The Europa Pool facility was closed on the 4th August following a serious act of vandalism discovered.
The Pool Manager opened the facility as normal to carry out routine checks and allow cleaning staff access. On entering the toilets, staff were met with an appalling scene: faecal matter had been deliberately smeared across the walls. No physical damage to the facilities was found this time, but the level of contamination was significant. The Royal Gibraltar Police was immediately contacted and the matter is being investigated further.
Further inspection revealed faeces in the pool water, around the poolside, and in other parts of the complex. Standard protocols were immediately activated in line with public health guidance. Due to the extent of the contamination, the pool will require three full filtration cycles and a thorough sanitisation process before it can be safely reopened.
The pool is expected to reopen on the 5th August, following clearance from the Environmental Agency.
This is not the first time vandalism of this nature has taken place at the Europa Pool. These senseless acts not only disrupt access to an important public facility at the height of the summer season, but also place an unnecessary burden on public resources and the GSLA staff who work hard to keep our facilities clean, safe, and welcoming for all.
As a result of this ongoing problem, the Government is considering deploying CCTV cameras at the Europa Pool and other public recreational areas to ensure tighter control and monitoring of these important community assets.
HM Government of Gibraltar strongly condemns this disgraceful behaviour. Acts of pointless destruction have no place in our society. We all have a role to play in protecting the community spaces we value, and we therefore encourage anyone with information about this incident to come forward.
You can contact the Royal Gibraltar Police or reach out to the GSLA directly via:
Telephone numbers: 200 73601 and 57349000 or via email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
We are better than this. Let’s work together to ensure it doesn’t happen again.