GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE July 2021 | Vol.26 #09
THE
SUIT YOURSELF
SWIMSUIT TRENDS
BOOKISH GIB MAG’S BOOK CLUB
FOODIE FROM GIB UNMISSABLE EATERIES
Christian Hook HOOKED ON ART
SCOREBOARD FOOTBALL NEWS
DLT AND BLOCKCHAIN BREAKING NEW GROUND
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from the editor
JULY ISSUE EDITOR'S NOTE Summer is in full swing, and boy can we feel it! Thankfully the cool poniente winds are helping us stay cool enough to focus on this issue's great articles.
IF YOU GET TIRED, LEARN TO REST, NOT TO QUIT.
Another familiar face on our cover this month as we interview Christian Hook on his recent achievements, and learn how ‘going wrong’ can sometimes lead to the best kind of ‘right’. Karla Imossi is back with the second instalment of her piece on autism, showing us what makes her son Lawrence truly unique. As professor Stephen Shore says, “If you’ve met one individual with Autism, you’ve met one individual with Autism.” How much sunscreen is enough sunscreen? Our beauty guru Alex answers this question for us, and relays the handy ‘fingertip unit’ method. Now we’re sunscreened up, it’s time to suit up! Fashionista Julia has done the hard work for us, and picked out some stylish summer options to hit the beach in. Foodie from Gib, Tara, is back with some more unmissable eateries which she discovered on a recent trip to Blighty. You’re not going to want to read this one whilst hungry… And lastly, the monthly Seniors Tea for Two events are back with a bang! Or band, as the case may be. Last month, the Paul Riley Big Band entertained senior citizens for a free night of 40s and 50s swing music at the Theatre Café. If you, or anyone you know, is struggling for a bit of social interaction, then please do get in touch at seniorsteafortwo@gmail.com to be invited to the next tea. Enjoy the issue!
facebook.com/gibmag twitter.com/gibmag instagram.com/thegibraltarmagazine
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GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
Furry Friends
Lulu
Wolfie
Jack
Daisy
Mickey These stylish pups are loving their new Gib Mag leads!
Would your furry friend like one? Head down to 241 Main Street (Masbro) to pick up your very own – for free! Don’t forget to take a photo and tag #GibMagPets for a chance to be featured.
EDITOR:
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Sophie Clifton-Tucker editor@thegibraltarmagazine.com DESIGN: Justin Bautista design@thegibraltarmagazine.com SALES: Advertising Team sales@thegibraltarmagazine.com DISTRIBUTION: DHL martin@matrix.gi ACCOUNTS: Paul Cox paul@thegibraltarmagazine.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Eran and Ayelet Mamo Shay Denise Matthews Jorge v.Rein Parlade Sophie Clifton-Tucker Carmen Anderson Elena Scialtiel Karla Imossi Richard Cartwright Gianna Stanley Joel Francis Jonathan Pizarro Thomas Maxwell Alex Orfila Julia Coelho Laura Conroy Pete Wolstencroft Andrew Licudi
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Views and opinions within articles are contributor's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the magazine. The Gibraltar Magazine is published monthly by Rock Publishing Ltd Portland House, Glacis Road, Gibraltar, PO Box 1114 T: (+350) 20077748 E: editor@thegibraltarmagazine.com © 2019 Rock Publishing Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced without written consent of The Gibraltar Magazine. www.TheGibraltarMagazine.com Magazine & website archived by the British Library 6
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content
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08 Hello There: Share your summertime memories and plans! 10 News
54 Bookish: Join Our Monthly Book Club! 56 From Mary to Macbeth: Carmen Anderson 59 La Mesa: Jonathan Pizarro
BUSINESS 16 Environmental Sustainability in Business 19 Post-Pandemic Growth: Is the Market Moving Again? 22 The Rise of the NFTs: DLT and Blockchain 25 The Gibraltar Bankers’ Association
LIFE 28 Inspector Debbie Jones
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32 Breathing Life into Bhayandar: Local Duo Fund Oxygen Supplies 34 Not Out of the Woods…Yet!
LEISURE 62 Foodie from Gib: Unmissable Eateries in London 66 Adventures in Reading 68 Self Love: What Does it Mean? 71 The Scoreboard: Football News 72 Pink or Rosé? Take Your Pink! 75 Alcoholics Anonymous: Grateful to be Sober 77 Confessions of a Beauty Addict: Sunscreen
38 Hooked on Art: Christian Hook
80 Suit Yourself: Summer Swimsuit Trends
44 Meet Lawrence: Autism Spectrum Disorder
REGULARS
SCENE
86 Recipes: Pistachio & Banana Ice-cream and Shakshouka
46 Preparing for the Silver Screen: White Light Theatre & Richard Buck
88 Information
51 Art Club: Drawing Eyes and Noses
95 Coffee Time
Don't forget to find the Hungry Monkey!
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
61 Seniors Tea for Two: Back with a Bang
93 #GibsGems 94 Kids Korner
COVER Christian Hook
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hello there
SHARE YOUR SUMMERTIME MEMORIES AND PLANS!
Stuart Hedley
Lindsey Carter
Co-Founder of EBike Gibraltar
Ocean Pharmacy Assistant
During summer we look forward to going up to Zahara, and staying at Hotel Antonio with the entire family. We do that every year, on the Queen’s birthday weekend!
All the family gets together and we have BBQs, go down to Eastern Beach – which is probably by far our favourite beach – and maybe go to Spain to rent a villa. Everything is based on family, the kids, and a lot of nice food!
Want to see yourself or your team featured here? Get in touch at editor@thegibraltarmagazine.com and we'll send you our monthly question! 8
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
hello there
Mohamed Bryce Restaurant Manager at Essaouira Usually I’m not the type of person to go on holiday because I’m always working and keeping active, but after such a long period of stress with the pandemic, and non-stop working, I’d like to enjoy a break at the end of summer! Maybe chilling on the beach, outside of Gibraltar, because with all the tourists coming here it’s going to be busy!
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
Yesmina Ben Allal Facilities Support Assistant at ISOLAS LLP My favourite summertime memories are with family. My family gathering in Morocco about five years ago was the best one, because it was all of us. Usually it’s not always possible for all of us to get together, but that year no one was missing and it just felt complete – it was really nice.
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news CABINET RESHUFFLE
Sir Joe has extensive experience in this area and will lead the positive reform required.
A ministerial reshuffle of the Cabinet occurred last month, in order to prepare the structure for the challenges to come in relation to the negotiations for a future relationship between Gibraltar and the European Union and COVID-19.
The Hon Steven Linares MP will forgo his responsibility for technical services and, in addition to his remaining responsibilities, has been appointed Minister for Employment, Health and Safety, including the Industrial Tribunal.
The Hon Sir Joe Bossano KCMG MP will retain his existing portfolios and has been appointed Minister with responsibility for Social Security, in addition to his current responsibilities.
COULD YOU BE CABEZON’S FOREVER HOME? Cabezon is a loving, confident, cool boy with a dude-like air and a large head! He has bundles of personality. Cabezon is an amusing character that makes us laugh every day.
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The Hon Paul Balban MP has relinquished employment and social security and has been appointed Minister for Transport and Technical Services. This is road traffic and transport within Gibraltar where Minister Balban already has previous experience. Why anyone would abandon him on the street to fend for himself is incredibly sad. He’s 5 years old and is neutered. Cabezon spends every day in a cage. He needs his freedom, to experience the comforts of a home again, but most importantly, to have the love of his forever family. If you think that could be you, please contact us on Facebook: Gibraltar Cat Welfare Society.
IMMERSIVE LIGHT AND SPATIAL AUDIO INSTALLATION AT ST MICHAEL’S CAVE Local content creation company Wright Tech Media, together with Pixel Artworks, have collaborated to produce ‘The Awakening’ experience at St Michael’s Cave; an unforgettable journey through Gibraltar’s natural history using projection mapping technology, lighting design and immersive audio. The cave is a unique space for this technology-led experience. The project sympathetically showcases the beauty of the cave while uncovering the layers of Gibraltar’s natural history. Working with educational professionals to create content for schools and families with onsite deep dive signage and a repository of free assets to download via the official St Michael’s cave website has helped to entice children of all ages to re-discover their own heritage and history like never before. Christian Wright, Director, Wright Tech said: ‘This is the jewel in the crown of Gibraltar’s tourist product, so it was important to include major stakeholders in its development as a privately funded project. This site belongs to the people of Gibraltar and will remain free for residents to enjoy.’
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
news INCE'S HALL WORKS COMPLETE The Ince's Hall Theatre has undergone a refurbishment project to keep in line with accessibility. Gibraltar Cultural Services, on behalf of the Ministry of Culture, can confirm that all accessibility works have been completed. The works entailed new accessible
GIBRALTAR’S NATIONAL THEATRE Plans have been announced for a new ‘National Theatre and Cultural Hub’ at the John Mackintosh Hall complex. This project is a milestone for the cultural fraternity who had been promised a new theatre since the late 1990s.
toilets on the ground floor, refurbishment of the ground floor changing rooms, installation of an outdoor lift direct to the auditorium and the installation of a stair lift to the sound and lights control room. For further information, please contact Gibraltar Cultural Services Operations Unit Foundation will have of a Board of Trustees (Peter Montegriffo, Kishin Alwani, Nyreen Llamas, Charles Sacarello, Keri Scott, Dale Cruz and Maxi Torres), chaired by the Minister for Culture, whose purpose will be the raising of funds to make this
project a reality. HE the Governor, Sir David Steele KBE, has agreed to be Patron of the Trust. The Foundation will seek support from philanthropists, companies and businesses, cultural entities and trusts, from Gibraltar and abroad.
The aim of this ambitious project is to develop new cultural facilities that will include the creation of a 900 to 1000 seater National Theatre, a new national lending library and a multi-purpose performing arts studio. New visual art spaces as well as ancillary spaces that will cater for broadcasting and live programming and will include other mutli-purpose areas, are also part of the vision. Given the profound and lasting effect of Covid-19 in the community, the Government cannot at this time commit the amount of funding that this project requires to achieve the standards that Gibraltar will expect. Therefore it has spearheaded the creation of a Gibraltar National Theatre Foundation, as an avenue for raising the funds necessary to make this a reality. The Gibraltar National Theatre GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
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news 100-MILE RIDE AROUND THE ROCK
a phenomenal experience, one that I will remember for a long while. This will not be the last Dambusters ride I do!”.
One of Gib Mag’s own teammates, Oliver Cox, recently completed a 100-mile bike ride around the Rock in support of the RAF Benevolent Fund’s Dambusters ride raising an impressive £1,177.
The Station Commander, Wing Commander Nel Doherty added, "Having also conducted a charity ride around the Rock, I can appreciate what an incredible feat Oliver's achievement is. The RAF Benevolent Fund and wider RAF family are very grateful for his efforts and the money he has raised."
The Dambusters Ride took place over the weekend of 14-15 May to mark the 79th anniversary of one of the most daring and audacious operations of the Second World War and was conducted all over the world with individuals choosing to complete the Century (100 miles) or Half Century (50 miles) virtual rides. To say thank you, Oliver was hosted by RAF Gibraltar for a visit to the Station where he met current serving personnel and had a photo taken alongside a visiting Boeing C-17 Globemaster III. When asked about his undertaking, Oliver said, “It was
The RAF Benevolent Fund has a proud tradition of looking after all of the serving and former members of the RAF, as well as their partners and dependent children. Thanks to Oliver’s remarkable efforts the funds raised could help pay for 24 weeks of care to help veterans stay happy and healthy in the place they call home, professional training for 48 veterans upon leaving the service, or 150 home adaptations for those that require them.
ARTISTS CHARITY CALENDAR CALLOUT ISOLAS LLP & Fiduciary Group, in conjunction with the PJI Foundation, are requesting art submissions to feature in their 2022 calendar. The competition will be judged by local contemporary artist, Christian Hook. All mediums of art other than video will be accepted. The 12 selected pieces will be displayed at Portland House for a maximum time of one year, during which time they will be purchasable, with the money going to a charity of the artist choice.
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GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
news
50 wines by the glass 40 small dishes of Mediterranean cuisine 30 John Mackintosh Square GX11 1AA Gibraltar. Tel: 200 70201 info@vinopolisgastrobar.gi www.vinopolisgastrobar.gi GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
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news PUNNY CORNER I renamed my iPod The Titanic, so when I plug it in, it says 'The Titanic is syncing'. Thanks to Joel for sending in this pun! Do you have one to share? Email editor@thegibraltarmagazine.com!
L to R -- Sgt Desantos, Violet Schembri, COP Richard Ullger and Sgt Gonzalez
AN OVERSEAS VISITOR She was one of the first four female officers to join the Royal Gibraltar Police back in 1965. So it was a nice surprise when PC 208 Violet Schembri (now Buchanan) popped into New Mole House last month for a catch up with the Commissioner of Police Richard Ullger, Sgt Patricia Gonzalez and Sgt Mary Desantos. Violet, who is now an American citizen after moving to Indiana in the United States of America in 1969 with her late husband Richard (Richie) Buchanan. Sadly, Richie passed away in January, but Violet has returned to Gibraltar to 14
visit her family. Violet worked for four years as a police officer, working in the traffic department and managing school crossing points. COP Richard Ullger, said: “It was great to see one of officers come back to visit and share a few stories with us from all those years ago. We hope she enjoyed her visit to New Mole House and her time back here in Gibraltar.”
L to R Eileen Byrne, Doris Crew, Violet Schembri and Eligia Christie.
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
news WHAT’S ON (KIDS) Tuesday 13th July, 11am - Zoe Bishop ‘Move to Create Workshop’ This workshop will offer a series of games in which children can collaborate in creating art through enjoyable activities. The workshop is suited to children aged 6-11. Suitable and comfortable clothing should be worn. Monday 19th July, 11am Ermelinda Duarte ‘Recycling and Art’ The artist will be running a creative workshop using unwanted
plastics and non-recyclable materials into art, based on her recent installation at GEMA, titled ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Mandala’. Participants are encouraged to bring clean, empty crisp packets and bottle tops. The workshop is suitable for children aged 10- 14. Summer Reading Challenge at the John Mackintosh Hall Library Young readers will set their own reading goal for the summer months with books of their choice. They will meet every other week and will be encouraged to discuss their favourite characters, plots, book choices and more. Sessions will be led by young leaders and take place every other Wednesday
throughout July and August, starting on Wednesday 14th July, from 11am to 12noon. Street Art Mural Tour A guided tour of Gibraltar’s street art. An opportunity to learn about the artists and their murals whilst walking through Gibraltar’s iconic streets. Under 12’s must be accompanied by an adult. This will take place on Tuesday 27th July at 10:30am. Booking is essential for all events. Call 20049161 or email development@culture.gov.gi for more information and bookings.
Young Learners Summer Spanish 10:00am to 12:30pm - £10/hour Begins 12th July
4-5 years: Tuesdays & Thursdays 6-8 years: Mondays & Wednesdays 9+ years: Fridays*
little english.
*9+ class runs from 10:00 - 12:00
t: +350 54076150 a: Top floor, 29 City Mill Lane e: info@littleenglish.gi GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
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business
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY In business.
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ast month’s Gibraltar Sustainability Awards led by The Nautilus Project, in collaboration with Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses, demonstrated how local businesses, both small and large, can implement simple, yet effective ways to achieve environmentally-friendly working practices. However, in order to have real impact, businesses must go further than installing LED lighting, feature recycling bins and have their staff participate in Clean Up the World days. One of the most effective methods to create impact is for businesses to undergo an Environmental Business Operations Framework. This framework makes the transition to sustainability a simple but effective process, allowing businesses of any sector or size to measure, manage, minimise, and continually improve their operational environmental footprint. Monitoring provides organisations with regular data on their position within their industry against environmental or social criteria. This data has the ability to be extremely valuable in transition to sustainability. Furthermore, access to this information allows 16
businesses to have bespoke data on how they compare to their competitors and influences these organisations to change from within. Benefit Business Solutions is able to assist businesses in formulating their own framework. The framework consists of five modules, each of which offer specific rewards and contributions to the overall outcome of continual improvement, and allow businesses to approach the substantial framework in manageable steps. Furthermore, together with our specialist environmental consulting partner, we provide all the information and tools your business will need for each module and is available for advice, support, and consultation throughout the process. Following completion of the modules, businesses will have met the environmental standard, and will receive the Environmental Business Operations certificate. Achievement allows a business to demonstrate its commitment to addressing environmental concerns to clients, employees, regulators, customers, and stakeholders. The 5-Step Environmental Framework includes:
1. “GETTING STARTED” STAGE Create an ‘environmental team’ consisting of specific champions responsible for: waste and water; energy and buildings; procurement and supply chains; and education and awareness. You also have the option here to understand your business’s environmental and carbon footprint through measuring: waste, energy, water, travel, procurement, and supply chains. 2. POLICY ADOPTION AND COMMITMENT Develop environmental policies and commitments aligned with your business’ mission and goals, together with international targets and goals such as the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 3. ACTION Utilise the documents in the dedicated resource library to construct and enact environmental action plans and policies. 4. MEASURE YOUR IMPACT Calculate your environmental impact to receive a rich GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
business VERIFICATION AND AWARD Submitted information will undergo independent verification by qualified environmental specialists. This process includes confirmation of utility information used for understanding the business’ carbon footprint, evidence of fulfilment of your environmental management assessment, and success of your policy commitments.
understanding of how your business’s operations may affect the environment with regards to waste, energy, water, travel, procurement, and supply chains. 5. SUSTAINABLE TRANSITION Build a consciousness of continual improvement and set up systems and commitments that allow for these processes to continue effectively. CARBON FOOTPRINTING Following completion of the framework, organisations will receive a carbon footprint report. The report provides an opportunity for organisations to gain an in-depth understanding of where their emissions come from. Significant sources of emissions are flagged throughout the report as well as areas where emissions are lower than expected. Useful charts and graphics are included within the report to GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
help organisations to better comprehend the components of their footprint, including which emission sources make up the largest proportion of their environmental impact. For organisations measuring the footprint of multiple offices, the report provides interesting visualisations comparing locations and their emission sources. Anonymised data from other businesses using the framework is utilised to provide organisations with useful benchmarking data and industry comparisons. This allows organisations to understand how their environmental impact compares to others’ in terms of tonnes of CO2e per employee. Organisations that wish to regularly measure their footprint are able to do so by continuing to submit data in the framework. This data is used to provide annual carbon footprint reports for the duration of the organisations enrolment.
