Gibraltar Today

The outgoing Principal Auditor has just published his report, it covers the period 2018-2019, and it runs to over 500 pages. Tony Sacramento says the Chief Minister prevented him from carrying out an anti-money laundering compliance audit of Gibraltar Savings Bank. We are going to take an initial look at that today.

The Leader of the Opposition says it contains stunning revelations, that the Government is reckless with the people’s money. Keith Azopardi says what else may have happened in the last five years that the GSLP Liberal Government is so keen to delay the report from being made public. We spoke to Mr Azopardi in the studio.

Kelvin Gomez is Gibraltar's first professional triathlete. No mean feat, he's had to compete against some of the toughest athletes on the triathlon scene to achieve his professional status, such as a finishing second place in the Outlaw Triathlon in the UK! He told us more about his journey.

The school summer break is here, with many families looking for activities to keep their kids entertained. The Gibraltar Museum is offering Walks Through History, starting in a few weeks’ time, on Wednesday mornings as part of the Summer Spots and Leisure Programme. Tyson Holmes and Phil Smith shared more details.

And, Michelle Brown is Head Orthoptist at the GHA She's also the British and Irish Orthoptic Society's (BIOS) Champions Award winner this year. The award is for services to BIOS within the scope of public work. After congratulating Michelle, we asked her what people should do to keep their eyes healthy, and when should they seek out an orthoptist.

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Today was the first episode of our “At The Beach” series for 2025, recorded live from the shores of Western Beach. This year we decided to reverse the order, starting with the beach which rounded up the series last year.

It’s been a busy week in Parliament, with yesterday focusing on changes to the Communications Act, namely changes in satellite television and the use of mobile phones in schools. Our News Editor Christine Vasquez explained the impact of these changes.

Audrey Hanglin chose to celebrate her birthday today on Western Beach and has been going there for over 30 years – even in the days when the only way to get to the beach was through a hole in the fence!

Kevin Salmon enjoys wing foiling at Western – he told us more about this relatively new sport and how it’s the best beach on the Rock for it. He comes out all year round to practice, with good weather conditions for the sport year-round.

Naiala has been coming to Western Beach since childhood, and highlighted some of the advantages of this beach including how much sun it gets as well as being disability friendly.

And Daphne Alecio invited everyone to come down to Western, especially when there’s a strong levante like today. She did say though that she’s concerned about the safety of the beach when the frontier fence comes down as outlined in the Treaty agreement.

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Parliament got on with business today, debating a number of Bills which are expected to go through later today. The Communications Amendment Bill was presented by Sir Joe Bossano and is divided into three parts. The first gives the Regulatory Authority the power to investigate allegations and take action on protected content infringement- electronic communication which infringes copyright. We spoke to Sir Joe Bossano during the break in parliament sessions.

HM Customs has launched ASYCUDA Version 4.4. It's a new system that is said to modernise the management of the border. Senior Customs Officer Nigel Lia told us more about the new system, how it differs to the previous one, and what challenges they faced in its implementation.

"Where have all the volunteers gone?" That was the question posed recently by GibSams trustee David Revagliatte in an opinion piece in the Gibraltar Chronicle. It's kicked off a wider conversation; we invited GibSams Brenda Cuby and Nicola McCaine of Cancer Relief to the studio to share their thoughts.

And, the blue-fin tuna season in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters (BGTW) has two periods. The first expired recently, and was the fastest closure ever! Ahead of the second season, we spoke to Sam Marrache of the Tuna Fishing Club and asked if tuna fishing is gaining popularity in Gibraltar, and how regulations are enforced. 

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On today's edition of Gibraltar Today...

The GHA says there’s a rise in salmonella food poisoning cases in the community. 

Separately, there has also been a Norovirus outbreak at Elderly Residential Services.

The Director of Public Health Dr Helen Carter joins us.

Together with a representative of the Environmental Agency.

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Short term lets have been growing across Europe. They’re shaking up the market. Legislation is now in effect. We speak to property owner Esteban Bravo.

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12 year old, Arya Arun, has published his first comic book. It's called "Potato Man, The Living Potato Superhero - Part I" and is available in local shops and in all Amazon marketplaces across the globe. Arya joins us with his dad Arun.

