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You’re FIRED – maybe SPAIN’S ‘rogue officer’ has finally been sacked after his latest border shenanigans – or has he? Reports from the Spanish press indicated that Chief Inspector David Barrero, who has been causing problems at the Gibraltar border OLIVE SS RE P since last year, was given his marching orders on Friday. SH PAPERS PLEA His superiors relieved him of command after Barrero unilaterally ordered border staff to start stamping Gibraltar issue PISHED: Last was passports at we reported heation 10.30am. under investig ’ at The timing was delibfor being ‘drunk erately dehis post signed to permit Spanish workers entering Gibraltar for their working day to escape reciprocal actions. Yet according to reports in Spain, efforts to fire the ‘rogue’ commander did not go according to plan during a tense hour at the border. Algeciras daily Europa Sur reports that Barrero was instructed to leave his post at the border and attend the Local Police station in La Linea. Barrio deemed the order ‘ambiguous and imprecise’ – if he went to the Local Police Station, he could be accused of abandoning his post, while if he remained, he could be accused of disobeying an order. Barrero then challenged an email, which officially removed him from his post overseeing the Gibraltar border for not meeting ‘legal requirements’. He has since challenged the order in court, meaning – according to reports – he is still in his post. GIBRALTA
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Vol. 10 Issue 242
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See PROPERTY inside
TOXIC TOWN
The Acerinox steelworks is slammed for spewing ‘frequent’ toxic clouds into the Bay of Gibraltar - while Spanish authorities ‘turn a blind eye’ OLIVE PRESS
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See page 6
- February 25th 2025
Sideways glance
has expressed LA LINEA'S mayorat how the UK his 'healthy envy' in stark contrast treats Gibraltar – own relationto the border town’s ship with Spain. aim at Spain's Juan Franco took for refusing to finance minister border town, aid the struggling dependent which is economically the stalled talks on the Rock anddeal. for a post-Brexit after minisHis comments come Montero suggestter Maria Jesus measures for ed that any special have to wait until would Linea La with Gibraltar a Brexit agreement is reached. our "We see how, unfortunately, is once again put city a as future ignoring below national interests, territory - the the needs of this affected by what only one really future [with the the in happens Franco declared Gibraltar deal]," last week.
Brexit
last week 40 years ago punish Gito The border reopened of Franco’s efforts after 16 years becoming Spanish. and reorbraltarians into spectacularly His plans backfired society, startSee page 4 dered Gibraltar tongue. ing with its dominant
ary probe’ Cop facing ‘disciplinand checking for ‘looking drunk’ uniform is the passports out of chief ‘rogue officer’ border 33
wait who knows "We'll have to years, after this how many more 2016," Franco issue started in that nine EXCLUSIVE to added, highlighting By Walter Finch since the Brexit SPANISH police have confirmed years have passed plan for the Olive Press they are investigatvote without a concrete on in astonishaccused of checking a senior officer Gibraltar border Drivers clearly look officers do his city. passports at the and off duty. mooted to boost ment as other uniformed Among the ideas is a special tax ing to intervene. allegedly drunk ‘disciplinary pro- nothing sound, the officer La Linea’s economy de Gibraltar, while He is in line to facesent a video of the Despite the lack of backwards and regime in the Campo while can be seen lurching forward, before seen in Ceuta, in ceedings’ after we similar to the one Rock’s low-tax cop swaying amid the traffic been confirmed urges a car to come to inspect the passports has order to offset the Spanish neigh- donning civilian clothes. on its bonnet man checking motorcyclist. Linea source mean- leaning advantage over its chief ROGUE: The ‘drunk’ A well-placed La ‘surprise’ that the passport of a waiting bours. to notoriety in Gi- as the controversial border expressed was Barrero has risen attack. But Franco chal- while, called checking passports Unit, braltar for his efforts to unilaterally had to postpone A La Linea judge has now borarBorder lenged the min- policeman for Bernard’s Hospital on the current head of the Central Barrero, be- tear up the current transitional Spain various operations scheduled Barrero to testify ister to visit La the David for the border with Chief Inspector lack of cross-border der arrangements. in in 2021. Linea and explain cause ‘he had been transferred away rangement the day due to a party Vox meansince Brexit kicked Spain’s far-right workers. directly to resi- to other duties’. order was only while, has backed Barrero submitNaciogovPolicia the parthe On both days, the dents why A spokesman for Angry following an angry ting questions to the Spanish ernment ‘won't im- nal said the force was ‘determining stamp later rescinded arise and liament. call from Madrid. instructions to howplement any mea- what consequences may pro- It was hispassports, on October 11 phone followed those stunts by The Olive Press understands disobeyed Barrero court sures until whether to start disciplinary Gibraltar that led to long filing a denuncia in La Linea mis- ever, that Barrero directly 22, suagreeNovember an and Linea war’ against his superiors for orders to ‘go to is ceedings.’had already been dubbed a queues gathering on the La against his own ment Barrero he took it upon side. the periors. conduct and coercion. commissioner reached.’ ‘rogue officer’ after Schenborder cop argued our front page in came after a new
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As we reported on a blow to ecoled November, this dealt on the Rock and nomic activities by the Gibralto him being dubbed a ‘rogue’ officer. tar government as so severe that St The disruption was
The veteran border controls current ‘relaxed’ code, leavin violate the Schengen legal protection ing him with no such as a terror case of an incident,
CRASH TEST
It Jose Martinez for La Linea, Maria the border, away moved control of the hands of a spefrom his unit into in April last year. cific border force source told the The senior La Linea not his job to take Olive Press: “It isdiplomacy into his the border and own hands.
