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GIBRALTAR
Vol. 5 Issue 158
www.theolivepress.es
The Rock’s ONLY free local paper
October 6th - October 19th 2021
See page 14
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NAMED: Schiffer, Guardiola, Blair and Iglesias A HOST of Spanish gangsters, oligarchs and celebrities have been caught up in a giant offshore tax scandal. Former king Juan Carlos, football manager Pep Guardiola and singer Miguel Bose, are among the biggest Spanish names stung in the so-called Pandora Papers. But it is the Italian gangster Raffaele Amato, who was arrested in Malaga, model Claudia Schiffer, who has a home in Mallorca, and Julio Iglesias, who lives in Marbella, that will be of most interest locally. All of them have been exposed as having offshore accounts alongside at least five Spanish politicians in the giant trove of documents released this week. In total, around 600 Spaniards are now under scrutiny after being named in the Pandora Papers leak, which was compiled by over a dozen media groups around the globe.
Spotlight
The papers also put the spotlight on Russian oligarchs and godfather Amato, who used offshore companies to amass wealth and assets around Malaga. A series of well-known expats, such as pop star Shakira and Nobel-Prize winning author Mario Vargas Llosa, appear to have broken tax rules. The use of off-shore companies is not illegal or by itself evidence of wrongdoing, but the papers show how the super-rich can amass wealth in ways that are not easy for tax agencies to detect. Spain’s tax agency Hacienda confirmed on Monday it would be closely looking into the data dump comprising more than 11.9 million records. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), a network of reporters and media organizations, said the latest files are linked to about 35 current and former national leaders, and more than 330 politicians and public officials in 91 countries. Among them are former British prime minister Tony Blair as well as the Spanish politicians, although their names have not yet been released.
AFTER a rocky start, negotiations over future relations between Gibraltar and the EUbloc are set to begin within weeks. The negotiating mandate was approved by European Union ambassadors on Friday following months of discussions paving the way for talks to begin later this month. The initial mandate which was presented in July was rejected out of hand by then Foreign Minister Dominic Raab because it sought to ‘undermine the UK’s sovereignty’.
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He insisted that the bloc ‘think again’ as there was ‘no possibility for this forming the basis for an agreement’. That mandate crossed over red lines established in the New Year’s Eve agreement that allowed Gibraltar to join the Schengen area because it gave Spain the mandate to carry out border control and surveillance at GibralSee page 16 tar’s port, airport and waters. Instead the UK and Gibraltar insisted that Frontex
Talks over Gibraltar treaty could begin within days to determine post-Brexit relations over the future of the Rock By Fiona Govan
would carry out this role, rather than Spain. The British government has taken a hard line over the issue, insisting as recently as last week that the UK would be prepared to walk away with a ‘no deal’ rather than undermine British sovereignty over the Rock. “We are already working, together with the Gibraltar government, on a possible non-negotiated outcome, in the case that we reach the conclusion that this is the path that we must take,” said Wendy Morton, the UK minister for Europe and Americas at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in late September.
Mandate
Although the details of the new mandate from the EU have yet to be published, it is understood that it has taken British objections into consideration and will include ‘the
intention of Spanish authorities to cede control to the European Border Control Agency Frontex’. Once the mandate is formally adopted next week at a meeting of EU ministers, the European Commission, which is responsible for negotiating on behalf of the EU, will be able to start talks with the UK. The mayor of La Linea, Juan Franco, has called the move ‘quite positive as they are aiming for the elimination of the physical barrier and for a smooth transit between La Linea and Gibraltar.” Franco added that, in his opinion, ‘this will contribute greatly to the economic development of the area being maintained and going forward’. “I understand that Gibraltar is a very important economic hub and we hope that this agreement will soon become a reality and that we will be able to enjoy these conditions”, he concluded. Opinion Page 6