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People left to sort out GSLP Government lack of preparedness

Instead of washing its hands of travel problems that Gibraltar residents are encountering the Government should have pre-empted these issues and now be more proactively dealing with the problems.

Some Gibraltar residents have encountered travel problems when seeking to enter the Schengen area with risk of travel plans being disrupted. That has, in some cases, been due to their registration on the EES system before or after 15 July 2026. The Government’s Technical Notice issued on 13 October 2026 simply puts citizens in the front-line of having to resolve those de-registration issues rather than proactively resolving issues with the system it says it was intimately involved in designing. The issues raised by all this, once again, suggest a further sign of shambolic preparation on a crucial aspect of the Treaty deal that goes well beyond simple teething problems.

Mobility across the Schengen area was the crucial benefit of this deal for Gibraltar residents. This was, however, made subject to a 90-day period in every 180 days. After the publication of the Treaty text the GSD questioned the 90-day restriction because it would provide a hurdle to proper movement across the Schengen area. Beyond that what we are seeing now not only confirms that concern but also shines a spotlight on the fact that the Government was unprepared to deal with what are obvious scenarios of difficulties that would arise across the EU.

Rather than asking citizens to try to resolve these issues with each individual country people are entitled to think that over the many years of negotiations the Government would have pre-empted the obvious questions and have arranged solutions to these with the European Commission. Equally the Government should be acting as a central secretariat to pass details of wrongly logged citizens to the EU so that these could be removed by individual EU countries instead of asking citizens to deal with individual countries. Again, why was this not agreed beforehand with the EU?

Leader of the Opposition, Keith Azopardi said: “Why has it taken till now – three months after the start of provisional implementation and after people are suffering travel issues – for the Government to have consulted with the EU on how Gibraltar residents would be de-registered from the EES system? It must have been obvious during the negotiations that people might have been registered before Treaty implementation and that there was a real risk they could be wrongly registered after that. This is just a further example of a GSLP Government desperately playing catch-up on Treaty implementation and not being sufficiently prepared for obvious issues while citizens suffer the pain or anxiety of travel disruption. The issue of EES de-registration is just one of a number of foreseeable post-Treaty travel problems for Gibraltar residents which should have been anticipated by the Government and in respect of which solutions should already have been put in place or risks minimised.”

GSD would reverse Anti-British and Anti-Business aspects of GSLP 9 July Residency Policy

A GSD Government would seek to reverse those aspects of the Residency policy introduced by the GSLP/Libs that operate in an anti-British and anti-Business way. That can be done while also protecting public services from undue strain by a series of residence and contribution entitlements for new entrants.

It is not in the interests of Gibraltar to place hurdles on inward investment, job creation or residence that discourage British economic investment while pushing investment or jobs to Spain. Additionally, the GSLP residency policy will, in effect, subject those people who want to work in Gibraltar but are forced to reside in Spain to seek Spanish administrative permissions. This will operate as a further control on our economy by Spain.

The new residency policy that was announced in June has also since then been embodied in the Residency Regulations 2026 commenced on 14 July 2026. By introducing these under the Treaty on Gibraltar and the European Union Act 2026 the GSLP Government have made it more difficult for there to be an easy reversal of any harmful effects of this criticized policy. Future changes may now need to be consulted with the Cooperation Council under the Treaty (and therefore, in effect, with the EU and Spain).

Nick Cruz said: “The new GSLP 9 July law introduced by Ms Gemma Arias-Vasquez that makes UK British citizens second class citizens in British Gibraltar when seeking residence is anti-British and anti-Business. This 9 July Law has been severely criticized by Chamber of Commerce and by the GFSB.” On Thursday 2 July the GFSB publicly released their views warning: “that parts of the policy could make recruitment and retention harder for employers, discourage entrepreneurship and have negative effects on business in Gibraltar”.

