Upper Rock arrangements ‘speak to the way we are being governed’

By Damon Bossino

The recent exchanges with the Minister for Heritage speak volumes about fundamental issues that affect the way we are governed. This is as much about transparency and the cost-effective use of public funds as it is about the state of our historical infrastructure.

The Minister for Heritage may think that his usual penchant for reframing the reality that many of us can see with our own eyes - whether it be the state of our historic walls, the disrespectful treatment of our artillery hardware, or the unimaginative use, to put it mildly, of the jewels that are Parsons Lodge, the Stay Behind Cave, and the Gibraltar Museum - suits him politically.

But his management of these issues speaks to a deeper malaise afflicting those who currently govern us and that is, fundamentally, a matter of political hubris.

‘DELUSIONAL’
This excessive and delusional overconfidence is dangerous. It is an ailment that will only be resolved by a change of government.

When we have asked for full disclosure of who is receiving what from the revenue generated by the Upper Rock, we have been asking for information to which the public is entitled. Yet, aside from the recent revelation about where the potential £6 million annually is going, the public remains in the dark as to the specifics.

The latest Government press release referred to 11 separate contracts and projects and, in rather vague language, said these included the “ticketing and management system, the St Michael's Cave Awakening experience, the World War II Tunnels, the Moorish Castle, the Northern Defences, O'Hara's Battery, Tovey Cottage” and “other Nature Reserve sites”. This evasive reply is a disservice to the wider public we represent and Mr Cortes must know this.

The Government ought to be providing company names and details of the beneficial owners of those companies. It should be stating what amounts these entities are receiving and for how long they will be paid these amounts.

Essentially, the public are entitled to know where the money is going, and who is benefiting.

If I have invested, say, £2 million on a particular site and in return I receive £1 for every ticket sale sold for the Upper Rock (the visitor need not actually visit the site in question), I would be receiving in excess of £1 million based on last year’s figures as 1,162,560 visited in 2025. If I receive that for over 20 years, then the return on my investment would be huge and, ultimately, the taxpayer would be losing out, because that money could have been used for other purposes.

That the Government either does not see this, or chooses not to, is very concerning.

TAXPAYER ‘LOSING OUT’
Mr Cortes (and now more recently the Chief Minister) have repeatedly claimed that all of this is being funded not by the taxpayer but by tourists.

But do they seriously not see the glaringly obvious point that tourism and tourist activity are among the most important parts of our economic offering and that one of their prime functions is to generate wealth - at least in the GSD’s view - for the benefit of the public, not a select few?

Without transparency, people cannot form a judgment on whether, by the Government’s own calculations, the in excess of £17 million being generated by the Upper Rock is being channelled in a way that serves the greater good, whether it could be increasing the number of permanent teaching or nursing staff to improving our tourist offering.

The Minister also refers to the “arrangements” being the subject of “established procurement and financial procedures”, whatever that may mean, but he should at least clarify whether the Heritage Trust participated in the award process in any way.

‘COME CLEAN’
In a recent statement, the Minister spoke about a “wider strategy”, but where is it?

In the tourism field, we await the publication of a strategy which was promised more than a year ago, but it remains elusive.

The Development Plan where, conceivably, there could have been a vision for the sensitive development of the Upper Rock, remains equally elusive after a seven-year delay.

The wholesale privatisation of the Upper Rock does not even feature in their “Safeguarding our Past, Enriching our Future” document, so where has this come from?

In short, Mr Cortes should come clean and disclose what we have been asking him to disclose for far too long now.

Transparency is required in order to open up these arrangements to proper scrutiny.

Damon Bossino is a GSD MP and Shadow Minister for Housing, Lands and Heritage.