Protesters march up Main Street over reclamation projects, pollution and data centre 

Around 400 protesters gathered in Casemates on Saturday morning, airing their concerns over the proposed Pelagos Data Centre, reclamation projects, pollution, sewage and the sale of government land to private entities. 

The demonstrators chanted “no data centre” as they marched down Main Street to No.6 Convent Place, where they were greeted by Government minister Sir Joe Bossano who heard their concerns.  

The protest, which was organised by Kaelan Joyce, saw members of the public gather and hold signs which stated ‘stop dumping raw sewage’ and ‘put the toxic servers under your own luxury homes not ours’. 

Mr Joyce told this newspaper that he doesn’t believe there “has been any proper consultation” regarding projects including the reclamation and the data centre. 

He added that Gibraltar continues to “dump raw sewage” and took issue with the ongoing construction across the Rock. 

“We keep doing all these projects, massive buildings, construction, Gibraltar is engulfed in one massive construction site with pollution, construction, and we keep dumping raw sewage into the sea every day,” he said. 

Mr Joyce cited plastic pollution at Eastern beach as a reason for protesting and also said there had been “exploitation of land that should be for the people”. 

As a resident in the Westview area, Mr Joyce has taken issue with the reclamation project where around 2,500 affordable homes are proposed to be built. 

“We understand that there has to be some sort of building for the future generation, etc. But is there really a demand?” he said. 

“And then they call it affordable housing. Is it really affordable? So, [Hassan Centenary Terraces] is already expensive.” 

“Now they do a massive reclamation on the West View. That is deep water. Just imagine how much that's going to cost. They said about £60 million only to reclaim the land. Then you have the building materials, everything's gone up. How is that going to be affordable?” 

Mr Joyce called the data centre the “icing on the cake”. The £1.8bn Pelagos data centre is proposed to be built in Gibraltar’s North Mole.  

An online petition opposing the project has secured over 2,200 signatures. 

“I can't believe it,” he said. 

“It's crazy that they want to build a data centre in Gibraltar when we have such restricted amounts of land. No one wants it. How can you justify it?” 

“If you're complaining that you need to reclaim land because we need housing and then you give all that land away to a private developer. I mean, I think we can do better. Politicians can do better.” 

Alfred Vasquez, press officer of the Gibraltar Federation of Sea Anglers, said the group was “fed up of the Government telling people what to do” without prior consultation. 

Mr Vasquez aired the group’s concerns about projects such Aqualand at Eastern Beach and a proposal to restore Rosia Bay as a public beach and leisure area. 

“Have they spoken to us about what our needs are? No,” he said. 

The group also takes issue with the data centre, its’ possible environmental impact and the potential increase of water temperature in the surrounding area. 

“That will mean that biodiversity will die,” Mr Vasquez said. 

“Not just there but anywhere in the Bay where the heat goes. It’s a 24/7, 365-day operation.” 

He questioned how much noise the data centre will emit and the impact this investment will have in Gibraltar.  

“We don’t want a data centre in Gibraltar,” he said. 

“No where in the world wants a data centre.” 

Pelagos has insisted the design of the data centre will mitigate its environmental impact but many people are not convinced. 

Sue Breedon was staunchly against the construction of a data centre in Gibraltar due to concerns over the noise and light pollution it could emit. 

“I think people’s lives are going to be impacted severely by such a thing,” she said. 

“We’re too small to sustain that type of enterprise.” 

She pointed to issues in the UK and US regarding the environment and she felt strongly enough about the matter to join the protest. 

Josephine Kim Bain said the most important matter compelling her to protest were also her concerns over the data centre. 

She added she has been learning about data centres and their environmental impact, but she also had concerns about over development and the “selling off of public lands”. 

As a resident of Westview, Ms Bain questioned the nearby reclamation and how the government would construct homes “closer to the LNG tanks”. 

“And now a data centre, what are they thinking?” she said. 

She added that was not comfortable living so close to a data centre. 

A soon-to-be resident of Bob Peliza Mews told this newspaper he was demonstrating due to his concerns over the data centre being constructed nearby his future home. 

“It’s too close to people’s homes, we’re too densely packed and it’s definitely going to have environmental consequences,” the resident said. 

He added that, in his view, building a data centre “is just not worth it for Gibraltar” and questioned the quality of living for those nearby residents.  

Lynne Vassallo said she was protesting because of “everything” and that she has had “enough”, and that the government should listen to the people. 

Elizabeth Borges walked up Main Street holding up a sign stating ‘no data centre’ and said she was “extremely concerned” about the project, citing possible health implications and the warming marine life. 

The demonstrators walked past GSD shadow ministers who were holding a stall at Piazza where they briefly aired their grievances. 

GSD Leader Keith Azopardi said it was important to hear the protesters and met with some of the demonstrators to hear their views. 

Mr Azopardi said he has been probing the data centre project and the party has “a lot of concerns”. 

He said the GSD executive is discussing the matter and will explain its position in due course.