A BURGLARY arrest in Gibraltar has reignited concern over security since the border opened up – and even drew in the territory’s Chief Minister.
It comes after a 42-year-old Spanish man was arrested on suspicion of burglary, going equipped for stealing and assault after an incident at Catalan Bay, a picturesque village on Gibraltar’s east side, on Sunday evening.
The Royal Gibraltar Police (RGP) confirmed the arrest to GBC News, and said investigations were continuing.
He has been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH) — a charge used when an assault causes injury beyond the trivial but short of serious harm.
READ MORE: Gibraltar makes first arrests for entering the Rock illegally since border opened up
Footage of the arrest verified by The Olive Press shows two RGP officers handcuffing the man as a small crowd of bystanders looks on.
One Gibraltar resident, in a post on X, said homeowners had ‘surprised the apparent would-be thief’ during the break-in.
He said he did not accept that this was ‘normal’ for Gibraltar, and directed his frustration directly at the government and the Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo.
One of the key concerns since it was announced that the border would be opened up to freedom of movement with Spain was the impact it would have on security on the Rock.
Anyone crossing on foot or by car at the frontier with La Linea, the Spanish border town on Gibraltar’s doorstep, is no longer stopped or asked for identification, with document checks now happening only at the airport.
This particular arrest marks the second time in 10 days that someone has been arrested in Gibraltar and charged with going equipped for theft.
Three men — an Algerian national and two Moroccan nationals — were arrested at Europort docks on July 30 on the same charge, after being found carrying bolt-cutters near parked bicycles.
Whether crime has actually risen since the border eased is not something RGP figures have yet confirmed one way or the other, but the timing of both arrests has fed a public debate over whether the more open frontier has made Gibraltar less secure.
To the surprise of some, Chief Minister Picardo hit back at his online critics directly, posting from his own X account to list a number of things that they blamed him for.
This included the border treaty, a separate dispute over Spanish fishing licences in Gibraltar’s waters, and the Westview land reclamation project off the Rock’s western shore.
He concluded venga ya (Spanish for ‘come off it’) and to ‘get serious.’
Another users facetiously argued that Picardo should instead ‘blame the 2.2 million British visitors’ who support the Gibraltar economy to the tune of £70 million a year (€81 million), calling Gibraltar ‘British… allegedly’ and now ‘hit with Schengen rules in a non-Schengen zone.’
“Better Blame Brexit,” Picardo replied.
Picardo also fielded further complaints that politicians used Brexit and Covid as ‘excuses to let everyone off the hook’.
He rejected the comparison, saying Covid had killed more than 100 Gibraltarians and was ‘not an excuse,’ and describing Brexit as a ‘deep, irrecoverable’ wound Gibraltar and the UK still had to deal with the consequences of.
Picardo later said online critics making ‘fallacious arguments’ relied on politicians not responding, so the arguments could ‘catch fire and persuade people.’
He added he would not apologise for ‘standing up for the truth’ given the importance of his office.
Click here to read more Gibraltar News from The Olive Press.