Mr Cruz added: “The GSD believes that the best way to protect our British way of life and our social services in the face of the Treaty is to have a successful economy that allows Businesses and individuals to contribute via tax and social insurance. A need to protect both is not served by making the attraction of British investment or job-creation more difficult. Gibraltar’s businesses and its largest sectors (the finance sector) are UK facing, and our business require recruitment from the UK. This should not be made harder.”

The GSLP 9 July Law imposes a minimum salary threshold of gross average earnings (now over £39,500) before a UK citizen can come and live in Gibraltar. That means recruitment of young British citizens (including graduates that our Businesses need) will be less attractive. The agist policy that makes it harder for anyone over 55 years old to come and live in Gibraltar (unless they are rich and have £5M and can apply for CAT 2 Status) will also prevent British entrepreneurship and startups by those senior management and decision makers that are often in their late 50’s and early 60’s. This ill-thought-out policy (now law) has not enjoyed proper consultation with business as is evident from the position of the Chamber the GFSB and the Finance Centre Council. Some of the details of this policy will operate detrimentally to our economy and make Gibraltar perceived to be less attractive and friendly to British investors.

The fact that exceptions to the GSLP 9 July Law are based on grace and favour from the Chief Minister, adds uncertainty and extra costs. Business cannot plan on that basis.

Gibraltar succeeds when everyone succeeds. The best way to protect our public sector and our public services is to foster a successful British Gibraltar business environment that can live harmoniously with our neighbour Spain and the EU but not lose our uniqueness which is our British Heritage, culture and character including our demographics and business offering. Measures like this which discourage British new entrants and give primacy to Spanish labour merely increase our reliance on Spain and can diminish our historical economic links.

As such a GSD Government would consult widely to reverse the negative effects of the GSLP’s 9 July Law with a view to introducing a balanced set of measures that are business friendly, British friendly, business promoting and residency and contribution requirements that avoid any abuse.

We will ensure that those who may be older and therefore cannot contribute in terms of PAYE/SI for sufficient years will need to pay sufficient funds into our consolidated fund or demonstrate sufficient wealth, retirement provision and medical insurance.

Gibraltar has always benefitted from British investment and British people arriving to work and contribute to Gibraltar. We should continue to be an attractive place for British investment because that produces economic benefits for our community.

The GSD will in careful consultation with the GFCC and other stakeholders also review the CAT 2 requirements. It will ensure that this residency status continues to be attractive to those who want to make Gibraltar their home and integrate and invest and this will include consideration of a minimum residency requirement.

NATIONAL DAY STATEMENT OF LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION, KEITH AZOPARDI

National Day is a day of reflection of the past and of hope for the future. A day where dressing in red and white is not just about identity but about our collective free expression of our will and of our rights. It is a statement of intent for the future as well as a reaffirmation of generations past. And in immersing ourselves in our history and celebrations it is also a moment to think of those in our community who need a better future. It is a time to look ahead with hope
and expectation to the Gibraltar we can create.

As we gather to enjoy another National Day it is also important to reflect on the year past and tell it how it is. While we hope for the future and are confident that changes can radically improve the lives of all our people there is no hiding that the last 12 months have seen a string of political and economic issues that have rocked Gibraltar. Those have not gone away and emphasised the urgency of acting decisively in numbers at the next election.

This is the first National Day since the conclusion of the EU Treaty. It has been a long time in coming. We are more than a decade from the BREXIT Referendum. The negotiations on the Treaty were as much about our economic sustainability as our political rights.

The Treaty is far from perfect bringing challenges as well as opportunities and does not provide an absolute guarantee of certainty for the future. The arrangements are underpinned by a Concordat with the UK that we consider falls short of expectations and we would pledge to improve in negotiations with the UK Government.

The GSLP Government will tell you everything is rosy on the Treaty front but the consultation of the business community in the run up to it was poor and the first few weeks after provisional application of the Treaty was a shambles. The uncertain future economic pressures are matched by security and immigration challenges as we saw just the other day when a Guardia Civil vessel entered our port.