Following this process, participating businesses will receive a certificate of compliance, which can be displayed on the organisation’s website and other online and offline channels. If your organisation chooses to continue to measure and input its footprint data, it will receive regular benchmarking data on its performance. The overall result would be that businesses in Gibraltar will have a much more methodological and measurable approach to sustainability which can be monitored, compared and improved on from one year to another.
Eran Shay,
Managing Director &
Ayelet Mamo Shay,
Business Development Director of Benefit Business Solutions Ltd. (+350) 200 73669 general@benefitgibraltar.com
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POST-PANDEMIC GROWTH Is the market moving again?
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fter fifteen months of high uncertainty and hardly any trade in the property market due to the pandemic, it looks like things are very slowly moving again. This is certain about the rental market in Gibraltar which seems to be doing considerably better than a short while ago. Across the border, in Spain and Portugal, things seem to be moving as well. This is somehow normal after nearly eighteen months of total inactivity in the markets.
some deals will happen.
The pandemic has no doubt destroyed the world economies to a large extent and the road to recovery will be harsh and difficult. The Brexit issue has not helped the markets either, but now that the UK is no longer an EU member and the outcome of all these difficult economic times remains uncertain, it looks like
I have spoken to quite a few different businessmen who are all looking forward to some growth this 2021. Property developers are getting ready, restaurateurs are trying their best to rebuild their clientele, service industries are on the way to adapting to the new reality. This is all good news and most fascinating but it will be very
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
There is no question that the British, along with other Northern Europeans, have been good traditional clients for southern Europe and have often provided a very steady source of deals and income for both rentals and sales in Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. Whoever has the necessary means will most likely make a move as soon as this is allowed and will either rent of purchase in the southern Mediterranean.
So far, the results do not look that promising. hard on some and impossible for others. I had luncheon with an old business client who owns a chain of successful restaurants on the beach. They are not doing too badly, but so far, the results do not look that promising. Their capacity is not as good as in pre-pandemic times. There are obvious reasons for this: no British tourists around, and few Central and Northern Europeans. So it looks like it is mostly Spaniards form Central and Northern Spain along with the French. Yes, the French seem to have rediscovered this part of the world. 19
business Two weeks ago, having cocktails at Hotel de Inglaterra in Sevilla, we were surrounded by well-todo French clients. France is sort of closed down and there is little to be done. So off they go to Spain and Portugal. Not only are they an excellent source of income, but most clients are high-end and hefty spenders. To throw big parties or celebrate a large wedding in Spain for the French was totally unheard of some years ago. Now they seem to be very much in vogue. The glamorous Marbella Club Hotel is packed with rich French clients mostly from Paris. This is a clear sign that you cannot stop people from taking their leisure breaks in the sun no matter what. If they have the means, they just go for it.
African countries are unsafe or closed down because of Covid. This may be beneficial for other tourist destinations. Gibraltar is on the green list with the UK so trade and tourism is guaranteed for the time being, hopefully for a long spell. Spain, Portugal and other European countries are on the amber list and hence not really feasible or practical to travel to. Hopefully with the vaccine program this will change for the better, but other Europeans will travel south, along with Spaniards and some Portuguese. When economies go wrong, new businesses are created. New clients come along. It is not a matter of days but it does work like this. The young lads of 18 to 25 went berserk with not being able to party. This has affected the hospitality industry, certainly, and the discotheques.
When economies go wrong, new businesses are created.
This summer may be an important one for the southern Mediterranean with regard to tourist trade. Morocco is pretty much closed down. Other North
But they will open again at some point and they will get packed and flourish again. The IMF predicts the economies to grow about 6% in 2021 and about 4.4% in 2022. These are predictions so the figures are not exact but quite close to reality. Getting ready is a positive way forward. A friend who owns a large wedding venue close to Cadiz is talking about giving his centenary Cortijo a good revamp and making it close to perfect for next year. This is perhaps a good time to do positive things to your business and prepare for the close future. Look at Israel; they have been doing a great deal of work to prepare for their future tourist trade. In this very modern world where time seems to fly at supersonic speeds it is wise to use a slowdown in trade and economy to be constructive and prepare your business for the future. Very challenging times lay ahead so make sure you are up to the mark.
Jorge v.Rein Parlade MBA Business Consultant
+350 54045282 jorgeparlade@aol.com
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business
THE RISE OF THE NFTS
Gibraltar has been making waves as a hub for Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology, with plenty of use cases locally and more to come throughout the summer months BY DENISE MATTHEWS
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he fourth oldest auction house founded in 1731, Sotheby's, auctioned a digital art piece, an NFT, for the first time ever back in March for just over $60 million dollars by a not so well known artist, Beeple. Bidding for Everydays: The First 5000 Days started at just $100, but a sudden flurry of bidding towards the end prompted a two-minute extension. Rebecca Riegelhaupt, a Christie’s spokeswoman, said: “33 active bidders contested the work and the result was the thirdhighest auction price achieved for a living artist”. A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unit of data stored on a digital ledger, a blockchain, that certifies a digital asset to be unique and 22
therefore not interchangeable being used to store photos, videos, audio, and other types of digital files. Access to any copy of the original file is not restricted to the buyer of the NFT. While copies of these digital items are available for anyone to obtain, NFTs are tracked on blockchains to provide the owner with a proof of ownership that is separate from copyright.
GIBRALTAR CRYPTO STAMP AND NFT DIGITAL COLLECTIBLE On 17 December 2020, Coinsilium Group announced it had concluded an agreement with the Gibraltar Philatelic Bureau Ltd (GPBL) for the creation of a commemorative limited edition
Cryptocurrency Postage Stamp tied to the release of a digital collectible NFT counterpart, exclusively produced by the company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Coinsilium (Gibraltar) Limited. This has been a collaboration with Vietnam-based RedFOX Labs with a website created especially for the stamps and NFTs, www.nifty.gi. The release date for the Crypto Postage Stamp was set for 17 May 2021 with the series limited to 50,000 in total, 10,000 of which were pre- reserved by GPBL for their own clients and dealers worldwide. A maximum of 40,000 Crypto Postage Stamps were available for public sale upon release. The Gibraltar Philatelic Bureau, for the first time, GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
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accepted payments for the stamps in cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum, through a payments facility provided by Digital Asset Management Ltd in Gibraltar. The collection of iconic images of Gibraltar by local photographers has been exhibited for two weeks during the month of June at the John Mackintosh Hall. Final artwork designs for the NFT collection were approved and Redfox incorporated the artwork into the NFT format in preparation for their listing on the digital marketplace. A total of 100,000 NFTs were minted, representing two NFTs for every Crypto Postage Stamp issued. The artwork comprises a selection of exclusively commissioned iconic images of Gibraltar which GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
followed the design theme of the Crypto Postage Stamp. The NFT images will be minted with varying levels of scarcity as individual constituents making up a collectible set. The collection will also include a selection of extremely limited ‘super-rare’ NFTs designed with enhanced value characteristics. Purchasers of the Gibraltar Crypto Stamp have the first right to reserve their NFTs, with an exclusivity period with the final date as yet to be announced.
NIFTY LABS GIBRALTAR Nifty Labs Limited, a Gibraltarbased blockchain development start-up has entered into a partnership with Indorse Pte. Ltd to develop an NFT marketplace
built on the RSK Blockchain which is secured by the Bitcoin network. The parent company of Nifty Labs, Coinsilium Group Limited recently released news of the project to create ‘NFT on Bitcoin’ has kickstarted with the timeline for the marketplace development scheduled for 6 months. Coinsilium Co-Founder and Chairman Malcolm Palle stated: “We believe that the ‘royalty’ component will prove to be one of the great innovations to come out of the NFT space and holds the potential for reshaping revenue models across a wide spectrum of industries, for the benefit of artists, creators and significantly, brand owners. Simply put, this technology enables the terms of any royalty type agreement to be coded directly into the 23
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Smart Contract, rendering the agreement completely transparent and irrefutable, thereby avoiding issues or disputes with counterparties which can often occur years down the line.” The Nifty Minter, currently in development by Nifty Labs (alongside the marketplace), will also include an option for the original creator to include a provision for a royalty payment in their tokens and the contracts. The creator can thereby ensure that they will continue to receive perpetual royalty payments on all secondary market sales for as long as the NFT continues to trade. This royalty payment could range from anywhere between 1% to 30%, depending on the requirements of the creator. Further proposals for the activities of Nifty Labs shall also include the development and production of scalable and enterprise grade blockchain technology and smart contractbased solutions which can be sold or licensed to third parties across a variety of industries.
THE NFT VISION HACK 2021 Following the success of Post Covid Hack 2020, which attracted over 1200 participants from all over the world and helped them shape the next digital revolution, 24
Indorse and Coinsilium have announced the NFT Vision Hack 2021, which will launch on 3 July and close on 30 August. Sponsors of PCH 2020 included HM Government of Gibraltar, RSK, the enabler of smart contracts for Bitcoin, IOV Labs, the leading bitcoin financial solution provider, Blockchain 4 Humanity, KuCoin and Mischon de Reya; 45 + partnerships were created including leading Universities, tech communities, organisations and media for PCH 2020. Some of the UK partners supporting the event included UCL CBT (a worldleading Centre of Excellence on Blockchain Technologies at University College London.), CryptoCompare, Tech London Advocates, Cambridge Blockchain Society, King’s College London Blockchain and the Oxford Blockchain Society among others. With NFT Vision Hack, Indorse, Nifty Labs Gibraltar and Coinsilium are searching for visionaries who are ready to push the limits of possibilities in the world of non-fungible tokens and expose a pool of talent for Nifty
Labs Gibraltar. This online global hackathon will bring together the best blockchain developers, game developers and artists from all over the world to create, innovative solutions around NFT technologies - a fast track to spot the next big things in the NFT space. “During this first stage we will be engaging with leading technology companies and fast growing blockchain protocols to join the NFT Vision Hack. Sponsors and partners will directly interact with over 500 blockchain developers and artists, feature in webinars and workshops, benefit from technology adoption and get in touch with an open pool of innovative NFT ideas and POCs.” explains Gaurang Torvekar, CEO at Indorse. For everything you need to know about the hackathon, visit www.nftvisionhack.com. GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
business
THE GIBRALTAR BANKERS’ ASSOCIATION The banking industry, once viewed as traditionally dry and considered to be reserved solely for those with a head for numbers, is now beginning to be viewed as a more attractive choice for young professionals looking to progress in their chosen career path. Besides the security that comes with such a vocation, banking offers a number of exciting avenues for those wishing to operate within this field, ffrom IT to Marketing, Portfolio Management, Crypto, Compliance, Operations, Client Relations and more. BY SOPHIE CLIFTON-TUCKER
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he Gibraltar Bankers’ Association (GBA) are aiming to redefine the narrative behind banking, having undergone a total rebrand themselves recently. The GBA was formed over 30 years ago, with the aim of building solid foundations and partnerships with Gibraltar’s financial community. Their role is to support its members, influence Government in lobbying for change, and promote education and training. The GBA’s members today comprise of large global institutions, as well as specialist private, digital and investment banks, each offering modern-day solutions in all areas of finance. President of the GBA, Marvin Cartwright, recognises that the industry has reached somewhat of a crossroads, and that there is now a need to reengage with the GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
membership to lay down a road map for the future: “Financial services, and as a result banking, has an opportunity in a postBrexit arena to challenge itself and see how it now adapts. Banks will do that in their own capacity - each have their own strategies and focus areas - but as an association we can help guide that process.”
EDUCATION For the past 25 years, Gibraltar has seen a significant outflow of banking institutions. At the height of the early 90s, there were around 30 licenced banks on the Rock, where today there are just 10. However, this doesn’t mean that a career in banking should be seen in any way as unstable. Far from it; although the quantity of banks has decreased
locally, the quality hasn’t diminished. One of the GBA’s main objectives is to shine a spotlight on banking as a more viable, and certainly more appealing, option for young people who are ascending the first rung of their career ladders. The GBA are working together with stakeholders such as the University of Gibraltar to get this message across to the younger generation through a series of events, highlighting the multifaceted nature of a career in banking. Risk Manager for Gibraltar International Bank, Alejandro Vasquez, joined the GBA last year with the hope of helping others looking to forge their career path, by shedding a light on the myriad opportunities within this industry. 25
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Alejandro graduated from the University of Kent with a BSC in Physics back in 2013 and began a career in accountancy working for one of the ‘Big Four’ accountancy firms in Gibraltar. After four years in the accounting industry working as an auditor, he decided a change in career was necessary and left to work in the Banking Sector with Gibraltar International Bank (GIB). “I was 25 when I decided to make a change my career path, although accountancy was not for me, I learnt a valuable lesson of the importance of hard work and passion in whatever you decide to do,” Alex shares. “When I started at the GIB I was surprised by the diverse opportunities within the organisation, having always centred myself around selecting a specific career path I never actually took into consideration joining an institution with several of them. This is the great thing about working in a bank; the variety of different roles from IT, Risk & Compliance, Marketing, Relationship Management, Treasury & Investments, and the list goes on.” 26
Alejandro undertook a role in the Account Opening Team, performing the due diligence checks for the bank and risk assessing the prospective clientele. A year later, an opportunity arose within the Risk & Compliance Team as a Risk Manager, a role in which he would engage and protect the bank from the various risks that the financial institution would encounter. From his experience in Risk & Compliance, Alejandro was appointed the Technical Lead to Regulatory & Legal matters for the GBA’s Executive Committee.
important role to play in preparing and supporting its members for the changes to the regulatory and legislative landscape.”
MAKING AN IMPACT
If you are looking to build a successful future within a burgeoning, diverse sector, this may be the exciting new pathway for you. Alejandro shares: “I joined the GBA to make a difference. I can relate to how stressful it can be when you are young and deciding on your career, considering the several changes I made in my own career. If there is any advice I could give to young aspiring individuals, it would be to expose yourselves to different career paths and see what you are truly interested in. It is a numbers game; the more things you try the more likely you are to find your true passion, and this is why working in a bank is a fantastic opportunity to explore the variety of careers within it.”
Over the years, the association has focused on technical and regulatory priorities given the sheer volume of change in this arena over the last 15 years in particular and post financial crisis of 2008. The GBA are putting structures in place in order to become more strategic. Over the years, the association has become a technical body, as a lot of their core focus has been on regulatory change, which there constantly is. As Marvin explains, “To be influential, and to be strategic, the Executive also need to assess the direction of travel for the industry itself and the jurisdiction as a whole. Ultimately, however, the GBA will also always have an
As we navigate the post-Brexit landscape, we as a jurisdiction need to seek new opportunities and consider new markets, something the GBA are striving for. “We want to be part of that thought process,” comments Marvin. Larger banks such as Barclays and Credit Suisse have been and gone; the cost of doing business in a small market for large multinational banks remains high. And so the industry must look to develop what we already have, or on something more niche, such as the digital/challenger bank space. “Realistically, if we are to grow in numbers of banks, this will be in the digital space – not in mainstream high street brands.”
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Alejandro Vasquez GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
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INSPECTOR DEBBIE JONES “Someone must take the first step. Be that someone.”
BY ELENA SCIALTIEL
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he Royal Gibraltar Police’s longest serving female officer – and Sergeant since 2009 - with a twenty-year career in several key roles, newly promoted Inspector Deborah Jones is gearing up for exciting challenges ahead. “I studied hard for my Inspector exam and I passed it the first time,” she says. “There is an application pack to fill, in which I put lots of care and attention: I spent almost a day in elaborating on my reasons for applying and to show and demonstrate why I felt I was the right person for the job.” She says she applied for Inspector because she felt ready, and at the right point in her career, after years working between Operations and Crime Divisions in various roles including preventing and tackling domestic and sexual abuse.
