In the last few weeks the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister have given an unprecedented number of interviews, not only to the UK media but also to the international press. Clause 22 of the EU’s draft negotiating guidelines, the incursion by a Spanish warship, the amended Schengen regulations, a possible air incursion – and even our new Mayor – have all kept Gibraltar high up in the news agenda.
In addition to his appearance on the Andrew Marr Show, the Chief Minister has appeared on Sky News, ITV News, Channel 4 News and the BBC World News Service. He also gave ‘live’ interviews to, amongst others, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live.
Mr Picardo and Dr Garcia have been interviewed by international press agencies such as Reuters, Associated Press and the Press Association and by UK newspapers such as The Times, The Sunday Express, The Independent, The Financial Times, The Guardian and, of course, The Sun.
Almost more surprising has been the continuing interest from the world-wide media. TV interviews have been given to CNN (USA), Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Nine Network (Australia), China Central Television, RTS Television (Switzerland), RTE (Ireland), Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, Austrian TV with many other broadcasters waiting patiently for their turn. Staff at No6 are still trying to find slots to speak to a press agency from Mexico and a radio station from Bogota in Colombia, amongst others.
Newspapers have been just as keen to speak to our Ministers. Visitors to No6 Convent Place have included reporters from the Wall St Journal from the USA, Der Spiegel, Deutsche Welle and Bild from Germany, De Groene from the Netherlands, L’Express (France) and Dagens Nyheter (Sweden).
Not surprisingly, the Spanish press have also shown huge interest in developments on the Rock and at least 10 interviews have been given to the mainstream Spanish media.
Chief Minister, the Hon Fabian Picardo QC, said, ‘The last few weeks have certainly seen Gibraltar in the international media spotlight and it has been an excellent opportunity for me and for the Deputy Chief Minister to present the undisputable strengths of our case to millions of people in UK and elsewhere. In the run-up to the Brexit negotiations, Gibraltar has been front page news around the world.’
