Man charged over flag incident

A man arrested in connection with the Upper Rock flag stunt has been charged and will appear in court this morning.

Juan Ignacio Minguez Martinez, 53, a resident of Madrid and chairman of the right wing VOX party in that city, was charged yesterday afternoon after spending the night in custody.

He faces one count of conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace and will appear before the Magistrates Court at 10am.

He remained in police custody at New Mole House pending his court appearance.

Sr Minguez was arrested on Monday following reports of a large Spanish flag being displayed in an area near Signal Station Road, on the western side of the Upper Rock.

The flag incident has received wide media coverage in Spain, with VOX members boasting about the stunt and describing it in quasi-military terms.

Santiago Abascal, the VOX candidate for prime minister in Spain’s forthcoming general election, posted a video clip of the flag being unfurled with words “mission accomplished”.

Sr Abascal is himself wanted for questioning by the Royal Gibraltar Police in connection with the theft of a block from Gibraltar’s artificial reef in 2014.