Inspector Debbie Jones
“The application process is quite stressful, but that is part of the assessment, to gauge how candidates deal with functioning under pressure. One of my weaknesses is being interviewed,” she admits candidly during our interview (which she aced, by the way!), “so I had to work on that, 28
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Curro the horse
I stuck flashcards for my police exams to the walls. and express in words, as much as in actions, that I indeed get the job done - and you can trust me to get the job done.” With a positive forward-looking open-minded attitude, Debbie encourages everyone, police officers and otherwise, male or female, to snatch any opportunity GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
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life when it comes along and not to hesitate in being the first one to go for it. She speaks highly of the Women in Policing Forum that supports female officers in progressing their careers and expanding their skills both vertically, if they want to rise through the ranks, and horizontally, should they opt instead for serving in various departments. One of the first four female officers to train and qualify for firearm carrying – thankfully, she's never had to demonstrate this skill in the field! – Debbie ‘packs heat’ in her determinate, fiercely independent personality, ‘fair and firm’, as described by colleagues, a leader and not a boss, as she likes to portray herself, a stickler for discipline and commitment. A desire to help others is what first pushed Debbie to join the RGP in 2001, at the age of eighteen, just a few years after men and women were bestowed equal opportunities within it. “As a child, I wanted to be a veterinarian, as I loved animals, and wanted to help them, but I decided I could help people as well.”
This is what makes me want to know how their mind ticks. to pay my bills while completing my studies.” They were intense months of budgeting: “To save on electricity bills, I stuck flashcards for my police exams to the walls and reviewed them by candlelight.” She had friends, of course, but she prides herself of having made it on her own. Now, she can count on her brother living in Jimena and a network of in-laws: “My husband is Bolivian, and has a large family in Spain. He’s supportive of what I do, as he knows well that the police officer in me comes first, and if I am called in for an emergency, I must drop everything at home and respond.” Debbie is a religious person who in her prayers asks for strength, and who believes in forgiveness. Yet: “In my role, and with the cases I deal with, that isn’t always
easy or possible, and I know that when someone has committed a crime, they must be punished, and justice served to their victims.” Justice, not revenge – so Debbie always explores the reasons why someone did what they did: “When I face an abuser, I am comforted by the notion that if I have them sitting in front of me, it means they can no longer hurt the victims I’m protecting, that I’m stopping what happened in the past from happening again. This is what makes me want to know how their mind ticks, what their motivations are, and if they fully understand the scope and consequences of their actions.” Learning their reasons doesn’t change the investigator’s stance towards them or their crimes, but makes her understand how to move forward. And how does Inspector Jones wind down from her not-so-typical day at the office? Well, her love for animals was only put on the backburner, as now she lives with a horse, Curro, seven dogs and four lovebirds in the countryside, where she energises with therapeutic track runs and horseback rides.
Debbie’s upbringing, so different from the average Gibraltarian teenager, taught her to be selfresponsible, self-reliable, selfsufficient, and once she stood firmly her ground, she was mature beyond her years to seek justice on behalf of children, teenagers and women less fortunate than her. She says: “I moved to Gib from Wales with my mother at the age of fifteen. She shortly moved back. I decided to stay. She let me, as long as I proved I could manage myself for three months. And so I did. I lived in a studio flat and did some waitressing on the side 30
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BREATHING LIFE INTO BHAYANDAR
Father and son team organise the funding of oxygen supplies for the Covid patients in Bhayandar, and reveal their plans to open a free kitchen and education centre in the future. Rasiklal Surti
BY CARMEN ANDERSON
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ather and son duo, Rasiklal and Vipul Surti, owners of Raj’s Curry House in Queensway Quay Marina, have teamed together to send life-saving oxygen to a hospital in Mira-Bhayandar, India. Rasiklal and Vipul are both originally from Bhayandar and have remained in contact with family and friends back home. When they discovered that Bhayandar’s community was struggling to deal with the scale of COVID infections and required help, they immediately rose to the occasion and were more than happy to provide whatever help they could. Of utmost urgency was that Bhayandar was suffering from a desperate shortage of oxygen for saving the lives of COVID patients. Vipul promptly 32
contacted a local charity and set about organising the funding of oxygen supplies. This is not the first time that Rasiklal and Vipul have helped Bhayandar – they have been helping to support the community there for many years, primarily by providing food and groceries, and also through financial help to support education for Bhayandar’s children. The Gibraltar-based father and son team continue with the provision of food to COVID patients in isolation who are not able to cook for themselves. In the future, Rasiklal and Vipul are planning to open a kitchen in India to provide free food to anyone who needs it; “We were supposed to open the kitchen this year but have not been able to go
due to COVID,” Rasiklal explained. “Everything is ready to go, and as soon as restrictions are lifted and we are allowed, we will, but for the time being we will continue to provide food supplies,” Vipul added. The Surtis have their GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
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own family foundation called the ‘Ruthfull Foundation’ under which umbrella all their charitable work is carried out. Rasiklal explained that he feels powerfully motivated to do as much as he can for those who are in need because he himself came from a poor family; “I know what being poor feels like. I wanted to go to school and educate myself, but I did not have the funds for it – this is why I would love to provide education to people in India. I believe that if I do good things for people and my family, that will come back around to me.” GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
Bhayandar was suffering from a desperate shortage of oxygen for saving lives. “We are focusing on our kitchen right now, but we would also like to focus on education. There are many students in India who are poor, but so talented. We would like to open an education centre there in the future,” Vipul explained. “We have big, big plans,” Rasiklal added “we would like to also extend this to providing medicine in the future.” “Food is our main focus because
you need food, it is the most important thing in our lives. If you are getting free food, you can survive. Being in the catering industry, it just made sense to us,” Vipul said. Rasiklal and Vipul are now setting up a charity in Gibraltar so they can continue raising funds for India and hope to open up this charity in the next few months. 33
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NOT OUT OF THE WOODS...YET!
Seemingly, events are slowly heading in the right direction so far - says he, with fingers crossed. Hopefully by the end of the year the picture will be much clearer...one way or the other! BY RICHARD CARTWRIGHT
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t the time of writing, things are looking up – at a pace, a slow one – but caution needs to be the ‘in’ word at this stage which for most of us is difficult to keep in mind. Masks are off, Main Street is getting a little busier, more people around, we meet our friends and acquaintances, we gather, we drink, tactility comes into play as many of us are naturally inclined to touch and yes, that ‘caution’ is carelessly thrown to the wind along with social distancing! As the song goes, ‘we’re only human after all’ but if things go downhill, much of the blame, WILL be put on you... and me! And so concludes the gloomy, negative message (which unfortunately cannot yet be ignored). Yes, shops, bars and restaurants are getting a little busier as is the Gibraltar International Airport, which this 34
week welcomed no less than seven flights in just one day! That means that tourists are beginning to buzz around town, up the Rock and elsewhere, most not heading for the frontier because, although Andalucía is again slowly getting better regarding Covid-19, entry and exit requires unwelcomed awkwardness shall we say - so hooray for taxi drivers and coach tour companies who’ve been in limbo for many, many weeks. Pity about the GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
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dreaded levanter cloud which doesn’t seem to want to go away, putting a damper for some, on the otherwise generally pleasing and agreeable picture of the sunny, Rock of Gibraltar image. But we’re being positive which is good, with facilities opening up: theatres, art galleries, drama groups and others
that ‘caution’ is carelessly thrown to the wind along with social distancing! along with gyms and sporting events attracting more crowds – albeit with limited numbers allowed to attend. Clearly bars and GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
restaurants – many of them full to the brim especially at the weekend – are welcoming much needed clientele. Other recent news is that all our hotels are full and with just under 1,000 rooms to fill we’re well short of what is required. Spain is not yet ‘green’ enough to attract it onto the ‘list’ hence part of the reason, I would think, our hotels are filling up so quickly. Regardless, we do need a couple more hotels if we want to build on our tourism product. A happy situation is also to be experienced by those wanting to visit their elderly relatives at the ERS homes and there’s also a more relaxed regime at the GHA. But prudence and concern has to be followed everywhere, difficult in some cases we know, but we
must be aware and not allow that dreaded spike turning up like the proverbial bad penny yet again. Already there have been reports of a handful of virus-infected individuals (most unvaccinated) which sadly have dented our Covid-free record of no cases for a number of weeks. The UK and Europe are having their ups and downs also, fearing the Delta variant now present in this part of the world. The UK relationship with the sub-Asian continent particularly with so many British Asians returning from visiting families and friends in India and elsewhere has meant the spread to a number of areas in the north of the UK in particular. Consequently, extra caution and watchfulness is a must on the Rock as almost 100% of our tourists and visitors arrive from the British Isles! Cruise ships which have only been allowed for a few months now to come in for bunkers, supplies and crew changes, will shortly renew their calls as before, anchoring in the bay and coming alongside the North Mole. With Gibraltar being on the green list, all of those passengers and crews are now more than welcome to enjoy their short stays on the Rock. Some Spanish tourists are also visiting from across the way too. And what about possible changes in our day to day lives - sometimes referred to as the ‘New Normal’ - because of the pandemic? Well, there’s been much talk about allowing more individuals to work from home. What are the benefits? Those coming in from Spain wouldn’t have to commute, so that’s a plus giving them more freedom to choose their working hours in some cases and being onhand to attend to family and other matters. 35
life required which would cut costs at this ‘heavily short of funds’ juncture! Cyber Crime, with money disappearing from bank accounts and data being interfered with, was also talked about. With it becoming more prevalent, it needs to be addressed along with the need for more expert training to tackle these crimes as technology comes evermore to the forefront. It has to be said our youngsters at our comprehensive schools are heading in the right direction doing very well even winning Cyber Centurion competitions in the UK. They will hopefully become the experts needed to manage those specialities, saving millions of pounds and securing a better future for us all...so keep up the good work, kids!
However, I spoke to a couple of those experiencing the ‘working from home mode’ who told me they’re happy to be back at the office, claiming to my surprise, they worked harder from home! Then, the fact you’re married to the computer screen for all that time at home totally concentrated on your work with no distractions, (especially when partner at work or out shopping and/or kids at school), you miss being around your work mates having a chat and perhaps a little light relief during breaks – remember, ‘all work and no play...’. The wicked Covid impact was also discussed recently at a GIBRAEL commerce meeting. During this sad, pandemic period many Governments, captains of industry, heads of lawyer firms and other company managers must’ve taken 36
That inspired me to become more interested in our local talent, so I started digging. time out to think about what the future holds for almost every country with so many millions of pounds incredibly depleted in government coffers, and other very serious financial losses to businesses and elsewhere. Also discussed at that meeting the point was raised about having to import costly individuals with specialist skills tasked to take on certain jobs that locals could be undertaking by acquiring those skills. There are some who are qualified, we’re slowly getting there, but more expertise is
Hence, despite the bad times experienced over many months – too many – let’s hope the up side of it all is we’ve been able to put our heads together and come up with some positive and effective ideas to tackle this new normal, if that’s what it’s to be, and get our economy and well being back on track. I can’t imagine how many sleepless nights heads of governments, company directors and others have endured, wondering when it was all going to end and how the muchneeded funds would, if ever, be replenished. I think, deep down, we all know the waiting game - even with the de-escalation plan slowly being put into action successfully it seems - is not over yet. Phrases like ‘out of the woods’, ‘light at the end of the tunnel’, ‘the end is nigh’ are still unfortunately, hanging over us like the levanter cloud over our famous Rock. So far, we can count our blessings but I’m definitely keeping my fingers crossed...are you? GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
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HOOKED ON ART
Chatting to homegrown talent, Christian Hook, about his journey to becoming one of Gibraltar’s most successful artists, and what the future holds… BY SOPHIE CLIFTON-TUCKER
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hristian is a well-known figure on the Rock, not just because of his now world-renowned artwork, but as a member of our Gibraltarian community. Born in Gibraltar in 1971, Christian went on to study Illustration at Middlesex University, before returning to teach art at Westside Comprehensive Girls School, and later went on to work as a parttime lecturer at the Royal College of Art in London. Christian has gone from success to success ever since, selling out in galleries such as Clarendon Fine Art and winning the coveted Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year. He has painted the likes of world-champion boxer Amir Khan, award-winning actors Sir Ian McKellen and Alan Cumming, and The Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson to name but a few.
Christian says he has always been a daydreamer, which he credits for his success: “I’ve always had my own way of seeing and doing things,” he explains, something that has also caused him a fair bit of stress. “I didn’t understand
It’s like handwriting; everyone has their own, but it’s what you write that matters. why I was so different, why I couldn’t be like the rest. I just had a different perspective on everything. Then I found out I have ADHD and dyslexia…only now do I know that’s what makes me think in different ways.”
Christian has always been a creative person, likely influenced by his family, who he is very close to. “They’ve always been supportive of everything I’ve done,” says Christian. His father and grandfather were both musicians, with the latter playing violin in an orchestra. His other grandfather also had artistic talents, with his own darkroom at home in which to pursue his penchant for photography. “I’ve always had talented people around me, which really helped. I was always fascinated by the things they did. My brother and I were always very close growing up, too. He’s the type of person who does whatever he feels – to have someone like that beside me was incredibly influential.” When asked what he would call his distinctive ‘style’ of art, Christian believes it’s more about 39
life the message behind the work than the labelling: “I don’t think it’s a style. It’s like handwriting; everyone has their own, but it’s what you write, what you say, that matters, not the handwriting itself. Style used to be important in the past. It was all about the movements; people used to follow each other. Today people tend to be more individualistic and conscientious when creating music, painting, sculpting, or working in theatre. We have a lot more opportunity for experiences what with the internet and with travel than we did fifty years ago, and that has had a profound impact on art.” Certainly, art has continued to transform and evolve over the decades, but how has Christian’s work personally changed? “In school and university, we’re taught techniques and how to experiment and make marks on canvas, but now it’s changed in concept. For me, it’s in understanding how to portray myself. The more you stay true to yourself, the more you find out about yourself. It’s difficult not to be compromised by external factors and to be as wrong as you are and own it. As soon as you water down what you are, you water down your talents, because you’re trying to fulfil or be in agreement with other people’s perspectives and expectations. You have to let your own flourish. All we have is our own way – and that’s the hardest thing to learn.”
unique process, and Christian is no different. What he loves most about his is the fact that he has no idea what’s going to happen when the paint touches the canvas. “If anybody were to ask me to do it again, I couldn’t, as the process constantly changes! I try not to
The concept seems impossible – transforming your canvas into a time machine. have any kind of repetition in the way that I do something, so I start and finish a different way every time. Each piece is a complete surprise.” To maintain this element of surprise, Christian reveals he has sometimes learnt from
interesting, if perhaps not always intentional, mistakes Christian is inspired by science and nature, and how we find them in a constant state of flux. “There is nothing still in any moment,” Christian explains. “And that inspired my art. Instead of simply painting a person, or object, my idea was to paint an amount of time in the life of something, rather than the thing itself. The concept seems impossible – transforming your canvas into a time machine.” This love of science has spilled over into other areas of Christian’s life, such as a recent documentary he filmed in collaboration with research scientists [more on this later], which he considers a vehicle to finding out who he really is at his core. “I am constantly in search of some kind of truth. What is at
Each artist has their own 40
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life the bottom of something? What does it mean to us? If you find it, it will resonate with everyone else.” Like all art there has to be something in the work that touches you, that connects to other people. “It’s like a song,” Christian describes. “You can talk about it for ages, but you either like it or you don’t. You can have the best guitarist in the world, the best singer, but people have to really feel the song to like it.” Emotion is, Christian believes, an international language that we all share and which intrinsically connects us. When Christian isn’t painting or immersing himself in science, you can find him on the music scene, working on a project which began around a year ago. “It’s been done in the same way as my paintings – all the wrong way around!
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Everything starts out as a mess, and in the mess, we find the good things. It’s based on all the things I have discovered from the different places I’ve been to.”
Like all art there has to be something in the work that touches you. This seemingly haphazard, yet inarguably successful process has also followed Christian into the world of cryptocurrency, as he is about to launch his very own coin - the New Medici - which some of the top galleries in London have already signed up to. “It works so differently, that it works better!”
states Christian. The same could be said of himself. Christian shares that he is involved with around ten different businesses at the moment, some doing even more lucratively than his artwork, but the common denominator is a passion for and belief in what he is doing, no matter the subject. “It’s about knowing where the heart of something lies. Once you find it, people will connect with it straight away. Like a good song, it needs no explanation.” Winning Portrait Artist of the Year back in 2014 accelerated the momentum of Christian’s work, but as he explains, he also had a great deal going on behind the scenes. Christian spent some time travelling around the world with Elon Musk’s partner along with other great minds for
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life British Polo Day, an invitationonly global platform to build relationships with some of the world’s most dynamic and most interesting individuals, through distinct experiences hosted in iconic destinations. “British Polo Day was a platform for these big thinkers to meet presidents, kings and queens around the world. They would accommodate us and there would be one polo match and dinner, where they would discuss their new ideas. My role was to live with the maharaja, president, prince or governor for a week, and paint a portrait for them as a gift in return. It was a lot of pressure, but an incredible experience.”
many things, and it opened a new door to art, and to painting a new reality. “We found out a lot about ourselves, and how we stay connected. We saw it all. The programme explains a lot about relationships and what they do to us. I think that is probably more important than the work itself. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, it cannot be repeated. I think this
kind of thing is what makes the artwork special.” As our conversation came to an end, Christian imparted some of the knowledge which has served him so well throughout his career so far; something seemingly incongruous, and yet somewhat comforting. He says, “If you’re going to go wrong, go wrong properly. Go all the way wrong. In that, you’re somewhere right.”
