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Cruise ship captain apologises after Spanish flag faux pas

Chief Minister Fabian Picardo demanded and received an apology from the captain of a visiting cruise ship that welcomed its passengers to "Gibraltor" with an outline map of the Rock painted in the Spanish colours of red and yellow.

The Gibraltar Government confirmed that it had received an apology from the captain of the Koningsdam cruise ship which docked in Gibraltar yesterday.

In a statement the Government explained that once Mr Picardo became aware of this sign, he directed a Senior Port Officer to board the Holland America ship to demand that the sign be immediately removed and that the ship’s captain write a formal letter of apology.

Within, an hour, the captain had written the letter, saying that he apologised “for the fact that my photo department was using the incorrect flag.”

He also confirmed that he “fully respects the history of Gibraltar as a British stronghold and full understands how human error of using the incorrect flag may affect the Gibraltarians. Rest assured we will revisit our processes on board to ensure mistakes such as this are caught in future.”

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