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Eastern Beach is the place to be this Thursday evening, Stay Late Order Pizza.

Jonathan Collado of Fresh Entertainment and Cultural Service’s Giovi Viñales join us...

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And, the Island Games start on Sunday! Jose Marie joins us with the latest.

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Earlier this week, Education Minister John Cortes announced a significant boost to Gibraltar’s education workforce, with 49 new permanent teaching posts set to be created this year. Dr Cortes also confirmed the introduction of a signal-proof pouch system to restrict mobile phone use during the school day. The Minister was in the studio to give more details.

The Mount held its first event in years this evening, to celebrate the 21st anniversary of Parasol International. The events hall has been refurbished with a million pound donation from the Parasol Foundation. The renovation forms part of wider works to restore the Mount and its grounds, and open these up to the community once again. News Editor Christine Vasquez was there.

Jose Mari Ruiz filled us in on what’s happening in local sport, including rowing, basketball, futsal, as well as plans to get children playing cricket this summer, as we get closer to the start of the school holidays.

The countdown is on! 78 days to go until the 2025 Netball World Youth Cup here in Gibraltar!Earlier this week, World Netball revealed the official mascot: The Barbary Partridge. But, as Dylan Trenado and Moira Gomez told us, the mascot needs a name.

And, happy 4th of July! What is the state of Gibraltar-American relations? And more importantly today: how will Independence Day be celebrated? What does it symbolise? We talk to James Lasry of AM Cham Gibraltar.

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The Speaker of Parliament has moved to set the record straight on the latest Principal Auditor’s Report. Karen Rammage told there’s no question of her team not doing it’s job properly. It comes after the Opposition accused the Government of delaying the presentation of the latest Principal Auditor's report, at precisely the time that Parliament is debating Gibraltar's finances and the state of the nation. Jonathan Sacramento told us more.

How will Europe’s continuing heat wave impact Gibraltar? On Wednesday it helped fuel a deadly wildfire in Spain - two farmers were killed in Catalonia while apparently trying to flee in a vehicle, local authorities said on Wednesday. We asked Meteorologist Clément Hutin whether we can expect another worrying weather event in the near future.

Just over a week to go until the Island Games! Gibraltar one of 24 island groups from across the world set to compete in Orkney. Ivan De Haro has been chosen as Gibraltar’s flag bearer in the opening ceremony... and Christian Navas Jnr has been chosen as water carrier: two significant roles in an opening ceremony steeped in tradition.

A decade and countless hangovers later, the Gibraltar Wine Festival is back for a tenth year! It’s an evening filled with wine, food and live music... and it all kicks off in just over 24 hours! Organisers Glenn and Michelle Sanders have been busy preparing for the event, but were keen to tell us why people should head down to Chatham Counterguard tomorrow.

Next week, dance meets history in a powerful tribute to Gibraltar's military past. Mediterranean Dance School's production of “Letters to Lilly" tells the story of a young nurse and soldier who fall in love during the turmoil of WW2 in Gibraltar. We spoke to director Genyka Celecia in the studio alongside both lead dancers in the production Jayce Caetano and Juliana Martin.

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It was the turn of the Minister of Education John Cortes to give his address in parliament where he shared a number of interesting announcements. These included recruiting new teachers and possibly building a new school. Shelina Assomul was following his speech closely, and also gave us an update on the case involving the Government and the owner of the MUGA bar Allen Asquez at the Supreme Court.

But the majority of today’s episode is focused on social media, as Social Media Day was a couple of days ago. For many of us social media has become a key part of our day to day lives. We spoke to several Gibraltarians that have a prominent social media presence and asked them what role social media plays in their lives, some healthy habits as well as a few dos and don’ts.

In the studio were historian Ryan Asquez, known online as the llanitohistorydoc, travel influencers Penelope Bielckus (the_flyaway_girl) and Gianni Spiteri (teawithgi), foodie content creator Em Todorova (theoutdoorfoodie), as well as Steven Pardo (snbattlereports) who posts videos about WarHammer, and professional gamer Keiron Prescott who goes by scoom on Twitch. 