Despite that, if all goes well, the Treaty can hopefully bring better prospects for our citizens, greater freedoms, more stability and long-term wealth for Gibraltar. We will work hard to make this Treaty work for you. We must also ensure that our separate identity as a people is protected. That requires a clear plan for the future which we do not believe the GSLP have. That must be clear given the lack of preparation at different stages over the last 10 years and the failure to get ahead of the curve by investing in our product and infrastructure. There really can be no excuse for the fact that La Linea seems frenetic in their endeavour to create new infrastructure and commercial opportunities while our own Government who had the advantage of negotiating the Treaty and therefore prepare with advance notice seem lethargic by comparison.

We are told that this will be Mr Picardo’s last National Day as Chief Minister and he will soon pass on the baton to his chosen successor who will likely become GSLP Leader without a contest. That will simply deliver more of the same. At least that will be the sign that we will be closer still to the next general election. That will provide you with an opportunity to speak loudly in the growing clamour for change. We will be working hard for you in the months ahead to ensure that when that moment comes we deliver what you need. On behalf of all my colleagues, our families and myself I wish you all a happy National Day.

Unanswered Questions on Rooke Mask Government U-Turns at High Cost To Taxpayer

The Government’s announcement on the Rooke Elderly Care Facility, finally provides some clarity to the community more than six years after Sir Joe Bossano first announced the project but raises unanswered financial questions that cannot mask the clear U-turns the GSLP Government have done as well as the lack of consultation by Minister Arias-Vasquez.

We welcome much-needed additional capacity for elderly residential care, particularly where this provides the opportunity for those residents who wish to live closer to the city centre and remain part of everyday community life. We also recognise the urgent need to provide places for those waiting to enter ERS and the impact these delays are having on bed availability within the GHA.

Shadow Minister for ERS and Care, Atrish Sanchez adds, “The GSD welcomes additional capacity for elderly care and wants Rooke to succeed for the residents who will call it home. But supporting better facilities for our elderly does not require us to ignore how we got here. Residents and families deserve proper consultation. The community deserves to know the future of Mount Alvernia. Taxpayers deserve to know what this project has cost and whether it represents value for money. And Gibraltar deserves to know what the Government’s long-term plan for elderly residential care actually is. After more than six years, these are not unreasonable questions. They are questions that should already have answers. The GSD will continue to ask them until those answers are provided.”

The GSD considers that the State should have a key role in delivering social care to our elderly citizens but additional capacity is only part of the story.

There is no hiding that this project started as a joint-venture with a Chinese owned entity. Modular construction was promoted as a quicker and cheaper way of delivering it. Instead, it has been massively delayed. For years the GSLP Government have said that the high costs disbursed by the Savings Bank – more than £38M – were justified because it would be privately owned and run and presumably the monies repaid. This was restated repeatedly. The GSLP manifesto of 2023 stated that residents would move in during early 2024 – more than 2.5 years ago – and that it would be privately run. As recently as this year the owners issued an expressions of interest for the management of the building. The GSD would have planned this provision of elderly care in a very different way. The joint-venture project was flawed from the start. After more than six years, it is difficult to see where the promised speed or savings of the modular approach have materialised.

What is happening now is that the taxpayers are having to bail out the Government from a failure of one of their flagship projects of their so-called National Economic Plan. One of the big unanswered questions is whether this could have been done at a far more economic level if the Government had sought to commission a purpose-built facility without joint-venture partners. The description of this being a “new chapter” by Ms Arias-Vasquez is nothing more than GSLP spin to paper over this history. If the GHA had planned a purpose built facility designed around the long-term needs of Gibraltar’s elderly population from day one would it really have planned to build a modular tower block?

Above everything else, the care, dignity and wellbeing of residents must come first. On 28th of August, the Minister for Health and Care issued a press release saying that residents and their families would hear from the GHA Director General and herself before anyone else, because that was the right order in which to do things. We agree. It was the right order. Unfortunately, it does not appear to be the order that was followed.

It is our understanding that, other than a meeting with a very small group of family members, who were subsequently taken on a tour of Rooke, ERS residents and their loved ones more widely have still not received any official communication explaining the decision, the proposed move or how it will affect them.