Political
Gibraltar
drills took emergency response in GIBRALTAR’s latest this time – especially timely place on the runway disasters in the US and South light of recent aviation included teams Korea. action simulation The spectacular liveagencies Airfield Fire and Rescue Police from 22 different both Gibraltar Defence Service and the police, Police. scenario of an and the Royal Gibraltar the test with the had skidded – that They were put to this case a bus aeroplane – in at Gibraltar Airport and thrown off the runway the tarmac and into the sea. in passengers onto test taking place after dark Wing In spite of the and harsh conditions, how wet with treacherously Harvey was pleased lessons.’ Commander Tom ‘we are always learning it went and said
ACTION: Emergency the test services put to
PIC CREDIT: X / RAF
to impose himself last year border – against gen controls at the own superiors. the orders of his after dark a fortIn the video, filmed man in night ago, a white-haired is seen staggering jeans and jumper to see passports. around demanding
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the airfield reof people out on “The sheer number just demonstrates the strength sponding at speed—it he told GBC. of our response,”
decision whether “It was a politicalIt is not something he agrees or not. like Barrero should a chief inspector be deciding.” government deThe Gibraltatar on ‘the internal clined to comment uniformed bodies.’ affairs of foreign over 15 rounds of There have been try and sort out the talks since 2021 to within Schengen. status of Gibraltar workers cross Meanwhile, 15,000 every day to the border into Gibraltar of La Linea’s workwork, with a third on the Rock. force earning a living Opinion Page 6
EXCLUSIVE By Walter Finch
THE Acerinox steelworks in the Bay of Gibraltar belched out a sinister cloud of orange gas over the weekend that insiders claim are ‘suspiciously frequent’. A denuncia filed to the Junta de Andalucia claims the plant’s system for filtrating the noxious fumes created by the smelting process is malfunctioning. But sources connected to the plant told the Olive Press that the release, likely due to a build-up of highly dangerous nitric acid fluoride in a storage tank, was part of a pattern. “Everyone who works remains silent for fear of losing their jobs. “More than half the population of the surrounding areas work there or have a family member working for them directly or indirectly and they fear for their jobs.” Other residents have told the Olive Press the plant is ‘more polluting than ever’ amid claims the Spanish authorities turn a blind eye ‘out of fear of losing jobs’. People in the neighbouring towns of Palmones and Guadarranque claim that Saturday’s cloud was just the latest discharge of toxic gases in the Bay, home to hundreds of thousands of
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AFFECTED: Brothers Javier and Fernando say Acerinox is worse than ever
Residents in Palmones (pop. 2,000) are exposed to harmful gases and particulates
The Acerinox steelworks operates an open air dump of slag metal that gets blown by the wind
INDUSTRY: The Acerinox steelworks occupies a prime position in the Bay of Gibraltar people, including 40,000 in Gibraltar, that has been going on for decades. Local resident Paco Cervantes, 66, told the Olive Press that he lost his father and mother-in-law to cancer, and more recently a neighbour. The retired port worker, who lives in Guadarranque, added: "The Campo de Gibraltar has the highest levels of cancer, bronchitis and asthma in all of Spain – we are top of the cancer list. “Here people die of cancer. But it’s difficult to draw a direct connection between the heavy industry and the cancer rate, which is why there has to be a study. But the authorities refuse to do it." The heavy industry plant operates an ‘open air dump of slag and metal particulates which knowingly pollutes the air and, depending on which way the wind is blowing, causes havoc with nearby residents’, according to local environmental groups. The Acerinox steelworks is part of a sprawling heavy industry zone that occupies a corner of the picturesque Bay of Gibraltar, along with the Cepsa petrol refinery and a coal-fired Endesa power plant. The three plants employ a total of over 3,000 workers directly, and are responsible for well over 10,000 indirect jobs in a region that has tradi-
tionally struggled with high unemployment. However, the jobs have come at the cost in the form of a shocking environmental record that even includes a 2008 radioactive leak. Cervantes accused the authorities in Spain of being complicit by refusing to enforce regulations or carry out appropriate inspections on Acerinox. “They haven’t been complying with either Spanish or European environmental directives for many years,” the local resident continued.
Blind eye
He continued: “The Acerinox plant, which was built in the 70s, hasn’t been modernised in years and they refuse to invest to upgrade their processes. The controls they’ve put in place have been zero.” Despite repeated denuncias, both the Environmental Prosecutor's Office in the Campo de Gibraltar and the Junta’s environmental delegate in Cadiz have refused to take action or dismissed the complaints. “There is not a single governing body investigating what has been happening at Acerinox,” Cervantes said. He believes that the authorities turn a blind eye to repeated violations be-
cause they are terrified of Acerinox moving the plant, leaving the struggling Campo de Gibraltar with ‘thousands of unemployed’. “The politicians support the petro-chemical industry, there’s always some politico willing to stand by it,” he added, pointing to the appearance of Pedro Sanchez at the Cepsa plant in December 2022. Meanwhile, local action group Verdemar Ecologistas en Accion claims air quality measurements are ‘turned off at night’ – when the majority of the noxious gases are released. It adds that Acerinox fails to comply with dangerous substance regulations, does not undergo regular inspections and knowingly keeps dangerous particles in an open-air dump. One resident in Palmones told the Olive Press: “Pollution has always been a problem, for as long as I can remember, but many are unwilling to say it as most of the town works in the plant. “There’s dust and particles in the air, which I find on my windowsills and in the summer when I’m sweeping the floor.” Another local, Javier Martin Delgado, Continues on page 4
Opinion Page 6