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.
The Gibraltar Supreme Court yesterday ruled that Section 5 (2) of the Adoption Act in Gibraltar violates the Gibraltar Constitution by excluding a claimant in a same sex relationship from applying for an adoption order jointly with their partner.
Minister for Equality, Samantha Sacramento has today insisted that as a consequence of the court ruling, the Government has begun taking steps to amend the legislation. The Care Agency, which is the body that deals with the recommendations for adoption, is reviewing policies to ensure that they are consistent with this decision.
Following a number of suggestions, and a rumour buzz circulating the Social network, Sunborn, a privately owned property development and investment company based in Finland, has confirmed that a Sunborn Yacht Hotel will be set up in Ocean Village.
Sunborn has over fifteen years of experience in developing luxury yacht hotels and has owned and operated floating hotels in London and Finland. Each yacht hotel is custom-built for the location and the experience is different in each one. Further active development projects include Barcelona and London.
The Gibraltar Tourist Board’s "Gibraltar Stand" in the Paddock area of the Marrakech circuit became one of the main attractions of last weekend’s event. The image of Miss World 2009, Kaiane Aldorino, had been featured on posters promoting the event throughout Morocco and Gibraltar’s stand drew large crowds of people wanting to be photographed with her and to have her autograph. The final WTCC race was a particular highlight for the promotion of Gibraltar as Kaiane was the race starter.
Gibraltar Tourist Board staff manning the Gibraltar stand spent many hours on both Saturday and Sunday providing members of the public with details of the new Visa Waiver scheme for Moroccan citizens who hold Schengen Multiple Entry Visas. They also distributed material on the tourist and shopping opportunities on offer in Gibraltar, just 14km across the Strait.
This year's Gibraltar Spring Festival will run from May 1st, which will host the May day festivities, until June 22nd, for the Festival finale; Calentita. The programme of events is as follows:
May
Wednesday 1st May
May Day Celebrations Organised by the Gibraltar’s Trade Council Casemates Square
Thursday 2nd May 6.30pm
‘Nepenthes’ Official Book launch by Elena Scialtiel Garrison Library