For the people affected, these are their homes, their care arrangements and, in many cases, major changes at a vulnerable stage of their lives. Residents and their families deserved to hear directly from those making these decisions before hearing about them through a Government PR, video or the media. They should have been given clear timely information and the opportunity to ask questions.

In January and again in February 2026, Minister Arias Vasquez assured Parliament that there would be a consultation process with ERS residents and their relatives. If Mount Alvernia residents are now expected to move to Rooke, the Government should explain what consultation has taken place, if this process has included all affected residents and their families and whether it has established that all those affected actually wish to move. Given the comments made at the press conference by the Government that they cannot run both locations it is clear that residents are effectively being presented with a fait accompli and effectively being compelled to move- something that the Government said would not happen. Another U-turn.

And if Mount Alvernia is to be emptied, what happens to the building? For years, the Opposition has raised concerns about its deteriorating condition, delays to refurbishment works which the Minister insisted were taking place, and persistent problems raised directly with the Minister by residents and families themselves.

That question cannot simply be left unanswered. From the figures currently available, Rooke is likely to be close to capacity relatively soon after the planned moves take place. We therefore need to know what the Government’s longer-term plan for elderly residential care is.

And what has this modular approach ultimately cost the taxpayer? When asked in Parliament as recently as July, the Minister for Health and Care would not provide an updated cost. Following this latest announcement, she was again asked about the figure by GBC and an updated figure was still not provided. Yet the Minister has said that the GHA Director General carried out a cost-benefit analysis and considered different options. If those options have been properly costed and compared, the Government must have the relevant financial information available to it. So why is the public still not being given the figures?

The Government should set out clearly what the development has cost, how much the GHA will pay to acquire it, what further expenditure is required to fit it out, how the project has been funded and what it will cost each year to operate.

There are further questions about the model of care, staffing, planning, safety, building approvals and regulatory oversight. We will pursue these in the hope that the people of Gibraltar are provided with real answers and not just electoral spin which they are fast growing impatient with.

Government Response to GBC questions on El Martillo funding falls short.

The GSD note the answer given by the Government in response to today’s GBC report on El Martillo Group
that: “No Government owned, affiliated or controlled company has lent any money to El Martillo Limited or any affiliated company.”

The Government has however not replied to a follow up question by GBC as to any funding sourced from the Gibraltar Savings Bank. The Government has said in answer to GSD questions in Parliament Q253/2026 that at 31 March 26, £114 million has been provided by the Savings Bank via its subsidiary, the Gibraltar National Mint Limited, to a company by the name of Community Credit Union Limited (“CCU”) which in turn has loaned monies to various private sector companies. The Government has declined to disclose the names of those entities but confirmed that the funding decisions by the Savings Bank are taken against a criteria decided solely by Sir Joe Bossano.

While the Government has not stated whether companies in El Martillo Group (the entities the focus of the GBC report) have received such monies it is clear from Company House searches that a number of companies in that group have charges registered against them in favour of CCU. It is in the public interest that if the Govt will not provide answers, then either CCU or El Martillo Group should consider making a voluntary disclosure of any loan amounts, rates and terms.

In the absence of this, there is a clear question that remains unanswered: has any of the £114 million provided through the Savings Bank to CCU ultimately been loaned to companies within the El Martillo Group, and if so how much?

The Gibraltar public is entitled to this information.

GSLP wants to hoodwink the electorate for electoral purposes

It is staggering that the GSLP continue to erect red herrings in a bid to distract from their broken promises on housing.

On the building of affordable or rental housing it is clear that their much repeated projects have been delayed (some for over a decade) or not done at all. It is very clear that they are now, for nothing other than obvious electoral purposes seeking to hoodwink a sizeable sector of the electorate – individuals who are desperate to purchase their own homes on an affordable basis – into believing that an extra 2,300 flats will, like magic, be made available to them.