Despite his full and varied workload, Christian has no plans to slow down, as he has just finished working on a documentary, Painting the Invisible, to be aired on Sky. “I wrote to a big TV company with an idea I had, and thankfully, they loved it!” It’s based on the mystical connection between two people, and what happens once they part ways. “I just want to know what everyone else wants to know,” says Christian. “Do you stay connected to someone after you split up?” Some of the best scientists in the world (including Nobel laureates) got together with some of the best equipment in the world from the likes of NASA, to reveal the 95% of matter that is invisible to the human eye – especially that which exists between two people. “I wanted to discover if we could see it, if it was real, and then… could I paint it? And we did it! We discovered so 42
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MEET LAWRENCE
“If you’ve met one individual with Autism, you’ve met one individual with Autism.” Stephen Shore
BY KARLA IMOSSI
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utism Spectrum Disorder is a ‘spectrum’, which means every individual is different to each other. Some may be nonverbal, some may speak perfectly well; some may need little or no support, whilst some may need extra carer support. Lawrence has always been very independent, ever since he started walking at the age of 10 months. A bit too independent. He would always walk on his own, even walk away with strangers. He did not fear getting lost and not once would he look back to check if he could still see me. Many toddlers do this, but when they still do it at the age of two, it starts ringing alarm bells. Lawrence is now five years old and is still independent but we have taught him to request things, and to ask for help when he needs it. We have also taught him about danger and, believe it or not, we taught him how to walk, not run. The cycling path in Main Street saved my life that summer. We would make him step on the white circle path and concentrate on 44
counting each circle, one-by-one. Lawrence is very different now to the way he used to be back then. He is aware of a lot more things going on around him, which is great, but this has triggered many sensory processing issues and anything that causes him to be unsettled comes handin-hand with our biggest enemy, ANXIETY! So what are the sensory processing issues that cause him so much anxiety? Loud noises, brightness and busy streets, to name a few.
Autism Spectrum Disorder is a ‘spectrum’, which means every individual is different.
The environment we live in is full of sensory information from noise, crowds, light, temperature and many more. This information is processed using our senses such as sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell. When one of these senses becomes unbearable for Lawrence, for example a very busy and loud road, he will become anxious because GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
life he is over-sensitive to noise, known as hypersensitive. At this point Lawrence will cover his ears and request his ear defenders. Having this sense of control reduces his anxiety drastically because he knows he has them with him when the enemy kicks in.
about. This is the heart breaking moment, when people meet Lawrence; they do not know how to act around him so they ignore him. Lawrence is just a boy and wants to be just like any other boy. He might be different, but he is no less.
However, being hypersensitive to the environment does not mean he is not hyposensitive (under-sensitive). Lawrence likes the feel of deep pressure on his body too. The tighter it feels the better. Added pressure helps relax his muscles and reduce his anxiety allowing him to focus on a given task. Another example of hyposensitive is the temperature. Lawrence feels comfort wearing a scarf. If I do not teach him that a scarf is for cold weather and not appropriate for summer, he will not feel the heat the same way we do and could wear it even on the hottest of days.
So if you ever meet Lawrence, please say hello to him. Just because he is non-verbal, he has social communication issues, and he might not even look at you, does not mean
he cannot hear you. I promise you, he wants to do all of that but he needs to learn how best to do it, and without your support, it will be a lot harder. We want to gain access to the outside world, not to have the doors closed on us. So now that you know a little bit about Lawrence, and a little bit about Autism, it might be a little easier to understand when you come across a boy wearing a hat, sunglasses and ear defenders looking like a real dude!
He might be different, but he is no less.
So how should you greet Lawrence if you ever met him?
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Lawrence
Recently, I have found myself thinking about this more and more. When I meet people that I have never met before, inevitably the topic of conversation will end up with ‘Lawrence is autistic’ because of the way he is behaving around other kids. Suddenly the conversation turns into an interrogation of questions like… “I have been worried about my son. When did you start to notice the signs? He is already two and is not speaking, is that a sign?” I am happy to discuss anything to do with Autism. I have my Instagram page where I blog about it to the world. But please don’t forget, I’m just a mum, the same as any other mum and sometimes I want to be just that. I want to be able to talk about things mums talk 45
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PREPARING FOR THE SILVER SCREEN White Light Theatre collaborates with Richard Buck. BY CARMEN ANDERSON
R
ichard Buck, Olympian, speaker, actor, producer, writer and film director, arrived in Gibraltar at the end of May to hold a 4-day short film workshop. The workshop, organised by White Light Theatre with funding from Gibraltar Cultural Services, included casting sessions, introduction to screen, reading film scripts, rehearsing for filming and holistic approaches to filming scenes. Richard had previously visited Gibraltar in 2017 to hold workshops based on his experiences as an athlete. Here, he met Jackie Villa of White Light Theatre and in conversation mentioned that he was an actor and a film maker. The idea of a film-themed workshop was born. During the first workshop session, the participants focused on casting; “They looked fantastic
"I didn’t want to box anyone into a part that they weren’t comfortable playing." on film, they brought the material to life, and they were really good sight-readers which is a compliment to their training. I was so impressed!” Richard told The Gibraltar Magazine. The biggest surprise to the participants was realising the pace at which work is done in film; “Once you get your script, you’ll read through it maybe once or twice at a table read, and then you’re sent home to make your own decisions on it. You have to bring the package to the table and then we shape it on the
day. Whatever you bring will be added to; we give it some shade and light, and structure a little bit of movement to it,” Richard explained. Richard wrote a short film for the participants to use; “I wanted to provide them with a variety of different characters with no gender specific roles as I didn’t know what the gender mix of the participants would be. The script was intentionally left quite open as I wanted to see what they would bring out. I didn’t want to box anyone into a part that they weren’t comfortable playing. I gave them film direction, but I let them take their characters where they wanted to, because this was about them experiencing film,” he said. The intention behind these workshops was to ensure that participants would be able to 47
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discover all aspects of film. “It is of tremendous value for actors to learn both sides of the camera in order to appreciate how hard people’s jobs are on set,” Richard said, “they took to this phenomenally well. I think we have some talented future crew and film directors.” Louis Russo, who took part in the workshops, said: “The experience was very insightful. As someone who is a lover of film, it showed me an appreciation of how everyone has the same amount of pressure and the same amount of importance on set. As an actor, it has encouraged me to continue with film.” Richard had always enjoyed acting as a child but initially dedicated himself to sport. “Sport is amazing 48
but draining,” he said. “After my second Olympics, my body was doing fine but my mind wasn’t. So, I started taking acting classes to
support my mental health and one day I realised that I didn’t want to compete in another Olympics, I wanted to be an actor. Dramatic GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
scene "Gibraltar has amazing stories to tell, but the world doesn’t know about them, and it needs to."
the participants have picked up ten times more than I thought they would, as actors and as crew. They have seen that actors are not the be all and end all; these participants have gained a sense of respect for the work of the crew and have now got a more holistic overview of film.”
as it sounds, I believe that acting saved my life and brought me back to the real world.”
Christina Reyes’ reaction to the workshops echoed those of other participants: “I have loved this incredible experience! We got to shoot a movie and I got to act in front of a camera which has always been my dream. It was challenging but I’ve taken so much from it.”
Richard would love to come back to Gibraltar for future workshops; “I really hope that the value of this type of event is recognised and that there will be a greater dedication to creativity on screen in Gibraltar. Gibraltar has amazing stories to tell, but the world doesn’t know about them, and it needs to.” Jackie Villa explained her delight at how beneficial the workshops have been; “Over the four days
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Jackie plans to continue holding workshops in the future and introducing people from the UK; “We have local talent, but I think if we open our doors to people who have more experience in certain fields, then we enrich the training of our local creatives. I already have a few ideas for future
projects including local people, as well as people who might be willing to come over to Gibraltar to provide training in different aspects of film and theatre.” This is a view wholeheartedly supported by Lorena Rodriguez, a participant of the workshops: “Richard has taught us so much and we have been able to experience not just acting but working behind the scenes. The acting is also completely different from theatre which is what we are used to. I would love to do it again.” White Light Theatre is staging Canterbury Tales at the Laguna Social Club at the start of July: “It’s going to be set up as a theatre supper with medieval style food and drinks and our youngest members will be taking to the stage for the first time. Canterbury Tales is very tongue and cheek, and it will be loads of fun with audience participation.”
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WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
art
TONED OR WHITE PAPER HB, 2B AND 6B PENCILS WHITE CHALK (IF USING TONED PAPER) RULER RUBBER
RT CLUB
BRUSH BLENDING STUMP STAEDTLER BLACK LUMOGRAPH PENCILS (OPTIONAL)
In July we see World Population Day, a day where we learn of different societies, backgrounds, and the future problems we will face as a planet. Throughout society, art is shaped by people and one of the biggest techniques in art is being able to sketch people with different proportions. Two of the biggest struggles I found were eyes and noses so today I will show you some techniques that you can use for anyone! BY THOMAS MAXWELL Most people forget that your eye is a sphere, and this is important for drawing. So, draw a circle to start with, this one is a simple 5cm radius circle. On the left-hand side just draw a small U and draw a triangle, which will be the shape of the eye. The key is to draw the iris at a slight angle; this gives the impression of someone looking. Don’t do it straight 90 degrees as this won’t make it realistic. Eye Image 2 Highlight the light areas using the white chalk. On toned paper, it is important to use highlights to add realism. Unlike white paper, you often have no light options, so using white chalk is important. Make sure not to mix the graphite and chalk as this can leave a weird GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JUNE 2021
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art effect. Keep building up the dark areas using the 2B.
One of the best pencils to get is the black lumograph from Staedtler, available from Iberia Art in Malaga or online. The black option mixes graphite and charcoal, meaning a darker pencil which is perfect for adding definition. I got a set of 6 and use the 4B but you can use a standard darker 6B to get a dark
effect. Keeping adding the darker areas and make sure you do not mix with the white on this final section. Very lightly brush over, using the blending stump or a brush. Keep building up until you are happy!
the extra mile, start shaping out a rough eye socket and eyebrow on the left-hand side so you can see if the nose angle is realistic or not!
Noses can sometimes be tricky to get right but can be made simple by understanding dimensions. Draw a circle, which will act as the anchor for the nose in this case. Add two lines at roughly 30-degree angles from the edge of the circle to act as the bridge of the nose. Have a third line from the top of the second line on the right coming down at a 45-degree angle to act as a support for the piece. Shape the bottom of the nose at an angle once more and put in the nostrils Rub out the supports and highlight the light areas using white chalk, a very important tool to add realism. If you want to go
Once you are happy with the layout, start shading the darker areas. Make sure that these darker areas are separate to the white chalk, usually in the opposite direction. This will create a scale of light and make your image pop. Keep building up using the technique like our previous eye piece and you are on your way! This circle technique is useful because it acts as an anchor, you can draw a nose at any angle easily. Follow Thomas on Instagram: @ thomasomaxwell or visit www. thomasomaxwell.com.
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BOOKISH... Join us for our monthly book club!
BY JOEL FRANCIS
W
elcome to the July edition of Bookish! This month, I've had the pleasure of reading a fair few books, particularly Note to Boy, which I was sent in return for an honest review (below). I hope you give the books I recommend a chance because I really think you'll enjoy them. If you like my suggestions, consider joining my book club on Facebook. Just search for The Bookmarkers Bookclub group!
NOTE TO BOY Sue Clark Genre: Fiction/Comedy For Fans Of: Taylor Jenkins Reid What’s in the pages? Eloise is a tough-talking forgotten British fashion icon; Bradley is a melancholic, sneaky teenager. Eloise needs Bradley to help her write her memoirs; Bradley needs the money and is urgent to escape a difficult home life. They depend on each other, but neither wants to admit the fact, and both have secrets they will never divulge. But when both Eloise's and Bradley's worlds turn upside down - they find out just what friendship means and just how much they rely on each other! Why should you read it? Note to Boy is a charming, hilarious story about an unlikely friendship that develops between different generations. It will seem familiar to those who have read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo because it has a similar concept of a former celebrity being interviewed for her memoirs, but that's where the similarities stop. While Hugo is filled with glamour and Hollywood, Note to Boy is English and gritty. Eloise has a Miss Havisham-esque quality to her. Bradley (who is called Boy for most of the book) comes from a London council estate. The book itself is an exceptionally well written and highly humorous ‘light’ read that's perfect for your afternoon on the beach. While I initially found it slightly slow, the payoff at the end of the story is profoundly gratifying. I highly recommend this clever book to anybody this summer - I'm sure you'll love it!
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SWEET SORROW David Nicholls Genre: Murder Fiction / Romance For Fans Of: Nick Hornby What’s in the pages? It's 1997, Charlie Lewis has just flunked his exams; as he thinks about the future, he is filled with a sense of dread. But, then, one day, he stumbles upon Fran Fisher and gives his life all sorts of meaning again - through the Company. While it may sound like a cult, the Company's reality is much more appalling to a teenage boy who values the respect of his friends. The price of hope, it seems, is a Shakespeare acting group! Why should you read it? David Nicholls is a Booker Prize nominated author for a good reason. Sweet Sorrow could just be the quintessential British coming of age story. This book is filled to the brim with the awkwardness of first love, the difficulties of feeling grown-up but not quite there yet and the confusing time of being 16 years old. With its witty language and perfect pacing, this nostalgic book is the ideal read for anyone who's ever been a teenager, which is all of us. So get ready to relive all of the good and bad feelings of your sixteenth summer while learning about the healing power of Shakespeare. An excellent read for people who love Perks of Being a Wallflower, Catcher in The Rye or Nicholl's other books, One Day and Us.
LET ME HEAR A RHYME Tiffany D. Jackson Genre: Young Adult
For Fans Of: Elizabeth Acevedo
What’s in the pages? It's 1998, and Biggie Smalls was right when he sang "Things done changed" - they have. Teens Quadir and Jarrell have just lost their friend Steph after being murdered, but they are not ready to let him be forgotten. So after finding a box of Steph's old rap tracks, they enlist the help of Steph's little sister Jasmine and come up with a plan to make sure he is heard. First, they create a new moniker for him, ‘The Architect’, and soon enough, everyone in Brooklyn is vibing to it. There's only one problem; when a hotheaded music rep gets his hands on the tape, he demands more - which they don't have. With the pressure on and time running out, Quadir, Jarrell, and Jasmine need to discover what really happened to Steph and decide what they stand for before losing everything - including their friendship. Why should you read it? Get ready to be transported back to the '90s with this young adult book about Hip Hop, friendship and the power of words. This story has been told many times before but never entirely in this way, and Jackson manages to approach it with fresh eyes. Her way with words is full of love and respect for Brooklyn in the '90s and Hip Hop culture as a whole. It will make you laugh and cry and have you biting your fingernails in anticipation and stress. I cannot recommend this book enough - p.s. If you find all of the slang daunting, there's a glossary at the back of the book!
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FROM MARY TO MACBETH An interview with Carmen Anderson - the 19-year-old who’s done it all.
BY GIANNA STANLEY
F
rom playing a comic version of the Virgin Mary at the age of nine to playing a complex suicidal character at the age of seventeen, Carmen Anderson has become a very familiar name in the world of drama here in Gibraltar. I spoke to her to learn more about her accomplishments, her new endeavors in journalism, and what she plans to do once at university. Carmen began with drama ‘in a very random way’, being cast as Mary in her Year Four production of the Nativity. What drew her into the world of theatre was the audience’s reaction; whether it was laughing, applauding, or gasping, this was a new experience that encapsulates her passion for the arts. Another thing that enticed her was the storytelling aspect and ‘getting to step into someone’s shoes and bringing a story to life’. Carmen continued with school plays, but what began her career was joining the Westside 56
and Bayside Drama Group describing her experience with them as ‘incredible’, and being able to make some of her closest friends here who have become her ‘family’. I was curious about what her most memorable moment in drama has been. Falling off a table during a dance piece and winning awards are notable contenders, but her stand-out moment was in her performance in Living with Lady Macbeth. Once she had finished performing Lady Macbeth’s monologue, she received a round of applause, which she admits felt very special because she’d never really experienced that before. Watching the Drama Festival has been a highlight for Carmen as far back as she can remember, but what makes it more memorable is performing in it. She loves performing at the Gala night because it makes her ‘nervous but
Falling off a table during a dance piece and winning awards are notable contenders. excited’, and of course, extremely proud of her work, but she also enjoys watching the week of amazing theatre. If you’ve had the privilege of watching Carmen on stage, you might have a favourite role of hers - mine is definitely her role as the British ‘chav’ narrator in Three - but Carmen thinks about each of her roles ‘very dearly’, and cannot pick a favourite. Not only an actress but a journalist too, Carmen has taken the gap year opportunity to enhance her writing skills, beginning her blog during lockdown. She has become very passionate about GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
scene meeting new people and getting to tell stories of their amazing lives. Time management has been challenging for her, but the free time her gap year offers has allowed her to be flexible and manage her time accordingly. Creating questions for her interviewees is also difficult because she has to ensure it is ‘interesting and something people would answer’.
