SPANISH police are investigating a senior officer after he was filmed checking passports on the Gibraltar border whereas allegedly drunk and off obligation, the Olive Press can reveal.
The pinnacle of the Central Border Unit, Chief Inspector David Barrero, is in traces to face ‘disciplinary proceedings’ after we despatched a video of the cop swaying amid the site visitors whereas donning civilian garments to Policia Nacional head workplace in Cadiz.
A well-placed La Linea supply who confirmed the senior officer’s identification expressed ‘shock’ that Barrero was checking paperwork as a result of ‘he had been transferred away to different duties’.
A spokesman for the Policia Nacional instructed the Olive Press the power is ‘figuring out what penalties might come up and whether or not to begin disciplinary proceedings.’
Barrero had already been dubbed a ‘rogue officer’ after he took it upon himself final yr to impose Schengen controls on the border – towards the orders of his personal superiors.
Within the video, filmed after darkish over a fortnight in the past, a white-haired man in denims and jumper is seen staggering round demanding to see the passports of individuals queuing to enter Spain.
Drivers, motorcyclists and even scooter riders clearly look on in astonishment as different uniformed officers do nothing to intrude with the civilian commanding the present.
Regardless of the shortage of sound, Barrero will be seen lurching backwards and urging a automotive to come back ahead with exaggerated gestures.
When the automotive advances, the border chief leans on its bonnet to examine the passport of a ready motorcyclist.
Barrero has risen to notoriety in Gibraltar for his efforts to unilaterally tear up the present transitional association for the border with Spain since Brexit kicked in in 2021.
It was his directions to stamp Gibraltar passports, on October 11 and once more on November 22, that led to lengthy queues gathering on the La Linea facet.
As we reported on our entrance web page in November, this dealt a blow to financial actions on the Rock and led to him being dubbed by the Gibraltar authorities as a ‘rogue’ officer.
The disruption was so extreme that St Bernard’s Hospital needed to postpone varied operations scheduled for the day attributable to a scarcity of cross-border staff.
On each days, the order was solely later rescinded following an offended telephone name from Madrid.
Barrero adopted these stunts by submitting a denuncia in La Linea courtroom towards his personal superiors for misconduct and coercion.
The veteran border cop argued the present ‘relaxed’ border controls violate the Schengen code, leaving him with no authorized safety in case of an incident, reminiscent of a terror assault.
Particularly, article six of the Schengen code requires third-country nationals to fulfill numerous necessities together with ‘justifying the aim of their go to’, whereas article eight requires journey paperwork to be verified and run by way of safety databases.
A La Linea choose has now referred to as Barrero to testify on the present border preparations as they could be put to the check towards Spanish legislation.
Spain’s far-right celebration Vox in the meantime, has backed Barrero by submitting inquiries to the Spanish parliament.
The Olive Press understands nonetheless, that Barrero’s vendetta towards Gibraltar could also be motivated by an inside dispute throughout the Policia Nacional which has seen him instantly disobey orders and ‘go to battle’ towards his superiors.
His campaign solely got here after a brand new commissioner for La Linea, Maria Jose Martinez moved management of the border away from his unit into the palms of a selected border power in April final yr.
A police supply instructed Spanish day by day El Pais: “It isn’t his job to take the border and diplomacy into his personal palms.
“The association on the border is clearly a political determination whether or not he agrees or not. It isn’t one thing a chief inspector like Barrero needs to be deciding.”
The Gibraltatar authorities declined to touch upon ‘the interior affairs of overseas uniformed our bodies.’
There have been over 15 rounds of talks since 2021 to attempt to type out the standing of Gibraltar inside Schengen.
In the meantime, 15,000 staff cross the border into Gibraltar each day to work, with a 3rd of La Linea’s workforce incomes a dwelling on the Rock.