Damon Bossino said: “Let us make no mistake. The Government has breached its promise as to timelines already on this new scheme as the land should have been reclaimed and building started by now.

The Government has little credibility on housing given their repeated electoral commitments in successive general elections in 2011, 2019 and 2023 that they would build rental housing. They have failed to deliver on each and every occasion. It is an absolutely undeniable fact that the last rental estate was built by the GSD.”

Keith Azopardi, the Leader of the Opposition said: “The GSD will not fall into the usual trap of GSLP diversionary tactics, but it cannot allow them to manipulate the narrative on the basis of incorrect numbers. For there to be an honest analysis, the proper comparative figures for low cost housing are therefore approximately 1300 under the GSD as against (according to them) 1,742 under the four last GSLP administrations. Also, in so far as sales of post war flats to sitting tenants the parliamentary record shows that sales were happening as recently as a few years ago. It is hard to believe sales in 2020 were still commitments of a previous administration.”

The fact is that the Government simply cannot be believed but they continue to confuse and attempt to lull people into thinking that by some waving of a magic wand their most recent announcement on the 2,300 flats will, on this occasion, somehow become reality.

Department of Immigration and Home Affairs repeated closure an embarrassment

The GSD notes with alarm that the Department of Immigration and Home Affairs once again had to interrupt its services to the public for a day, due to flooding.

It will be recalled that the same thing happened in May this year & at the time the GSD justifiably questioned how the operation of an important Government Department which interacts on a daily basis with the public to deal with the registration of births, deaths, residency, marriages etc., could have been closed for a whole day on a second occasion in this way.

In its reaction at the time, the Govt glibly responded to concerns raised by the GSD, suggesting that it all boiled down to a burst pipe and ignored the point about the value for money concerns which arise.

Damon Bossino said: “It is ironic & an embarrassment for the Government that it should move one of its departments from a non-rent paying Government property to a privately owned building – at an annual cost of £214,680 until 17 April 2032 – on the grounds that the new premises would be of better quality and would not be suffering from water ingress issues to
then be afflicted by the same problem.”

It is also incredible that the property which housed the Department of Immigration and Home Affairs will now be refurbished for the purpose of the Mental Health Hub. It seems that what was unacceptable for the Immigration Department is fine for the Mental Health Hub.

There are another three Government departments in that same building at a total annual cost of approx £430,000. This recent episode raises the further question whether similar issues are also impacting these other departments.

People want delivery and not playground politics

The presentation of distorted figures which do not make a proper comparison of the provision of low-cost housing in GSLP and GSD periods is not just sleight of hand but fundamentally fails to address the core point about the GSLP “delivery” of housing policy.Housing is a pressing social concern and people want delivery and not playground politics.

The undeniable fact is that the GSLP will not stick to its promises made in January 2025 that keys would be delivered at the westside reclamation by no later than the first half of 2028 because the reclamation has not even started.

The undeniable fact is that Bob Peliza Mews was announced 11 years ago and phase 1 purchasers are still waiting while those waiting for phase 2 are seeing no end in sight to their seemingly interminable wait.

The undeniable fact is that Chatham Views has taken almost a decade for delivery to occur.

This record when juxtaposed with the notion that the Government is saying it will now deliver another 2,300 homes – i.e., that in the short span of two years it will deliver more homes than it has built over the entire 15-year period and all in 47,000 sq. metres of land – raises fundamental questions to the credibility of what they are now saying.Nothing, in what they have said in their reply addressees this core concern as to the believability of what they say.

Damon Bossino said: “Without wishing to entertain the Government’s child play of ‘my toy is bigger than yours’, it has to be pointed out that their figures are in fact intentionally massaged to portray a more favourable picture as to their record in office. What the Government statement purposely and with obvious intent fails to mention is the almost 500 rental flats that were in fact delivered at Mid harbours Estate by the GSD. This cynical and convenient omission has been intentionally done in order to distort the real picture.”

Perhaps Ms Orfila, as the Minister for Housing will be allowed, at some point, to intervene in
the debate