Carmen Anderson
Taking a gap year was ‘one hundred percent the right choice’ for Carmen, as she decided this path before achieving her A-Levels. The idea always lingered at the back of her mind since she was young, but the actuality of it was not certain. This past year has provided her with opportunities that would not have been possible if not - performing with the Trafalgar Theatre under the director Daniel Strain Webber provided her with a chance to perform in her first adult play. She was also able to direct for the first time this year, debuting in the Gibraltar Drama Festival, and allowed her to dive into a new experience which she had always wanted to do. What is certain is that Gibraltar will miss Carmen’s huge personality and tremendous talent, but she plans to return and participate, as she ‘loves contributing to the drama festival’, and hopes to work with the technical side of theatre. She also hopes to create opportunities through putting her own plays on, but plans to continue working on her blog and, of course, her talent in drama at university! GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
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scene
La Mesa BY JONATHAN PIZARRO
Granny was sent to Bella Vista. Her old house stood empty and picked out almost to the bones. She took the ghosts with her, the worn and faded images running in a loop around the two floors of the Glacis apartment and now playing out in front of her. Every part of the past was the present for Granny, depending on how she woke up. I walked into the front hall with my mother on a hot July day. If you turned, you could see the blue sky behind the tower blocks at Glacis, and just a sliver of the Rock. There wasn’t even a breeze, which was strange for the perpetual wind tunnel that runs the stretch of Archbishop Amigo House. Maybe I had spent too long in London, but the relentless mid-afternoon poniente was too much. And inside was no better. I used to love walking in and turning right, straight into the kitchen. The cupboard always full of biscuits. A tin of bread with half a loaf of pan cateto from an excursion to Manilva my grandparents had made the previous Sunday. The
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dishwasher perpetually on. The cool white tiles. The calendar behind the door from the Chinese restaurant in La Atunara. The front door always unlocked, so closing it would be met with a ‘Quién es?’ and an ‘Ah, mi niño!’ with a smile when I walked into the kitchen. All gone now. I didn’t want to walk into any other rooms. Everything was hollow, stale and quiet. My mother and her siblings had been raised here, and in return brought here children of their own. Five adults walked out of this house and came back with almost thirty. On days like Christmas, we would hardly fit, and that was part of the joy. This house was never silent. Babies cried, children played and fought, adults laughed and argued. And we ate. Bollos con jamon from Garcia’s downstairs. Cakes with tea from El Okay in La Línea. Sopa de picadillo and rosto and albondigas. Birthday cakes. Anniversary cakes. Feasts of pavo and gambas and brazo gitano at Christmas. I sit at the white lacquered table with my
grandfather’s discarded Bible. When people die, value is placed on money and jewellery. I can’t think of anything more important to my grandfather than his Bible, other than his family. So I sit at the table with this Bible while my mother opens the cupboard under the stairs to find the storage boxes she had left there. I think of this table where we all crowded around. Where my Grampa told me about our history, what had happened during the war and how his own mother had died. Where Granny demanded I eat more, porque estás muy delgao. This kitchen table, like many others in Gibraltar, was the centre of our family. Its beating heart. All gone. I wish I had taken that table. I wish I had asked for more stories, more recipes, and more hugs. We see these generations leave us, and our only hope is we can keep them alive in our memories. My grandparents’ ghosts are my ghosts now.
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SENIORS TEA FOR TWO BIG BAND NIGHT Sophie Clifton-Tucker of Little English (and our Editor!) and Jason Harper of B2 Projects welcomed back the first Seniors Tea for Two event since the first lockdown due to COVID-19. Seniors Tea for Two is a monthly charitable initiative that welcomes the elderly for an afternoon of tea, coffee, and cakes over music and conversation. Unfortunately, these events have been put on hold for over a year due to the pandemic. ST42 restarted with a bang last month, hosting a free Big Band night at the Theatre Café, complete with BBQ and drinks. A brilliant time was had by all, and the team look forward to hosting many more. Sophie commented: “We would like to extend our sincerest thanks to the Paul Riley Big Band, who were nothing short of spectacular;
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to the Rotary Club for organising the band; to Lawrence of the Theatre Café and his fantastic staff; to the Gibraltar Red Cross for so very kindly sponsoring this event; and to Manolo Ruiz of the Gibraltar Senior Citizens Association for his unwavering support, and without whom ST42 would not have been possible.” Loneliness amongst our senior citizens is unfortunately a very real issue. The ST42 team urge you to check on your neighbours, elderly friends, and family members. Just one little knock on a door can make more of a difference than we could imagine. If you know of anyone who could benefit from these social meet-ups, please email seniorsteafortwo@gmail.com. The next tea will take place on the 13th July, 2pm, at the Theatre Cafe.
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FOODIE FROM GIB
Four unmissable eateries on the London scene. BY TARA COUMBE
T
ara, the face behind the @ foodiefromgib Instagram account, has recently returned from a foodfuelled trip to the UK – and she’s taken notes! Here are four places you should visit on your next trip to the capital.
KOL - Marylebone KOL is brand new on the London scene. Its head chef, Santiago Lastra, a NOMA alum who headed their pop-up restaurant in a Mexican Jungle, opens his first restaurant. This is high-end Mexican but using mostly the best British ingredients. The World’s Best 50 Restaurant’s already highlights KOL as one of London’s hottest newest attention-grabbing restaurants, and we were very lucky to grab a table on our trip at fairly short notice. This is a formal dining experience, with high-end ingredients and refined techniques, 62
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food but with a brilliant relaxed atmosphere. You can choose between two tasting menus (ours was 11 dishes), and the drinks pairing is highly recommended (mostly natural wines).
and spring onion, a delicacy of the Shaanxi province in northern China.
Master Wei Xi’an Holborn (Bloomsbury) When choosing restaurants to visit in London, one of our guiding factors is going for food which we can’t readily get in Gibraltar or Spain. Asian food is one cuisine which London really excels in. We were craving spicy Beef Biang Biang noodles; thick, broad, handcut noodles, covered in chilli, garlic GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
Via food blogs and newspaper reviews we found Master Wei, a modest casual Chinese restaurant in Bloomsbury. We ordered their Cumin beef ‘burger’, some decent dumplings, and two stunning noodle dishes (which were the real highlight of our trip). Their cold noodles, the traditional Xi’an Liang Pi Noodles, were perfect for a balmy London evening, with their cold skin and light chill oil dressing. Their famous Beef Biang Biang noodles are the real reason to come here, and were some of the best noodles we have ever had. The noodles were chewy, spicy and a great accompaniment to the beef. Xi’an Biang Biang Noodles, a
restaurant in Shoreditch, is also a great option instead if you happen to be in the area.
Hideaway – Mayfair One-star Michelin restaurant HIDE has recently opened a little 63
food sister cafe in the heart of Mayfair. This being Mayfair, Hideaway hosts a ‘boujee’ menu including lobster, truffles and caviar. This is a casual cafe experience, with no reservations. We arrived at about noon (we recommend you do the same as it can get very busy with queues on the weekends) and ordered the lobster roll with caviar, croque monsieur with fresh truffle and white pizza with fontina, black truffles, thyme and honey. All dishes were absolutely divine, especially the lobster roll. Soaked in melted butter, thick chunks of meaty lobster sat in a warm bun, accompanied by a slither of caviar. Definitely worth a stop off for a quick lunch (or brunch) in the area.
dish. The Barbary is best for a couple of people or a solo meal due to the bar only seating arrangement. The Palomar in Soho, with a menu inspired by modern Jerusalem and run by the same team, is another fantastic option when craving Middle Eastern food.
The Barbary - Covent Garden (Neal’s Yard) The Barbary has been rated year after year as one of ‘London’s Top Restaurants’ by Time Out. Their minimalist U-shaped bar restaurant serves a fusion of North African and Mediterranean food. As a Gibraltarian, this is particularly intriguing. Their menu includes ‘baking and grinding’ naan and pitta cooked over coals and paired with hummus, baba ghanoush or mashwiya. The hot blistered breads are a perfect mop for the delicious Middle Eastern inspired dips. Their main menu is small and focused, usually a selection of chicken, fish and seafood as well as vegetarian dishes. On a recent visit, their salmon dish was probably my favourite dish of the entire trip. The salmon was cooked in honey, garlic and cumin, slightly charred and showered in spring onions. Served alone, so simple but cooked to perfection, the sweetness from the honey really complimented the spiciness and smokiness of the 64
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finance
DHL Express is the global market leader in the international express business, so you probably already know that we can deliver your documents and parcels from Gibraltar to virtually every country in the world. What you might not know is that we can also take care of all your importing requirements.
For further information please contact: DHL Gibraltar Unit 36 Harbours Deck, New Harbours, Gibraltar Tel: 200 72210 Email: GIBSN@dhl.com GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE • JUNE 2014
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ADVENTURES IN READING
I was born in 1959 and, thus far, mine has been an interesting and unconventional life. At the ripe old age of 62, I hope to experience many more intense and dramatic events. If there is a single factor responsible for my continually seeking out the unusual and the downright weird, that factor can only be my love of reading.
BY PETE WOLSTENCROFT
A
sking certain teenagers today to read a book and keep quiet for a few minutes is akin to asking them to submit to fifty lashes. The difference being, that the cat o’nine tails would be preferable to being seen with a book. Because, as everybody knows, reading is boring. With apologies to teenagers everywhere, I would beg to differ. My reading career started just before my seventh birthday, when my mum took me to enrol in the local library. Disappointingly, she was told that I would have to wait the handful of days that separated me from that milestone event. At six years and fifty weeks old, I was too young to be admitted to the hallowed halls of literacy. I seem to remember that this did not go down too well with Mater and eventually the punctilious librarian 66
was forced to back down. I was in. Who knew that there were rooms full of books that you could take home to read at your leisure? And all at no cost. Were we living in some sort of socialist, Soviet idyll? No, just a small town outside Blackpool. I can’t remember the titles of any of the books I read during the earliest days of my library membership. But after about a year or so, I came across the works of one Willard Price. It seemed to me that Mr Price had been kind enough to write books solely for me. How did he know that titles like: Lion Adventure and Volcano Adventure were catnip to me? I was already starting to take a keen interest in wildlife and this now exploded into a deep and abiding passion – one I maintain to this day.
Soviet idyll? No, just a small town outside Blackpool. Then I heard about a club for young bibliophiles. The Puffin Club: where you not only got access to lots of exciting books, but you also received a handsome enamel badge upon which the eponymous bird featured prominently. By this time, I was about nine years old, and had heard adults tell of reading novels. The very word seemed so exciting, but I had an idea fixed in my head, that novels were not available to nine-year-olds. You had to be a certain age. I didn’t know which age, but I knew it was a long way off. Imagine my surprise then, when I found out a while later, that I had been reading these most mysterious of books GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
leisure for quite some time. During my last year at primary school, one of our teachers would read to us every Friday afternoon. The book that stuck out most in my mind was: Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome. And so my bookwormy horizons widened out. It turns out that life did not need to be confined to a little town outside Blackpool. There was a big, wide world out there. Laurie Lee was responsible for my migration to the south of Spain and eventually to a job on the Gibraltar dockyard. I have to say that those doe-eyed farmers’ daughters who had proved so keen to roll in the hay with Lee proved to be a good deal more elusive – not to say non-existent – for me. Spain seemed impossibly exotic to a young Lancastrian. For one thing, it was very often hot; heat not being a phenomenon with which I had had much experience until I migrated. I learned Spanish, which in turn opened up a whole new wealth of experiences. Whilst my colleagues were enjoying roast beef and Yorkshire puddings in the hostelries of the Costa del Sol, armed with my new linguistic confidence, I was eating tapas of sea urchins and razor clams, washed down by rough red wine that came in 1-litre bottles with lethally sharp foil caps. My love of languages led me back to education. I took a degree in Spanish studies at the University of Portsmouth, and from there a teaching qualification in EFL from the University of Cardiff. My first job posting was in Bulgaria which, I remember claiming during the interview, promised to be: “Culturally interesting.” GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
It was that all right. On my first day in Bulgaria, I met the woman who is now my wife. On telling people about this turn of events, I am often asked if she can speak English. To which I invariably reply: “Well, sort of. She is from Doncaster.” My love of reading was the catalyst for trying out many things: boxing, acting, journalism, and foreign travel to such places as Albania and Istanbul. My retentive memory – surely a product of so much reading – led me to auditioning for Mastermind. I got on the show, but came last. My passion for languages spurred me to learn a little bit of the language for each country I visited. This led to more free
Spain seemed impossibly exotic to a young Lancastrian.
drinks than I can recall and the opportunity to experience the kindness of strangers. This hospitality is the continual, concrete proof that, those who can be bothered to learn a bit of the language of a country, will be rewarded in ways that those who simply speak English a bit louder and a bit slower will never be able to comprehend – or access. I don’t know where the idea that reading is boring came from, but it needs to be sent back whence it came post haste. Given that the words on the page create a different, unique image for each reader, no other form of entertainment can be so adaptable. And books are – all things considered – cheap. Once read, a book can be passed on to family and friends for as long as it retains its physical integrity. So, if you know a teenager who thinks reading is boring, I have the cure: give them a clout round the ear with a really big dictionary! 67
SELF LOVE
Self-love and self-care are often spoken about, but do we really know what they mean and how to go about being this self-loving person so that we can experience the lasting effect on the quality of our life?
BY LAURA CONROY
T
he concept of self-love has been around for a while now. Self-care, such as getting your nails or hair done or going to the spa, are lovely experiences and are definitely a great way to spend time on you. The challenge that we face is that, whilst having such treatments done, or straight after we finish, your little internal voice is beating you up from the inside saying “you don’t have time for this”, “you should be doing this”, “why did you do/say that?”.
So what are we trying to create when we talk about self-love? To me, we are creating a world for ourselves where we treat ourselves like you would your best friend. You are encouraging,
Let’s face it, this little voice is not always nice to you.
Let’s face it, this little voice is not always nice to you. If your little voice was a real person in the real world and said those things to you, would you spend time with this person at all? If the answer is no, then keep reading as I’m going to give you 3 tips to start to untangle the little voice and cultivate self-love from the inside. 68
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leisure Coming out of last year, your list of ‘shoulds’ may be ever-growing whilst you get back to fitting everything into your life. These ‘shoulds’ do not make us feel good, and using the word ‘should’ a lot of time does not make us feel like we even want to do those things. What are the ‘shoulds’ that you are carrying around? Day to day we do need to do things but we also get to choose what we do with our time. What ‘shoulds’ can you let go of and choose not to carry around anymore? And what ‘could’ you do rather than ‘should’ do if you wanted to?
Tip #3 - Just breathe…
you see the best in them, you are honest when needed and you are kind and caring. Whilst self-care is an outside job, self-love comes from the inside. Here are my 3 tips for starting on your journey or helping you on your path if you have already started working on creating more self-love in your life.
Tip #1 - What brand of mean are you? First of all, we need to understand what we are working with. We need to be aware of how we treat, talk, and behave towards ourselves. We can then use this information to start understanding why we do what we do. Generally this comes from an experience we have had, something somebody said to us, or the way someone GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
acted around us. Just observe, without judging yourself, do it as if you are your best friend - with curiosity and care.
Tip #2 - What ‘shoulds’ do you have shackled to you? For me, I would be quite happy to remove ‘should’ from our vocabulary altogether. I invite you to think about the word ‘should’ and say it out loud. Doesn’t feel great, right? I can’t think of another word that makes me feel as bad, disempowered and just flat and we use it to beat ourselves up around the things we ‘should’ do all the time. We carry a long list of ‘should’ items around with us all day, and sometimes all night, as if we are carrying shackles around our feet.
I don’t mean one of those ‘I have to meditate for 20 minutes every day to have self-love’. No, no… if you choose to fit this into your day, then great! But when I say just breathe, I mean literally that just breathe. Breathing is something that we do passively whilst our thoughts run away with us, but instead we can actively focus on our breath. We can focus on it and no one knows we are even doing it. So, it’s a great tool when your mean friend pops up and all the ‘shoulds’ are going around in your head. Simply switch your attention to your breath. You could be walking down Main Street, driving your car or sitting at your desk and all you need to do is focus on breathing in and breathing out. This will help calm you and bring you into the moment of ‘now’ rather than thinking of the past or the future. 69
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sports
THE SCOREBOARD
Football is once again in the spotlight, with last year’s postponed European Football Championship currently underway. Euro 2020 (as it’s still being referred to) has been an impressive showcase for the sport and for a return to large-scale, outdoor spectator events.
