This particular piece of artwork was an initiative from the people who live in the area of Castle Street and brought up the suggestion to Government who made it possible. It was created by Ronnie Alecio and street artist Jupp, and the artwork celebrates one of Gibraltar’s most renowned artists, Gustavo Bacarisas, who once lived in Castle Street. This is supported by the Street Art Committee which includes representatives from the Heritage Trust and other Governmental departments.

We spoke to Minister Cortes to find out more about the idea of street art, he said: ‘I suppose this goes back quite a way and I was inspired by visiting my daughter at University in Bristol, where there’s a lot of street art, and where a lot of areas which have been quite derelict in the past have been brightened up and got a new lease of life with street art and after discussing it with my colleague Steven Linares, Minister for Culture, we decided to have a trial run. ‘So we put out a number of areas for competition and two of them have been completed. This one came up about at the same time and it was discussed by the Street Art committee which is made up of different government agencies, including town planning, culture and me as Minister for Urban Renewal, also Gibraltar Cultural Services and the Gibraltar Heritage Trust. It was considered by the Committee, approved and it went to planning and here we are. I think it’s a marvellous way of livening up the old town, and not just the old town, some newer areas as well. But this one in particular I think is very relevant because it captures the art of the Gibraltarian artist, in a setting which still looks probably pretty much like it used to look like in the days that are depicted in the illustration, I think it’s wonderful.

‘When asked about the impact this will have on Gibraltar’s heritage, he said, ‘I think it will raise awareness, apart from brightening up areas it will make people who pass this way wonder what it was like and we were thinking of perhaps putting some interpretation panels here and there in the old town just to bring up the flavour of the past and I think that a community that links with its past has not just its present but also its future secured so I think it’s great. We are shortly going to open another competition for different walls but as we say every time, if any artist wants to take on a project and come up with a proposal we will be very happy to consider it. We will bear in mind the setting, the location and so on but we want to encourage this kind of art provided it’s tasteful and attractive, I mean, the sky is the limit.’

26-02-19 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR