2025 in front pages

There was one story that dominated much of the news agenda in 2025 for the umpteenth consecutive year. Except this year it was different.

Finally, after a tortuous and complex negotiation, news came in June that a political agreement had been reached on the treaty.

The uncertainty has not lifted fully, of course. We still need to see and understand the legal text which was agreed toward the end of the year and which is currently being reviewed by lawyers.

But despite the questions, there is also an undeniable sense of relief on both sides of the border that this agreement, once it comes, will avoid the worst of a hard Brexit and open a new era of cooperation for mutual benefit.

On the domestic political front, there were feisty exchanges during a marathon parliamentary session on the Principal Auditor’s report, followed by the pre-Christmas publication of the long-awaited McGrail Inquiry report.

The debate on the report’s findings offered a battery of often-conflicting headlines as the year came to close, and alongside the treaty progress will likely dominate the news agenda as we head into 2026 and edge closer to the next general election.

There were planning stories galore as Gibraltar continues to evolve and change, including the announcement of a new reclamation project inside the harbour and continued controversy as Spanish environmental campaigners raised questions about the Eastside project.

Elsewhere last year there was news of the death of a Pope and the appointment of his successor, while in Gibraltar there was widespread joy as Monsignor Charles Azzopardi, Father Charlie to most people, was named Bishop.

As always throughout the past 12 months, there were countless stories of culture, sports and the arts, with Gibraltarians celebrated for their achievements both on the Rock and abroad.

There were stories too about justice and crime, including concerns about the rise in assaults on police and the arrival of a new Commissioner of Police. In the courts, a serial child sex abuser was jailed for 39 years and an inquest into a fatal collision closed nearly six years after the event.

And there were constant reminders that we live in a volatile, changing world.

There was a reminder too of Gibraltar’s place in the world as the UK Strategic Defence Review underlined the crucial role of the UK’s overseas territories against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and conflict elsewhere.

The message was of the need to place the UK – and by extension Gibraltar – on a war footing in troubled times.