OLIVE PRESS GIBRALTAR
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FREE Vol. 8 Issue 235 www.theolivepress.es October 30th - November 12th 2024
Halloween is not as young as you may think in Spain except the name
SEE PAGE 10
Up in the clouds A TIMELAPSE captured by the Met Office Gibraltar has shown a stunning cloud formation over the Rock. Taken on October 22, the clouds seemed to emanate from the landmark as if it were a volcano. The billowing cloud covered the whole of the town centre in a blanket of thick cloud.
Revenge on the Rock A HORROR flick written, produced and filmed in Gibraltar premiered on Amazon Prime last week. Tragic Waste tells the story of a young girl who is killed by a group of inebriated off duty police officers, who try to hide the crime by disposing of the girl’s body. Unluckily for them, the girl’s mother is a witch who conjures a demon to enact revenge on the corrupt cops. The film was written, directed by local Nigel Canepa, who also stars as one of the officers. Tragic Waste was mainly shot on the Rock, with some scenes filmed in Spain. It stars a cast of local actors including Orlando Charvetto, Harriet Seed and Charlie Bishop. It was produced by Creephouse Entertainment.
Narco gloom
Rocking the Thousands in La Linea call for a deal for Gibraltar as mayor small screen border tells the Olive Press that failure A DOCUMENTARY has been made about the discovery of prehistoric links between Neanderthal populations in Gibraltar and France. It follows the discovery of Thorin, a fossil whose DNA provided the missing link between a Neanderthal population in the Rhone Valley and another on the Rock. DNA extracted from Thorin, in a cave known as Mandrin Cave, found its closest match with the Neanderthal fossil found in Gibraltar’s Forbes’s Continues on page 4
could boost local traffickers THE inhabitants of La Linea de la Concepcion are fighting for a treaty with Gibraltar to stop the town from slipping into the hands of the narco traffickers. Over 12,000 linenses and expats took to the streets of the frontier town on Friday night in support of a deal that would avoid a hard border and save jobs. But a dark fear underscores the urgency with which nearly a quarter of the 60,000-strong town gathered at the call of the mayor, Juan Franco. They carried banners proclaiming ‘La Linea matters, we are not invisible’
EXCLUSIVE By Walter Finch
and chanted the old slogan ‘united, the people will never be defeated.’ During a speech, Franco declared a nodeal ‘threatens the economic stability of thousands of families and businesses.’ With almost half of the town’s working population needing to cross the border and back again daily, there is little doubt that persistent long queues at the border would hurt. “If there’s a sharp rise in unemploy-
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A MASSIVE 13 tonnes of cocaine have been found hidden among bananas in Algeciras, dubbed Spain’s ‘narco port.’ It is a record drug bust for Spain, with the previous biggest being 9.4 tonnes last year – also in Algeciras. One arrest has been made in Toledo, while the main suspects behind the shipment are believed to have fled. Police are now hunting for a man and woman who are the owners of the fruit importation company that received the mega load. Investigators found that they had been living in a ‘luxurious’ €700,000 chalet in Algeciras, with clear signs that its occupants had made a hasty getaway. These included empty safes and missing luxury watches. The shipment, which had arrived from Ecuador – fast becoming South America’s exit point for cocaine shipments to Europe – was handled by the company based in nearby El Campello. Officers subsequently carried out searches of houses and businesses in El Campello, Playa de San Juan and Almoradi. A previous incident at Algeciras Port saw 3.3 tonnes of cocaine discovered among a delivery of 12,000 live cows from Colombia. The seizure will dampen hopes that Spain may be finally getting to grips with stemming the flow of cocaine into the country and Europe . The country seized an enormous 145 tonnes of cocaine in 2023, which was a three-fold increase on the previous year.
YES DEAL: Old and young march to the border ment because of no-deal, then perhaps many people will be tempted into getting involved with this kind of [narco] activity,” Franco told the Olive Press after the march. Failure by distant politicians in London, Madrid and Brussels – not to mention the occupant of No 6 Convent Place – to strike a deal before the EU’s digital border control system comes into place would spell a ‘true disaster’, according to the mayor. Franco continued: “It’s also likely there will be longer customs checks at the border, which will cause a significant contraction in the Rock’s economy. “That will hit us just as hard, likely leading to a loss of jobs and an overall reduction in living standards.” Meanwhile, as one corner of the economy suffers, another continues to flourish. The region’s smugglers have continued to bring in huge quantities of hash across the Strait from Morocco, despite a crackdown since February when two Guardia Civil officers were murdered in Barbate. A total of 61 tonnes were seized in the entire province of Cadiz last year, up by a third on the year before (in Huelva it was
even more). Half of that was seized in Algeciras alone, which also can lay claim to the dubious crown of making Spain’s largest ever cocaine bust last week, with an unheard of 13 tonnes discovered (see story left) It all points to a thriving illicit industry that will be waiting with open arms when the job losses from any putative hard border start to hit La Linea. But Franco isn’t so sure. “The state has invested a lot of resources and taken a really hard response on the traffickers in the region,” the mayor told this newspaper.
Collapse
“So, fundamentally, there shouldn’t be a collapse into narco trafficking. And if the scenario does arise, you can be sure that we will deal with it.” But once again, it all hangs on whether there will be a deal before the new Entry-Exit System (EES) comes into effect. The most recent deadline for implementation, on November 10, has already been pushed back, buying both sides some breathing space. But will it be enough? “There are days when I am optimistic and I get out of bed with a lot of faith,” Franco said. “And there are others when I am less believing.”