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Commander Owain Richards has been sworn in as Commissioner of the Royal Gibraltar Police in a ceremony at the convent today. Cdr Richards is the first Commissioner to be appointed from outside Gibraltar since Alan Castree in 1997. He brings with him nearly three decades of policing experience, having served in both Dyfed-Powys Police in Wales and in London's Metropolitan Police Service. Our News Editor Christine Vasquez was at the swearing in ceremony.

After speaking to the Chief Minister about his Budget Speech yesterday, we asked Leader of the Opposition Keith Azopardi for his reaction, particularly with the announcement of the public sector pay rise of 5% for low income earners.

Gibraltar NASUWT has welcomed the public sector pay increases. The teachers’ union believes the Chief Minister’s budget is as progressive and socially responsible as possible under the current political and economic circumstances. The union particularly welcomes the effort to help those on lower salaries the most. It says changes are still needed to ensure workers’ contributions translate into a more adequate pension. We spoke to Jenique Berllaque.

We talk mental health, continuing the conversation around what a new model of care at Sir Joshua Hassan House might look like. With the new hub, they’ll be a more holistic way of looking at the patient. The Mental Welfare Society’s Mark Montovio told us more.

Do you know a young person capable of changing the world? Sister Cities International - a non-profit organisation created in 1956 by President Dwight Eisenhower - recently held its annual Youth Leadership Summit. Each year, 50 students are selected from thousands of applicants, and on this occasion, two local students were in attendance! Sienna and Luna Lee told us all about it.

And, just over a week to go until the start of 2025 Summer Sports & Leisure programme! We asked Matt Reoch and Lyzanne Olivero of the GSLA whether they are ready to receive the hundreds of kids that will be taking part this year. They told us about the pathway that is in place for those wanting to become leaders.

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Public sector workers across Gibraltar are to receive a consolidated, pensionable pay increase this year, with lower earners seeing the largest rise. This has been announced in the Chief Minister’s budget address. Fabian Picardo revealed what he described as the highest revenue in Gibraltar’s history, three times the projected surplus, and a new rise in minimum wage. The Chief Minister was in the studio after delivering his address to discuss it further.

We also heard reactions of the Budget address from the Chairman of the Gibraltar General and Clerical Association Darren Cerisola, Donovan Correia of Unite the Union and Mike Nicholls of Chestertons.

And Louis Parrall brought us the latest results from a busy weekend of local sports, including the Gibraltar 7s and the round the rock swim.

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The UK, EU, Spain and Gibraltar believe the Treaty Agreement reached earlier this month will bring confidence and legal certainty to the lives and well-being of the people of the whole region. Though, when asked about the possible impact on retail and wholesale sectors, Sir Joe Bossano warned that changes to the Gibraltar economy are likely to see winners and losers. How are Main Street traders feeling about all this? We spoke to Raju Alwani of Carlos Electronics, Kapil Radhakishen of Sports City, and Chris Walker of Marks & Spencer, Next and Early Learning Centre.

A Pride conference at the Sunborn tackled issues like Pride at work and understanding gender diversity. Organised by the Ministry of Equality, it covered the history of Pride in Gibraltar, creating safe spaces for LGBTQ+ young people, and more. It comes ahead of the more celebratory Pride event tomorrow. Our reporter Michael Beltran was at the conference and will be part of the celebrations tomorrow.

It's Armed Forces Day this weekend! SSAFA Gibraltar, the local arm of the UK’s Armed Forces charity, is marking it by sharing stories of how it supports serving personnel and their families stationed on the Rock. This year also marks SSAFA’s 140th anniversary - a huge milestone! Joining us in the studio were charity chairman Alan Jones, Command Warrant Officer Sean Mead, and Warrant Officer Kayron Fortunato.

Beauty was the topic of discussion on last night's episode of ViewPoint. Taking a deep, unfiltered look at body image, diet culture and evolving beauty standards. It was hosted by Katy Docker, who told us how did the discussion came about and what questions she was trying to address.

And, Louis Parral has a busy weekend ahead of him as many local sports are planning to host their big events: he spoke to us about how a local boxer is flying the flag for Gibraltar internationally, a charity round the rock swim, and the rugby 7s.

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