T
he best, we hope, is yet to come with the final stages of the knockout phase not yet played at time of going to print – but before that, a look back at some of last month’s local action on (and away from) the rock. The women’s football season drew to a close with Lions Ladies taking top prize after Lynx forfeited the final game of the season with the league result already having been decided. The Lionesses add the 2020-21 league title to their collection – their second league win – and a number of players will be hoping that recent performances will have bolstered their chances of a call-up to the national side. And, on the national stage, no sooner had domestic seasons around Europe ended than the football world’s attention turned to internationals and the forthcoming Euros. Before that however, a round of friendlies saw Gibraltar’s squad first travel to Slovenia, with a somewhat unfamiliar line up facing off against a solid looking Slovenia side. The home team took the lead early on when Sporting’s Andraž Šporar slotted the ball past Coleing after GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
ten minutes, but Gibraltar were gifted an opportunity to respond just minutes later when Slovenia’s keeper inexplicably lashed out at Torrilla and conceded a penalty. The scene seemed to be set for Kenneth Chipolina to follow in the footsteps of older brother, Joseph – who has a match winning penalty to his name on the international stage – but it was not to be. Struck low and central, a trailing leg was enough for keeper Belec to keep the ball out. Gibraltar fans will have felt aggrieved that Belec was still on the field, having clearly struck Torrilla in the face with his hand when conceding the penalty, but to no avail. The rest of the game will be best forgotten by local fans – five further goals from Slovenia and a 6-0 final score reflected the home side’s dominance. It was across to Andorra for their next match a few days later and Julio Ribas’s men will have wanted to focus their efforts on not conceding after the shaky defensive display in Slovenia. They did manage to close out the opposition this time round and kept the clean sheet, but it was another fruitless affair up front
with no goals for Gibraltar, in what turned out to be a somewhat tepid performance. Tjay De Barr found himself with too much to do up front and struggled with a lack of service and a resolute defensive line in front of him. Manager Ribas would’ve been quick to point out that several key players were unavailable to him, and as he often states, this is a squad undergoing what will likely be a lengthy transition period. The gap between the promising youngsters and the veterans in the twilight of their careers still needs to be bridged. Speaking of veterans, the evergreen Roy Chipolina earned his 50th cap for Gibraltar against Andorra. He follows Liam Walker as the second player to reach this milestone in the UEFA era, although both Walker and the 38-year-old Chipolina do have many more appearances for Gibraltar under their belt from pre-2013. That wrapped up the 11-aside action for the national side, who are next in action in September for their World Cup qualifiers. 71
wine
PINK OR ROSÉ? TAKE YOUR PINK
BY ANDREW LICUDI DIPWSET
P
ink or Rosé wine has for some reason always been associated with summer. Some blame the French who apparently love their red so much that even when temperatures soar, they still insist on wines with a modicum of their beloved red wines. (Pink wines are generally made from red grape varieties, hence their colour.) It would seem that rosé wines are now as seasonal as port at Christmas or Champagne at birthdays and its now not only the French but the whole world which has followed suit. It would seem summer is now pink worldwide.
at every possible occasion. It must have been very bad company he was sharing his last Vega Sicilia because he moved on to the next world whilst there was still wine left in the bottle. Hopefully he’s now drinking Mateus with an
Better Mateus Rose in good company than Vega Sicila in bad.
angel or two and not Vega Sicilia in lesser company. If Mateus Rose is available everywhere at very modest prices, Viña Tondonia Gran Reserva Rose from Rioja is most certainly not. It’s eye-wateringly expensive and one of the most difficult wines to get hold of even if you are prepared to pay the going rate, perhaps because only 20,000 bottles are made and then not every year (the latest vintage released is the 2010). It’s rare
If I asked you what the world’s most famous rosé wine is, you’d probably have difficulty naming any pink wines off the top of your head let alone the most famous in the world. Yet the answer is staring you right in the face as there are few of us who have never tasted Mateus Rose one of the wine world’s most ubiquitous wines. In my opinion it deserves that particular accolade after all being slightly fizzy, reminiscent of sweet strawberries and undoubtedly refreshing, is a wine I still would be very happy to drink on a hot afternoon. “Better Mateus Rose in good company than Vega Sicilia in bad,” as a good friend of mine was fond of saying 72
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wine Tondonia, might have a bottle squirreled away somewhere, hopefully at the release price and not the going price in the secondary market - no harm in asking!
enough that even well-known critics are unable to rate each, and every vintage presumably like us, they too have problems getting hold of the wine. I have been lucky enough to taste the wine on three separate occasions the last being the 2010 vintage only a few days ago (it paired well with Chinese chicken and vegetables). Like all the Tondonias, it is a complex wine with superlatives like cedar, wood and orange peel easily attributable to the wine. It has an extremely long finish. I expect the 2010 to be still drinkable for a decade or two. It might be worthwhile, should you be interested, to see if Anglo Hispano, the local agents for GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
There are other pink wines considered world class. One I have tasted recently is Tempier Rose 2020 from the Bandol region of France which sells out within weeks of release. Unfortunately, the wine is still unapproachable and almost verging on the unpleasant, tasting rough and unpolished. Opening a 2020 turned out to be premature! I’m told Tempier Rose take a few years before they are drinkable, but I’m assured by friends, who know the wine well, it will be worth the wait. Luckily there are no shortages of classy pinks from Spain. Rioja is a great hunting ground for pinks particularly as many producers there are now turning to their original roots and making wines from traditional grape varieties as opposed to international grapes like Chardonnay which was all the rage a few years ago. There’s no doubt there are a great number of yet ‘undiscovered’ pinks in Spain. This is good news for us in
Luckily there are no shortages of classy pinks from Spain. Gib, as Spanish wines are hugely more accessible than pinks from Provence or other French regions. Below are some Spanish pinks or rosados worthwhile looking out for. Ramon Bilbao Lalomba Rosado – Rioja ***** CUNE Rosé-Rioja *** Marquez de Caceres Rosado – Rioja *** Alma Tobia Rosado – Rioja ***** Dominio del Aguila Rosado – Ribera del Duero ***** Scala Dei Rosado – Priorat ***** Zárate Rose – Rias Baixas ***** Since pink wines are made with red grape varieties and some skin contact is required to extract some colour during fermentation it will, inevitably, also extract tannins generally avoided like the plague when making white wines. This will make most pink wines taste quite different from whites; the deeper the colour the more likely they are to have some red wine characteristics. Perhaps that's why some pink wine can have such long lives ahead of them. I can think of few things better than a glass of well-chilled rose at some chiringuito by the beach waiting for a tomato salad and grilled sardines to arrive at the table. 73
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GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JUNE 2021
“I am so grateful to be sober – and that my life’s worth something again.”
Former police officer Niall, now 60, lived a life of drinking and cheating in his marriages. Until one day he was given a final ultimatum that totally transformed his life… “I worked in the Royal Navy, the police and for the ambulance service. I married at 18 and had a son. As a father I was useless, more interested in myself, and so I neglected my responsibilities. My childhood was unhappy. Many nights I sat outside pubs listening to my parents living it up inside. Aged 12, they broke up. I stayed with my father in London – an easy choice as I always felt a failure around my mother and she never said she loved me. I just wanted to grow up quickly and get away, so I no longer felt different, less than and not part of anything: a massive hole in an unhappy life. I was drinking regularly from about 12, and even by my early days in the navy I was told by an officer that my drinking was a concern. I took no notice. In fact, I drank throughout my working life, everything revolved around it. I stank of booze most days. During my marriages I had a number of affairs and sex became a drug as well. I didn’t care who I hurt as long as I felt better, although I remember little as my blackouts were regular. I could turn anything into an addiction, including gambling on fruit machines. Inside, I hated myself and drank more to
try dealing with that. I never thought at any time I had a problem. But one day my second wife said if I didn’t sort out my drinking she was leaving. She gave me the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) number. The man I spoke to visited me and we chatted for six hours. I heard that he used to drink like me, but had been sober for nearly 50 years now! I walked unsteadily into my first AA meeting and don’t remember much of what was said – but was shocked to see happy faces and people who were welcoming and loving. I knew I’d found somewhere safe, where I belonged. Nobody judged, we were equals with the same disease – and so my recovery began that day in 2012. Since then, I have never had another drink. Nowadays I actually like the person I see in the mirror. The only requirement to visit an AA meeting is a desire to stop drinking. If you feel you want help, call the confidential helpline, just like I did several years ago. Then you will know that you’re not alone.” AA is located along the entire Costa del Sol and there is a meeting with friendly people who will understand your problems somewhere near you every day.
CALL THE AA HELPLINE FOR SUPPORT: +350 200 73774 Gibraltar or +34 600 379 110 Costa del Sol or visit the website for help & information: www.aacostadelsol.com.
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
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beauty
CONFESSIONS OF A BEAUTY ADDICT How much sunscreen is enough sunscreen? BY ALEX ORFILA
W
e are truly blessed to live in a place which is graced by such glorious weather, however, with endless sunshine also comes the increased risk of sun burn. Especially in the summer months when UV levels really peak. We all know how important it is to wear SPF and to protect ourselves when out in the sun. After all, we now live in an age where there is an increased awareness of the danger posed by an overexposure to UV rays. Not only is protection from the sun the most valuable antiaging step you can introduce into your skincare routine but it will also be protecting you from other more sinister risks such as skin cancer. So how can we best protect ourselves from harmful UV rays? GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
Slapping on the SPF is of course the best place to start but that in itself can be a bit of a mine field. Granted, the fact that we should be wearing SPF is well ingrained in us but what isn’t so clear is how much we should be applying. So how much sunscreen really is enough sunscreen?
What Does the ‘Factor’ Mean? SPF literally stands for Sun Protection Factor. A common mistake lies in just relying on the level of factor you are using. It is true that a factor 50 will offer more protection than a factor 15, but what many do not realise is that the factors refer to the amount of time you are protected. The higher the factor, the longer you will be protected for. This is calculated by taking into account how long it takes a patch of skin
to burn without SPF (which can very from person to person) and multiplying it by the level of your SPF. For example, if someone is likely to burn after ten minutes out in the sun, wearing an SPF 20 would protect them over three hours (200 minutes). Although this might sound like an adequate level of protection the truth is that it is not safe to rely on the level of the SPF factor alone as the likelihood is that this is not being applied and re-applied in the necessary levels to offer flawless protection. If we are being painfully honest, how methodical are most of us when it comes to re-applying? When you team this with sweat, sand and swims it is highly unlikely all of your sunscreen actually stayed on for the length of period for which it was meant to offer protection. For this reason, skincare experts 77
beauty usually advise that as a rule of thumb you always opt for at least an SPF 30, upping this to SPF 50 in the summer months.
A Question of Application The secret lies in the levels of application and re-application. To get the level of protection advertised on a bottle you would have to replicate how the sunscreen is tested in the lab. This is usually 2 milligrams per square centimetre and dermatologists predict that most of us are probably only applying about half of that. Thus, slashing the protection promised by the ‘factor’ on the bottle in half. This is why re-applying throughout the day is so important.
places like your ears and elbows when applying sunscreen so try and keep those in mind too.
Sunscreen in Makeup A common myth is that the SPF in your foundation or tinted moisturiser has you covered. Yes, it offers added protection, but it should only be considered as a bonus and should not be relied on as your only defence against sun exposure. When we consider that it takes 2 milligrams per square centimetre of SPF to offer the correct level of protection it very quickly becomes clear that it is almost impossible to apply this amount of foundation. To even get remotely close to that amount
How methodical are most of us when it comes to re-applying? your makeup would really have to be caked on and who would want to put that to the test? When it comes to sunscreen more really is more. Here are some of my favourite high-factor picks: Garnier Ambre Solaire SPF 50 50ml, £2.99
The body is divided by dermatologists into eleven sections, this is known as the ‘rule of 9’s’. This is typically used to estimate areas of the skin which are affected by burns and other skin conditions. Each of the eleven body parts make up about 9% of your total body surface. Your head, neck and face is one area for example, your left arm is another, then your right, and so on. It is estimated that you need at least two ‘fingertip units’ of sunscreen for each body area to ensure adequate protection. The ‘fingertip unit’ is calculated by literally pouring a line of sunscreen from the base to the tip of your index or middle fingers. Two fingertip units are recommended for each of the eleven sections. For an entire adult body this equals to about one shot glass full of sunscreen. It is also way too easy to neglect 78
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
beauty Garnier Ambre Solaire’s Hydra 24 range is packed with shea butter to keep your skin hydrated and nourished as well as protected. I love that it works well for both face and body. I always pick up a travel size so I can ensure there is always a tube in my bag for on the go top ups. Piz Buin Moisturising Sun Lotion SPF 30 200ml, £6.50 This classic brand is my go-to SPF for long beach days. I go through bottles of the stuff in Summer and the budget price makes that less painful! Its highly effective, nonsticky and also moisturising.
who would want to put that to the test? Nuxe Sun Melting Spray for Face and Body SPF 50, £21 If you want a sunscreen that screams holiday then Nuxe will definitely deliver. They have a range which caters to both body and face with scents that will transport you to more tropical climes.
Heliocare Ultra Gel, £24 This is my favourite facial spf brand to wear all year round. It’s lightweight, non-greasy and leaves a subtle glow. It also sits fabulously under makeup.
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fashion
SUIT YOURSELF
I don’t know about you, but summer has caught me completely off guard this year. While the first half of 2021 seemed to drag on into infinity, the scorching weather has struck us at last, and I must say I don’t feel all too prepared for it. While international holidays to far-flung exotic destinations may still feel relatively out of the question, we are immensely fortunate here in Gibraltar (and up the coast) to basically live in a holiday destination all year round. Never have I appreciated our beach-ridden and levanter-inducing rock more than this year! BY JULIA COELHO
F
illed with a sense of optimism for the next few months ahead, I must say I have indulged in some minor retail therapy over the past couple of weeks, specifically and pretty much only in the swimwear category. The high street has really upped its swimwear game recently, offering an expansive array of luxe-looking pieces for very reasonable prices. Swimsuit trends can be fickle little things, and year after year, we watch as the fashion industry churns out one new disposal style after the other. Although this summer is no different, there are also plenty of fantastic highquality options with real staying power, and these are the ones I’m always on the lookout for. Now more than ever, many of us realise the value of investing in timeless pieces that allow us to streamline our wardrobes, rather than expand them mindlessly, only to either hoard or throw things away next season after one single use. I’m personally looking for mood-
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boosting shades and styles that will add a little extra joy to my day, and it appears that most high-street shops and designers are also headed in this direction. In terms of silhouettes, it appears we're seeing a shift towards versatility, and when it comes to fabric, something sparkly is definitely on the horizon. So whether you're planning a trip to the Algarve or even the local park or simply your sunny balcony, below are just a few of the swimwear trends you're set to see this summer.
COLOUR This summer’s swimwear offerings are full of bold colours - not highlighter neons by any means - but vibrant and joyful summery colours like sunny oranges and cool lavenders. While I’ve always been attracted to bold prints, this summer I’m much more taken by the gorgeous rainbow of pastel hues. GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
They add a luxe touch to any swimsuit, without a doubt. SHIMMER Sheen and shimmer are absolutely everywhere at the moment, and make for a glam yet subtle update to the normal matte fabrics we’re used to seeing. They add a luxe touch to any swimsuit, without a doubt. LEFT PAGE: SEAMLESS BANDEAU BIKINI TOP, OUT FROM UNDER, £18.00 TOP: RIBBED PADDED BELTED SWIMSUIT, MARKS & SPENCER, £29.50 BOTTOM: LUREX SWIMSUIT WITH BOWS, MANGO, £69.99 MIDDLE: MACI - FAWN SPARKLE, TRIANGL, $89.00 RIGHT: GATHERED PRINT SWIMSUIT, MANGO, £49.99
PRINTS While colour blocks and shimmers are the major show-stoppers this summer, there’s really no avoiding prints, ever, especially this year. Retro, wallpaper-inspired florals entail pretty much what it says on the tin; any floral print that looks like it came straight out of the 60s, 70s, or 80s. It somehow feels oddly refreshing after the last few 81
years of barely-there thong bikinis.
SHAPE For us ladies, it looks like low rise bikinis are on the out, as high-waisted options are set to make a big comeback at last. V-shape cuts are some of my personal favourites and are undoubtedly one of the most flattering shapes for all body types. As we all know too well, swimsuits are not a one-style-fitsall sort of situation, but multi-tie styles are definitely some of the most adaptable to different body types. Precisely because you can wear them in several different ways, the bonus is that it feels like you've invested in multiple pieces; it’s a win-win!
SHORTS!
