation José Manuel Albares and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, together with the Chief Minister of Gibraltar Fabian Picardo, met in Brussels earlier today.
Officers of the Royal Gibraltar Police's Marine Section last night detained four Spanish nationals for drugs offences following a chase at sea.
Following receipt of information that there was a suspect vessel travelling in BGTW and heading into the bay the RGP proceeded to intercept it. The chase headed west straying into Spanish waters at which point the vessel was detained.
The lawyer and former GSLP House of Assembly member Albert Isola has been selected by the executive committee of the GSLP to stand as a candidate in next month’s by-election. The decision still needs to be approved by the party’s membership at a meeting later this evening.
The Government has issued the following statement on the quality of the water at Western Beach:
Western Beach consistently had excellent bacterial water quality prior to 2010. Since then, and especially during periods of rainfall in the winter months, there have been erratic episodes associated with sewage discharges from a storm water drain from La Linea which significantly affected the bacterial water quality at this beach. Nevertheless, it was possible to open Western Beach last summer since bathing water quality was acceptable from an EU bathing water perspective during this period.
Current Chairman of the Gibraltar Police Authority, Richard Garcia recently made way for the newly appointed Mr. John Gonçalves who was selected by the Specific Appointments Commissioner.
Mr. Garcia was thanked for all of his work as Chairman of the Authority, which acts as an essential element of the constitutional architecture as it ensures the operational independence of the RGP. Commenting on the matter, the Chief Minister explained that he was very grateful to Mr. Garcia for his outstanding work in the role. He added, ‘on behalf of the whole community I wish to thank him for his commitment to the task and to congratulate him for his undoubted achievements over the two years he has spent as Chairman.’