GIBRALTARIANS will be able to enjoy a long weekend with the October 19 being made into a bank holiday that allows them to watch the funeral.
“This day will enable Gibraltarians, residents of Gibraltar and those who work in Gibraltar to follow Her Late Majesty’s funeral,” Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said in a statement.
Earlier in the weekend the local leader told the GBC that ‘Gibraltar would very much like’ King Charles III to come to Gibraltar as part of any future Commonwealth tour he might take.
“The people of Gibraltar would long for a visit,” Picardo said.
“We would be delighted with a visit. I see no reason why there shouldn’t be a visit.”
On the new bank holiday, he said he wanted to ‘call upon all Gibraltarians and residents on Gibraltar to reflect on the immense dedication and contribution Her Late Majesty gave in her 70 Years as Queen.’
Gibraltar will join the UK in holding a minute’s silence on September 18 at 9pm.
The Chief Minister and governor will be at the funeral in London ‘in representation of the people of Gibraltar’, Picardo added.
News of the holiday came after a quiet weekend where National Day was shelved for another year and people stayed in their family groups.
Rather than the big party that was planned, people watched King Charles III give his first proclamation and speech to parliament.
The Royal Gibraltar Regiment fired a 21-gun salute at Devil’s Gap on for the Proclamation Parade.
Picardo said that following the condolences from unlikely sources like the Partido Popular in La Linea he believed a new era of better relations with Spain was on the way.
“I hope that we are at the beginning of a new era of coexistence, of a partnership in which we can work with our neighbors and are respected for what we are and for who we are,” concluded the Chief Minister.
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