TOP LEFT: SWIM SHORTS WITH DARK BASED FLORAL PRINT SHORT LENGTH, ASOS DESIGN, £16.00 BOTTOM LEFT: INTELLIGENCE SWIM SHORTS WITH HAWAIIAN PRINT IN WHITE, JACK & JONES, £15.00 RIGHT: HIGH WAIST BIKINI BOTTOMS, ZARA, £14.99
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I really didn’t see this one coming for us ladies, but bikini shorts are in this summer! These used to be all the rage in the late 90s and early 00s, and being a bit of a tomboy, this was pretty much all I wore in my adolescence. Unexpected for sure, but I guess comfort really is permeating into all aspects of the fashion industry, as promised! GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JUNE 2021
TOP: MIX AND MATCH HIGH LEG BIKINI BOTTOM WITH GOLD RING DETAIL IN BLACK, SOUTH BEACH, £14.00 TOP MIDDLE: ISLE BIKINI BOTTOMS, FREE PEOPLE, $138.00 RIGHT: CELESE - APRICOT RIB, TRIANGL, $69.00 CIRCLE: TEXTURED BIKINI TOP, ZARA, £19.99 BOTTOM RIGHT: MALADY FLORALPRINT BANDEAU BIKINI TOP, FAITHFULL THE BRAND + NET SUSTAIN, £91.00
ACCESSORIES & MUST-HAVES As I approach my 30s, I’m always on the lookout for funky yet utilitarian beach bags that allow for my newfound organisational needs, as well as all my little beachy gadgets and must-haves. Long gone are the days where I’d set off to the beach empty-handed GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
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fashion with my phone and keys in a tiny drawstring sports bag. If you’re a bit like me, Zara will become your best friend this year, trust. Bags and nifty pocketed towel bags aside, you won’t catch me anywhere without either my Chilly’s or Straits Apparel bottle. There’s nothing worse than sitting in the sweltering heat all day and taking a much-needed swig out of your bottle and it being warm! We pretty much all have them these days, but it’s definitely worth investing in a bottle that will keep your drink cool (or hot, if beach tea is your thing) all day long! It’s the little things that truly make all the difference. TOP LEFT: CHILLY'S BOTTLE, INMOTION GIBRALTAR, £25.00 TOP RIGHT: STRIPED WRAP TOWEL WITH CROSSBODY STRAP, ZARA, £25.99 MIDDLE LEFT: WATER BOTTLE - MATTE WHITE, STRAITS APPAREL, £12.00 MIDDLE RIGHT: STRAW BAG BASKET BAG IN NATURAL, MANGO, £35.99 BOTTOM LEFT: MULTICOLOURED WOVEN TOTE BAG, ZARA, £29.99 BOTTOM RIGHT: PICNIC CASE, ZARA, £79.99
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GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
Live in the Sunshine
PISTACHIO AND BANANA ‘ICE-CREAM’ Recipe by The Gibraltar Vegan, follow instagram.com/thegibraltarvegan for updates
It’s summer, a time when adults want to enjoy frozen goods like ice-cream. This recipe turns that ice-cream into a healthy and nutritious snack with all the taste. With this in mind, it’s also a great way of tricking the kids into eating fruit and nuts. This ice-cream contains three ingredients and if you are not a fan of pistachio, change it for something you are a fan of, like dried apricots, a tablespoon of 86
coconut or pecan nuts. INGREDIENTS •
2 ripened bananas
•
50g pistachios
•
4tbps almond milk
METHOD 1. Peel the bananas and chop them up. Place in the freezer overnight
or until frozen 2. Roughly chop up the pistachios. This makes it less challenging for your blender 3. Place the frozen banana and the pistachios into the blender and then pour the almond milk in on top 4. Blend 5. Scoop out into whatever moulds you have and place it in the freezer until frozen GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
SHAKSHOUKA Gibraltar’s middle-eastern cultural connections takes form in this Israeli inspired dish known as Shakshouka. Usually served as a hot breakfast dish or light lunch, this dish, meaning “all mixed up” is best enjoyed with a roll or a few slices of bread to soak up all that lovely sauce.
METHOD:
Dice your onion into little pieces
Recipe featured in the Mama Lotties Cookbook - www.mamalotties.com
and fry until soft, do the same with your peppers and add to the frying pan. Stir everything together, frying until soft and tender. Once these are ready, add the chickpeas to your red onions and
INGREDIENTS:
peppers. Fry until these reduce and soften. Pour in the tomate
•
2 Eggs
•
600g tomate triturado (passata)
•
2 – 3 Small tomatoes
•
1 Green bell pepper
satisfied.
•
1/2 Small red onion
•
Salt
Stir the ingredients in the pan and
•
Pepper
over the tomato mixture. Transfer
•
Pimenton dulce
the pan to the oven and cook at
•
Coriander
•
100g soaked chickpeasr
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
triturado and season with salt, a pinch of sugar and a teaspoon of pimenton dulce, taste until
crack two eggs throughout the pan
160°C until the eggs cook. Season with a sprinkle of coriander.
Mama's Calentita, sent in by @RhydonsKitchen. One of our readers has had a go at a past Gib Mag recipe - what do you think? Send in your snaps to editor@thegibraltarmagazine.com for a chance to be featured!
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NON-URGENT CALLS: Ambulance Station 200 75728 Business Information Financial Serv. Commission Tel: 200 40283/4 Chamber of Commerce Tel: 200 78376 Federation Small Business Tel: 200 47722 Company Registry.Tel: 200 78193 Useful Numbers Airport (general info.) . Tel: 200 12345 Hospital, St Bernards. . Tel: 200 79700 Weather information. . Tel: 5-3416 Frontier Queue Update Tel: 200 42777
The Gibraltar Magazine is published and produced by Rock Publishing Ltd, Gibraltar. Tel: (+350) 200 77748
Gibraltar Museum Tel: 200 74289 18/20 Bomb House Lane 10am-6pm (Sat 10am-2pm). Admission: Adults £2/Children under 12 - £1. Exhibitions also at Casemates gallery.
Police 200 72500
Gibraltar Garrison Library Tel: 200 77418 2 Library Ramp Mon-Fri: 9am-5pm. Free Library tour offered every Friday at 11am. chris.tavares@gibraltargarrisonlibrary.gi Registry Office Tel: 200 72289 It’s possible to get married within 48 hours. A fact taken advantage of by stars such as Sean Connery & John Lennon. Rock Tours by Taxi Tel: 200 70052 As well as offering normal fares, taxis provide Rock Tours taking in the Upper Rock, Europa Point etc. John Mackintosh Hall Tel: 200 75669 Includes cafeteria, theatre, exhibition rooms and library. 308 Main Street 9.30am - 11pm Mon-Fri.
Gibraltar Services Police Emergency Nos: (5) 5026 / (5) 3598 Gibraltar Public Holidays 2020 New Year’s Day Commonwealth Day Good Friday Easter Monday
Monday 1st Jan Monday 09th Mar Friday 10th Apr Monday 13nd Apr
Workers Memorial Day Tuesday 28th Apr May Day
Friday 1st May
75th anniversary of VE Day Friday 8th May Spring Bank Holiday
Monday 25th May
Queen’s Birthday
Monday 15th June
Late Summer Bank Holiday
Monday 31st Aug
Gibraltar National Day Tuesday 10th Sept Christmas Day Boxing Day
Friday 25th Dec Thursday 28th Dec
SUPPORT GROUPS ADHD Gibraltar adhdgibraltar@gmail.com facebook.com/ADHDGibraltar/ Alcoholics Anonymous meet 7pm Tues & Thurs at Nazareth House Tel: 200 73774. A Step Forward support for single, separated, divorced/widowed people, meet 8pm Mon at St Andrew’s Church. Mummy & Me Breastfeeding Support Group those who are pregnant, breastfeeding or have breastfed to get together for coffee / support. Partners and older children welcome. Meets 1st Wed / month at Chilton Court Community Hall at 1.30pm. Enquiries and support 54014517. Childline Gibraltar confidential phone line for children in need. Freephone 8008 - 7 days a week 5pm - 9pm Citizens’ Advice Bureau Open Mon-Thur 9:30am-4:00pm, Fri 9:30am- 3:30pm. Tel: 200 40006 Email: info@cab.gi or visit at 10 Governor’s Lane. Free & confidential, impartial & independent advice and info. COPE Support group for people with Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia or Rheumatoid Arthritis. Meetings at Catholic Community Centre Book
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Shop at 7.30pm first Thur of each month. Tel: 200 51469 Email: copeadsupport@hotmail.com Dignity At Work Now Confidential support and advice for those who are being bullied at work. Tel: 57799000. Families Anonymous Support group for relatives and friends concerned about the use of drugs or related behavioural problems. Meet weekly on Thurs at 9pm at Family and Community Centre, Mid Harbours Estate, Bishop Caruana Road. 54007676 or 54014484. Gamblers Anonymous Telephone: 54001520 Gibraltar Cardiac Rehabilitation and Support Group meets on the first Tues of every month at 8.30pm at John Mac Hall, except for Jul & Aug. Gibraltar Dyslexia Support Group 72 Prince Edwards Rd Tel: 200 78509 Mobile: 54007924 website: dyslexia.gi Gibraltar Hearing Issues & Tinnitus Association Voicemail: (+350) 200 66755, Text Message (SMS): (+350) 54066055, Correspondence Charity P.O. Box 90220, Gibraltar. Email: info@ ghita.gi, Facebook: Gibraltar Hearing Issues & Tinnitus Association (GHITA & BSL Club), Our support group meets the first Monday of every month at Suite 3, Kings Bastion Leisure Centre as from 5pm.
Gibraltar Marriage Care Free relationship counselling, including pre-marriage education (under auspices of Catholic Church, but open to all). Tel: 200 71717. Gibraltar Society for the Visually Impaired Tel: 200 50111 (24hr answering service). Hope miscarriage support Tel: 200 41817. Mummy & Me Breastfeeding Support: Meets every Thursday 12:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Narcotics Anonymous Tel: 200 70720 Parental Support Group helping parents and grandparents with restrictive access to their children and grandchildren. Tel: 200 46536, 200 76618, or 54019602. Psychological Support Group, PO Box 161, Nazareth House. Meet Tuesdays at 7pm, Fridays 8pm. Tel: Yolanda 54015553 With Dignity Gibraltar support for separated, divorced/widowed or single people. Meet Weds 9pm, Catholic Community Centre, Line Wall Rd. Outings/activities. Women in Need Voluntary organisation for all victims of domestic violence. Refuge available. Tel: 200 42581 (24 hrs).
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
clubs & activities Arts & Crafts Cross Stitch Club: John Mackintosh Hall, 1st Floor, Mon 6-8pm, fee £1. Gibraltar Arts & Crafts Association: Children: Mon&Fri 12.30-2pm, Mon-Fri 3.45-5.15pm Adults: Wed 5.45-7.15, Sat 10.30 to 12.30, Tel: 20073865 email: gibartsandcrafts@hotmail.com Knit and Natter Group: Tues 11am-3pm, Thurs 5.30-7.30pm, at Arts & Crafts Shop, Casemates balcony. Free to join and refreshments provided. Tel: 20073865. The Arts Centre: Prince Edward’s Road, Art classes for children and adults. For more info call Tel: 200 79788. The Fine Arts Association Gallery: At Casemates. Open 10am-2pm, 3-6pm Mon-Fri, Sat 11am-1pm. The Arts Society Gibraltar: Monthly illustrated talks open to the public. Registration from 6:30pm every 3rd Wednesday of the month. Guest fee £12. We meet at The Garrison Library. Contact gibraltar@theartssociety.org or Claus Olesen on 54036666. Website with all informaiton is gibraltar.theartssociety.org Board Games Calpe Chess Club & Junior Club: meets in Studio 1, John Mackintosh Hall Thursday, Juniors: 5p.m. - 7 p.m. / Tuesday & Thursday 7p.m. - 10:30 The Gibraltar Scrabble Club: Meets on Tuesdays at 3pm. Tel: Vin 20073660 or Roy 20075995. All welcome. The Subbuteo Club: Meets in Charles Hunt Room, John Mackintosh Hall. Dance Adult Dance Classes: Wed evenings at Kings Bastion Leisure Centre from 7-8.30pm. Contact Dilip on 200 78714. Art in Movement Centre: Hip-hop/Break Dance, Contemporary Dance, Pilates, Capoeira, Acrobatics, Street Kids & Tods, Modern Dance. Performance and Film opportunities. Judo & Jujitsu Classes: Tue/ Thur with Sensei Conroy. All ages. Budokai Martial Arts Centre, Wellington Front. www. artinmovement.net FB: Art In Movement A.I.M, tel 54025041 or 54007457 Ballet, Modern Theatre, Contemporary & Hip-hop: weekly at Danza Academy. Training from 3 years to Adult Advanced. 68/2 Prince Edward’s Rd Tel: 54027111. Bellydance Classes, all levels, Tue 8-9pm at the Ocean Village Gym (non–members welcome). Contact 54005593. DSA Old & Modern Sequence Dancing: Sessions at Central Hall Fri 8.30pm, beginners 8pm. Tel: 200 78901 or tony@ gibraltar.gi Everybody welcome. Modern & Latin American Sequence Dancing: Mon at Catholic Community Centre 8pm. Tel. Andrew 200 78901. Modern, Contemporary, Lyrical, Flexibility, Hip Hop & Dance Theatre: Classes weekly at Urban Dance Studio, 2 Jumpers Bastion. Tel: Yalta 54012212 or Jolene 54015125. Rockkickers Linedance Club: Governor’s Meadow 1st School. www.rockkickers.com Salsa Gibraltar Salsa: Tues at Laguna Social Club, Laguna Estate. Beginners 7-8.30pm. Intermediates 8.30-10pm. Tel: Mike 54472000 or info@salsagibraltar.com Zumba Classes at Urban Dance: Jumpers Bastion, with certified instructor Tyron Walker. Tel: 20063959 or 54012212 or Twitter: @UrbanDanceGib History & Heritage The Gibraltar Heritage Trust: Main Guard, 13 John Mackintosh Sq. Tel: 200 42844. The Gibraltar Classic Vehicle Association: Dedicated to the preservation of Rock’s transport/motoring heritage. Assists members in restoration / maintenance of classic vehicles. New members welcome. Tel: 200 44643. Garrison Library Tours: at 11am on Fri, duration 1h 50mins. Tel: 20077418. History Alive: Historical re-enactment parade. Main Street up to Casemates Square every Sat at 12 noon. Music Gibraltar National Choir and Gibraltar Junior National Choir: Rehearses at the Holy Trinity Cathedral. Tel: 54831000. The Calpe Band: Mon & Wed. For musicians of brass/woodwind instruments of all standards/ages/abilities 7-9pm. Tel: 54017070 or thecalpeband@gmail.com
Jazz Nights: Thurs at 9pm at O’Callaghan Eliott Hotel. Tel: 200 70500. Outdoor Activities The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Gibraltar: Exciting self-development programme for young people worldwide equipping them with life skills to make a difference to themselves, their communities and the world. Contact: Award House, North Mole Road, PO Box: 1260. mjpizza@ gibtelecom.net, www.thedukes.gi. Social Clubs The Rotary Club of Gibraltar meets the Rock Hotel, 7pm Tuesday evenings. Guests welcome. For contact or info www.rotaryclubgibraltar.com Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes: (Gibraltar Province) meets RAOB Club, 72/9 Prince Edward’s Road - Provincial Grand Lodge, Thu/month, 7.30pm. William Tilley 2371, Thurs 8.30pm. Buena Vista 9975, monthly, Social Lodge. www.akearn1.wix. com/raob-gibraltar, william.tilley.lodge@ hotmail.co.uk, Clive, tel: 58008074 Special Interest Clubs & Societies Creative Writers Group: meets up on Tuesday mornings at 10.30 in O’Reilley’s Irish Bar and it is free to attend. Tel: Carla 54006696. Gibraltar Book Club: For info Tel: Parissa 54022808. Gibraltar Horticultural Society: meets 1st Thurs of month 6pm, J.M. Hall. Spring Flower Show, slide shows, flower arrangement demos, outings to garden centres, annual Alameda Gardens tour. All welcome. Gibraltar Photographic Society: Meets on Mondays at 7:00 p.m. Wellington Front. Induction courses, talks, discussions, competitions etc. For details contact the secretary on, leslinares@gibtelecom.net Harley Davidson Owners’ Club: www.hdcgib.com Lions Club of Gibraltar: Meets 2nd and 4th Wed of the month at 50 Line Wall Road. www.lionsclubofgibraltar.com St John’s Ambulance: Adult Volunteers Training Sessions from 8-10pm on Tues. Tel: 200 77390 or training@stjohn.gi The Royal British Legion: For info or membership contact the Branch Secretary 20074604 or write to PO Box 332. UN Association of Gibraltar: PO Box 599, 22a Main Street. Tel: 200 52108. Sports Supporters Clubs Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Club: Meets at Star Bar, Parliament Lane, when Spurs games are televised - call prior to matches to check game is televised. Great food for a lunch if KO is early or an early supper if the game is later. Gibraltar Arsenal Supporters Club: Meets match days upstairs at Time Out Café, Eurotowers. Gooners of all ages welcome. For info/news visit www.GibGooners.com Tel: 54010681 (Bill) or 54164000 (John). Gibraltar Hammers: Meets on match days at the Victoria Stadium Bar, Bayside Road. All league games are shown live. All West Ham supporters and their families are welcome. For details visit www.gibraltarhammers.com or gibraltarhammers@hotmail.com Leeds United Gibraltar Supporters Club. Meet at The Trafalgar Sports Bar 1 Rosia Road when live matches are on. All Leeds United supporters and their families are welcome. Join Leeds United Gibraltar Supporters club at: facebook.com/luscgib Sports & Fitness Artistic Gymnastics: Gibraltar Artistic Gymnastics Association. Tel: Angela 200 70611 or Sally 200 74661. Athletics: Gibraltar Amateur Athletics Association holds competitions through year for juniors, adults and veterans. Two main clubs (Calpeans 200 71807, Lourdians 200 75180) training sessions at Victoria Stadium. Badminton: Recreational badminton weekdays at Victoria Stadium (Tel: 200 78409 for allocations). Gibraltar Badminton Association (affiliated to BWF& BE) junior club/tournaments, senior leagues/ recreational. www.badmintongibraltar.com Ballet Barre Fitness: Adults on Wed 10am & Fri 6pm at The Arts Centre. Tel: 54033465 or pilatesgibraltar@hotmail.com Basketball: Gibraltar Amateur Basketball Association (affiliated FIBA) leagues/ training
