Walter Finch
A VIDEO doing the rounds on social media appears to show a drunk man checking passports at the Gibraltar border.
Speculation is mounting that the figure, dressed in civilian clothes and swaying around between cars, may be David Barrero, the Policia Nacional border chief.
The video, filmed after dark from a car in the queue, shows a white-haired man in jeans and a jumper staggering around demanding to see passports.
More and more scooters and motorcycles arrive in the queue to look on astonished as the uniformed officers do nothing to restrain the man.
While the video has no sound, it is clear that the man’s actions cause disquiet among those queuing to enter Spain.
At one moment, he lurches backwards and urges a car to come forward, before then leaning on its bonnet to inspect the passport of a motorcyclist – while a uniformed officer watches nearby.
The video appeared online around a week ago, but it was not until El Pais revealed the identity of the Police Nacional chief in charge of manning the border with Gibraltar that observers noticed the similarity between the two men.
The Policia Nacional in Cadiz were not available for comment at the time of publication.
Barrero has been the subject of intense controversy and diplomatic pressure for his efforts to disrupt the delicate border arrangements and unilaterally impose Schengen controls on Gibraltar.
As well as stamping passports on two separate occasions last autumn in contravention to his superiors’ orders, he also recently imposed ultra strict restrictions on passengers arriving at the Gibraltar border after their flight was diverted to Malaga.
A memo allegedly instructed Spanish officers under Barrero’s control to only permit entry to passengers with urgent and justifiable reasons, such as medical emergencies.
Barrero also ordered that boarding passes issued in Gibraltar no longer be accepted as valid travel documents.
The maverick border chief has even filed a denuncia in the La Linea courts against his own superiors over the relaxed border arrangements with Gibraltar, which he argued violated the Schengen code and left him with no legal protection in case of an incident.
According to reports in El Pais, Barrero decided to ‘go to war’ against his superiors after the incoming commissioner of police moved responsibility for the frontier to a separate department.
María José Martínez, who was appointed Commissioner of Police in La Linea in April 2024, moved control of the border away from Barrero’s unit, Unidad Central de Redes de Inmigración Ilegal y Falsedades Documentales (Central Unit for Illegal Immigration Networks and Document Forgery).
Instead she put it in the hands of la Brigada Local de Extranjería y Fronteras (Immigration and Borders Brigade) under the command of Inspector Ignacio Trujillano Saborido.
However, sources close to Barrero painted a different picture: “He filed the complaint when he began to see that he did not have the support of his superiors.
“If he doesn’t carry out the law, they can accuse him of misconduct.”
According to the El Pais report, Barrero’s actions do not have widespread support among the rank-and-file, either.
“[The border arrangement] is a political decision, whether we like it or not,” a police source familiar with the situation said.
“It is not something that a chief inspector decides.”
Another said: “It is not his job to start conquering the Rock with dirty tricks; that’s not his job.”
However, experts within Spain have agreed that the interim arrangement cannot last forever, and as the ongoing treaty negotiations over the border stall, ‘it becomes reasonable to begin to gradually apply the controls in their entirety.’
Barrero has already filed four formal complaints for irregularities at the border, including over allegations that Gibraltar’s Chief Minister and Governor made recent crossings ‘without proper authorisation from Spain’s Foreign Ministry’.
But his clashes with his superiors and disciplinary proceedings date back to January 2024.
Police sources state that one of these cases refers to ‘when the Chief Inspector allegedly placed an antenna at the border post without permission to control the ships and boats that were near Gibraltar.’
Other issues include issuing international arrest warrants for British military personnel who had entered La Linea.
