Queen’s Hotel residents protest outside No.6 as relocation plans near completion

The Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, and the Minister for Housing, Pat Orfila, briefly spoke to nearly 30 residents of the Queen’s Hotel and the Sunrise Motel as they protested outside No.6 Convent Place on Monday morning.

The residents of the Queen’s Hotel are set to move to the newly refurbished “state of the art” Sunrise Motel on Devil’s Tower Road, Mrs Orfila told the Chronicle on the step of No.6.

“We are just days away from it being ready,” she said, adding that the kitchen and shower facilities are of a high standard.

It is the third time the men protested outside No.6 and their concerns have not changed since they were given notice that they were to be evicted from the Queen’s Hotel late last year.

This time they were also joined by residents of the Sunrise Motel, who believe that their living conditions are also lacking.

Spokesman for the residents, Youssef Choati el Alcha, said the residents were there to demand their basic rights.

He told the Chronicle that they want decent housing, that they have not had running water for two months or a working lift, pointing out one of the protestors who has cancer and cannot make it up the stairs.

He said the Sunrise Motel had similar issues and that is why some of its residents were also protesting outside No.6.

Mr Choati el Alcha said the extension nearing completion at the Sunrise Motel are “tombs” with windows in the roof, a small room with a skylight.

Elderly people need their own room and a life with dignity, he added.

He said he hoped the protest would make the Government listen to them.

Mr Choati el Alcha also had a letter for the Chief Minister and said that the men will be back outside No.6 as many times as necessary until they are offered what they are deserved as human beings.

Mr Picardo greeted and shook hands with every resident outside No.6 Convent Place and shared a moment with some he was more familiar with.

Addressing them in Spanish, he said he had immense admiration for the work they have done and that the Government was working to ensure the new building was completed, not in terms of months or weeks, but in days, and that the Sunrise Motel would be a place where they could live with the dignity they deserved.

He said that he understood that some residents wanted government housing but countered that there was not enough housing for everyone and that a solution for that would truly take a long time.

"You know that I have always acted in the interest of all the people," he said, "including those who have been with us for 40 or 50 years."

“The first thing I did was grant British nationality to those who had been discriminated against for so many years… I would never allow discrimination against any group, least of all one so important to Gibraltar’s history as you have been.”

He went on to counsel them against being manipulated by people with agendas who might urge them to act unjustifiably.

“We are here to help. We are here to help you,” he said, but sometimes things take time, and the issues of the last 10 years are starting to be resolved leaving this administration with the opportunity to use more time to address the problems of citizens like them.”

Finally, he thanked them for coming, adding he was very grateful to everyone, especially some who have been with him for almost half his life.

Among the residents, the majority of which are Moroccan, is Gibraltarian Ivan Williams who has lived at the Queen’s Hotel for four years.

He previously lived in his marital home but became homeless when his marriage fell apart.

Mr Williams also has a health condition that affects his lungs and he said that the conditions of his room at the Queen’s Hotel are contributing to his ill health. He described his home as a storeroom with a small window that water leaks in, there is no wardrobe or much furniture and the toilet close to him is locked at night due to the security guards who use it not being on duty.

On the housing list he went from number 19 to 4, only to be pushed back to 8, despite assurances he said from Mrs Orfila that his situation was “not right”.

He said he had been advised not to post about his situation on social media if he wanted help but, after seeing no progress, he resumed sharing images of the conditions he is living in.

While he acknowledges that his number on the housing list can fluctuate due to other people requiring a home more urgently, which was confirmed by Mrs Orfila, he said he has provided the Housing Department with addresses of empty homes.

Mrs Orfila told the Chronicle that these homes are not empty. While they may have been vacated by a resident for a number of reasons including death, there is someone waiting to move in.

When asked if he would be willing to move to the new Sunrise Motel, Mr Williams stated that due to his past addictions he is concerned that he will relapse and the pressure to remain sober will be too great.

At 62 and being Gibraltarian he believes he needs a proper home.