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
for minis, passarelle, cadets, seniors and adults at a variety of levels. Tel: John 200 77253, Randy 200 40727. Boxing: Gibraltar Amateur Boxing Association (member IABA) gym on Rosia Rd. Over 13s welcome. Tuition with ex-pro boxer Ernest Victory. Tel: 56382000 or 20042788. Cheerleading: Gibraltar Cheerleading Association, girls and boys of all ages. Cheerleading and street cheer/hip-hop at Victoria Stadium. Recreational / competitive levels. Tel: 58008338. Canoeing: Gibraltar Canoeing Association. Tel: Nigel 200 52917 or Arturo 54025033. Cricket: Gibraltar Cricket, National Governing Body & Associate Member of ICC. Governs International & Domestic Men’s, Women’s, Boys’ & Girls’ cricket- league & cup competitions and in-school coaching. www.gibraltarcricket.com, info@gibcricket. com, Twitter: @Gibraltar_Crick Cycling: Gibraltar Cycling Association various cycling tours. Darts: Gibraltar Darts Association (full member of WDF & affiliate of BDO). We cater for men, ladies & youth who take part in leagues, competitions and a youth academy for the correct development of the sport. Tel: Darren 54027171 Secretary, Alex 54021672 Youth Rep, Justin 54022622 President. Email: info@ gibraltardarts.com Football: Gibraltar Football Association leagues/competitions for all ages OctoberMay. Futsal in summer, Victoria Stadium. Tel: 20042941 www.gibraltarfa.com Gaelic Football Club (Irish sport): Males any age welcome. Get fit, play sport, meet new friends, travel around Spain/Europe and play an exciting and competitive sport. Training every Wed on the MOD pitch on Devil’s Tower Road at 7pm. Andalucia League with Seville and Marbella to play matches home and away monthly. Visit www.gibraltargaels. com or secretary.gibraltar.europe@gaa.ie Hockey: Gibraltar Hockey Association (members FIH & EHF) high standard competitions/training for adults/juniors. Tel: Eric 200 74156 or Peter 200 72730 for info. Iaido: teaches the Japanese sword (Katana), classes every week. www.iaidogibraltar.com Ice Skating: Gibraltar Rock Stars Figure Skating Club lessons every Tuesday evening & Saturday morning, all levels including adults. Contact grsfsc@gmail.com or 58700000 Iwa Dojo, Kendo & Jujitsu: Classes every week, for kids/adults. Tel: 54529000 www. iwadojo.com or dbocarisa@iwadojo.com Judo and Ju-jitsu: Gibraltar Budokai Judo Association UKMAF recognised instructors for all ages and levels at Budokai Martial Arts Centre, Wellington Front. Tel: Charlie 20043319. Ju-jitsu: Gibraltar Ju-jitsu Academy training and grading for juniors/seniors held during the evening at 4 North Jumpers Bastion. Tel: 54011007. Karate-do Shotokai: Gibraltar Karate-do Shotokai Association - Karate training for junior & seniors at Clubhouse, Shotokai karate centre, 41H Town Range. Monday: 9:30 p.m. & Wednesday 9:45 p.m. Karate: Shotokan karate midday Mon beginners, other students 8.30pm. Thurs 8.30pm. In town at temporary dojo or privately by arrangement. Contact Frankie 54038127 or info@fhmedia.co.uk. Motorboat Racing: Gibraltar Motorboat Racing Association Tel: Wayne 200 75211. Muay Thai and Muay Boran Club: Tues & Thur at Boyd’s Kings Bastion Leisure Centre at 6:30pm, Tel: John – 54024707 FB: Gibraltar Muay Thai Netball: Gibraltar Netball Association (affiliated FENA & IFNA) competitions through year, senior/junior leagues. Tel: 20041874. Petanque: Gibraltar Petanque Association. New members welcome. Tel: 54002652. Pilates: Intermediate Pilates: Tues & Fri 9.30am, beginners Pilates: Fri 10.50am at the Shotokai Centre, 41H Town Range. Tel: 54033465 or pilatesgibraltar@hotmail.com Gibraltar Pool Association: (Member of the EBA) home and away league played on Thurs throughout the season, various tournaments played on a yearly basis both nationally and internationally, Tel: 56925000 gibpool@ gibtelecom.net, www.gib8ball.com
Rhythmic Gymnastics: Gibraltar Rhythmic Gymnastics Association runs sessions from 4 years of age, weekday evenings. Tel: 56000772 or Sally 200 74661. Rugby: Gibraltar Rugby caters for all ages from 4 years old to veterans (over 35’s). It organises competitions and sessions for Juniors; 4 x Senior Clubs; Veterans team; Touch Rugby and a Referees Society. Email admin@gibraltarrfu. com or visit www.gibraltarrfu.com Sailing: Gibraltar Yachting Association junior/ senior competitive programme (April - Oct) Tel: Royal Gibraltar Yacht Club at 200 78897. Shooting: Gibraltar Shooting Federation. Rifle, Europa Point Range (Stephanie 54020760); Clay pigeon, East Side (Harry 200 74354); Pistol, near Royal Naval Hospital (Louis 54095000). Snooker: Members of European Billiards & Snooker Association - facilities at Jumpers Bastion with 3 tables. Professional coaching for juniors/seniors. Organised leagues/ tournaments and participation in international competitions. Tel: 56262000 / 54000068, or info@gibraltarsnooker.com Squash: Gibraltar Squash Association, Squash Centre, South Pavilion Road (members WSF & ESF). Adult and junior tournaments and coaching. Tel: 200 44922. Sub-Aqua: Gibraltar Sub-Aqua Association taster dives for over 14s, tuition from local clubs. Voluntary sports clubs: Noah’s Dive Club and 888s Dive Club. Tel: 54991000. Commercial sports diving schools available. Time - Thursday 12:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.. Telephone, Jenssen Ellul - 54027122 Swimming: Gibraltar Amateur Swimming Association (member FINA & LEN) opens its pool for leisure swimming. Junior lessons, squad for committed swimmers, water polo. Pool open Mon&Thurs: 7-10am, 12.30-4pm. Tue, Wed, Fri: 7-10am, 12:30-5pm. Sat: 3-5pm. Sun: closed. Mon to Fri from 5-6pm groups training. 6-7.30 squad training. Mon, Wed, Fri 7.30-8.30 swimming joggers, Tues & Thurs 7:30-8:30 junior Water polo. Mon, Tues & Thurs 8:30-10pm Adult water polo. Tel: 200 72869. Table Tennis: Gibraltar Table Tennis Association training and playing sessions, Victoria Stadium, Tues 6-10pm and Thurs 8-11pm with coaching and league competition. Tel: 56070000 or 20060720. Taekwondo: Gibraltar Taekwondo Association classes/gradings Tel: Mari 20044142 or www. gibraltartaekwondo.org Tai Chi: Tai Chi for children and adults. MonThur 6.30-8pm at Kings Bastion Leisure Centre and Sat 9am-1pm at the Yoga Centre, 33 Town Range. Tel: Dilip 200 78714. Tennis and Paddle Tennis: Sandpits Club. Junior and adult training available. info : www. sandpits.club. Tel (Louis) 20077035 Ten-Pin Bowling: At King’s Bowl in the King’s Bastion Leisure Centre every day. Gibraltar Ten Pin Bowling (members FIQ & WTBA) leagues, training for juniors and squad. Tel: 200 52442. Triathlon: Hercules Triathlon Club organises swimming, running and cycling training sessions and competes regularly in Andalucia and Internationally. Contact chris.walker@york.gi or Facebook “Hercules Triathlon Club” Volleyball: Gibraltar Volleyball Association training, indoor leagues, beach volleyball competition, 3 v 3 competition, juniors and seniors. Tel: 54001973 or 54885000. Yoga: Integral Yoga Centre runs a full programme of classes from Mon-Fri at 33 Town Range. Tel: 200 41389. All welcome. Theatrical Groups Gibraltar Amateur Drama Association: Meet at Ince’s Hall Theatre Complex, 310 Main Street. Tel: 20042237. Trafalgar Theatre Group: Meets 2nd Wed of month, Garrison Library 8pm. All welcome.
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R U N W A Y
Victoria Stadium
3
4
REFERENDUM HOUSE ←→ SOUTH BARRACKS
Market Place loop (Eastbound)
http://www.gibraltarbuscompany.gi
Routes operated by
BOTH WORLDS ←→ ROSIA
Rosia loop (Northbound)
MARKET PLACE ←→ EUROPA POINT
3
Midtown loop (Southbound) Midtown loop (Northbound)
Ocean Village
Glacis Kiosk
WILLIS’s ROAD
MOUNT ALVERNIA ←→ ORANGE BASTION
AIRPORT/FRONTIER ←→ TRAFALGAR
EUROTOWERS ←→ ROSIA
http://citibus.gi
H
Bishop Canilla House
PLACES OF INTEREST
Coach Park
Cable Car
Airport
Lighthouse
Cathedral
Museum
BI
Taxis
Seaport
Castle
Beach
Stadium
Trafalgar Cemetery
QUEENSWAY
King’s Wharf
Queensway Quay
Referendum Gates
MAIN STREET
Commonwealth Park
Mid-Harbour Estate
Europort Building 8
A AN RU CA D OP A SH RO
Edinburgh House
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10
PRINCE EDWARDS ROAD
Eliott’s Way
48 BOTH WORLDS
ROSIA ROAD
Alameda Governor’s House Meadow House Victoria House
H KS RO AD
BA RR AC
Mount Pleasant
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New Harbours
Cumberland Jumpers Road Building
South Gates
New Mole House
Garrison Gym
© VK (2018)
ce ur So
Gibraltar Bus Network
rg p.o ma et tre ns pe O :
Rosia Plaza
North Gorge
Eliott’s Battery
March 2019 version : correct at time of going to print
Map of Gibraltar
University of Gibraltar
EUROPA POINT
2
Schematic Diagram of Bus Network (not to scale)
Buena Vista
Mosque
BUS NETWORK
GIBRALTAR
9 ROSIA ROSIA 4
Brympton
EUROPA ROAD
SOUTH BARRACKS
SOUTH PAVILION ROAD
St. Joseph’s School
MOUNT ALVERNIA
Schomberg
SO UT
Shorthorn Farm
7
R e s e r v e
Rock Old Hotel Casino
RED SANDS ROAD
Lower Flat Bastion Rd Wilson’s Gardiner’s Ramp Road
Morello’s Ramp
TRAFALGAR Convent Place
Blackstrap Cove
N a t u r e
FLAT BASTION ROAD
Sacred Heart Church
Flat Bastion Rd
R o c k
Caleta Hotel
RECLAMATION Cathedral ROAD Square
King’s Bastion
Arengo’s Palace
PORT St. Bernard’s EURO Hospital GASA Swimming Pool
ROAD
Varyl Begg Estate
MONTAGU GARDENS
9
British War Memorial
LINE WALL ROAD
BOTH WORLDS ←→ RECLAMATION ROAD
Artillery Arms
WILLIS’s ROAD
MAIN STREET MAIN STREET
Moorish Castle Estate
AIRPORT/FRONTIER ←→ RECLAMATION ROAD
Albert Risso House
Sir William Jackson Grove
Waterport Road
QUEENSWAY
Orange Bastion
Fishmarket Steps
1
William’s Way
U p p e r
SIR HERBERT MILES ROAD
1 2 MARKET PLACE
CASEMATES
Routes operated by
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Notre Dame School
Faulknor House
Constitution House
REFERENDUM HOUSE
WINSTON CHURCHILL AVENUE
Park & Ride
MARKET PLACE ←→ WILLIS’S ROAD
R U N W A Y
2
1
BUS ROUTES
5 10
AIRPORT/ FRONTIER
DEVIL’S TOWER RO AD
St. Theresa’s Church
GLACIS ROAD
Eastern Beach
CORRAL ROAD
WATERPORT ROAD
C A R C A B L E
Catalan Bay
N
restaurants, bars & pubs THE LOUNGE Stylish Lounge Gastro Bar on Queensway Quay Marina serving best quality food prepared by passionate, qualified chefs. Popular quiz on Sundays from 7pm and a relaxed friendly atmosphere. A separate Lounge Bar Area serving a wide range of hot drinks, wines, beers, spirits and cocktails at reasonable prices, with large TV’s for sports and events coverage. Open: 10am-late Mon - Sun Be sure to arrive early to ensure a seat! The Lounge, 17 Ragged Staff Wharf, Queensway Quay Marina Tel: 200 61118 info@thelounge.gi
06 Jul '21 to 12 Jul '21
DUTY PHARMACY OPENING HOURS
13 Jul '21 to 19 Jul '21
Monday to Friday (7pm to 9pm) Weekends & public holidays (11am to 1pm & 6pm to 8pm)
20 Jul '21 to 26 Jul '21
For updates, check facebook.com/PharmaGuide
27 Jul '21 to 02 Aug '21
Mill Pharmacy
21/21a City Mill Lane 200 50554
Wesley Pharmacy
299b Main Street 200 67567
Omega Pharmacy
13 Cooperage Lane 200 44544
Wesley Pharmacy
299b Main Street 200 67567
CHESS PUZZLE ANSWER: 30. …Rxh2 takes White out in one blow.
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
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GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
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14
22
1. & 4. English author of Brighton Rock etc (6,6)
11. Face guard (5)
12
13
18
DOWN
10. Sulked; motorised transport (5)
10 11
ACROSS
3
6
2
6
7 3
8 95
1.d4 c5 2.d5 d6 3.c4 e5 4.Nc3 g6 5.e4 Bh6
14. … Qh6 15.Nf3 Re8 16.Kb1 exf4 17.gxf4 b5!
BASMANIA!
BY GRANDMASTER RAY KEENE OBE The English international Master Michael Basman is one of the most original thinkers on the current chess scene. He specialises in almost mystical pawn sacrifices and edge of the board strategies which can confuse the strongest of opponents. Now his outlandish theories and best games have been anthologised in the new book U Cannot Be Serious! Avant Garde strategy in Chess by Michael Basman and Gerard Welling, published by Thinkers Publishing. This month I give a spectacular tactical win by Basman and a position, both arising from Basman’s cunning flank encroachments. White: Henrique Mecking Black: Michael Basman Hastings Tournament, Round 5, Hastings 1966/67 Benoni Defence 96
An original set-up from the player of the black pieces, against which Mecking – with his 14 years the youngest competitor in the tournament – does not find a refutation. 6.Bd3 Bxc1 7.Qxc1 a6 8.Nge2 Qh4 9.g3 Qh3 Black does not shy away from aggression. The early Queen sortie is quite reminiscent of similar ideas played by that great tactical magician Alexander Alekhine. 10.f4 Nd7 11.Qd2 Ngf6 12.O-O-O O-O Both sides know now, where to target their respective attacks. 13.Rdf1 Kg7 14.Ng1 Sharper is 14.f5.
Black sacrifices a pawn to activate both rooks. 18.cxb5 Nb6 19.Ng5 It is already difficult for White to let his pieces work together. 19. … Ra7 20.bxa6? Too dangerous. 20. … Bxa6 21.Bxa6 Rxa6 22.Nb5
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
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Now comes a typical Basman irruption, sacrificing material to sow confusion among the white ranks. It’s interesting that many of Basman’s most brilliant victories against high-class opposition came as Black. 22. … Rxe4! 23.Nxe4 Nxe4 24.Qe2 Nc4! 25.Ka1 Ned2 26.Na3? Basman’s next shot utterly refuted White’s premature knight move. Stronger would have been 26.Qd3. 26. … Rxa3!!
decisive effect at the absolute opposite pole of the board, the white king on a1. 27. … Nb3+ 28.Kb1 Ncd2+ 29.Kc2 Nd4+ 30.Kxd2 Nxe2 31.bxa3 Ng3 White resigns 0-1
PUZZLE White: Christopher Morrison Black: Michael Basman Manchester, 1981 This is the position after White’s 30th move. Black to play. A simplified position but Basman has a winning coup. Can you see it?
27.h4 White cannot recapture.
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE JULY 2021
Answer on page 91
If 27.bxa3! Kf8 is possible, threatening ... Qg7 as also 27... Qh4 planning ...Qf6. In all cases the point is the sudden switch of the black Queen to the a1 - h8 diagonal, meaning that Black’s most powerful piece, haply slumbering on the extreme right flank, can suddenly intervene with 97
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