ReachExtra
Winner of Miss World 2009, Deputy Mayor and then Mayor of Gibraltar, and currently Public Relations Officer of the Government of Gibraltar… Kaiane Aldorino Lopez, who has also been awarded the Freedom of the City and the Medallion of Honour, has led an impressive career in promoting the Rock and serving the Gibraltarian community.
Kaiane Aldorino has always dedicated her life to volunteer and charity work, especially for children and animal charities. In 2018 Kaiane donated 10,000 $ received from the Miss World Organisation which she used to buy wheelchairs, trampolines, outdoor sensory pads and iPads to St. Martin’s School for Special Needs and to the Rainbow Children’s Ward at St. Bernard’s Hospital.
Once finishing school, the ex-Mayor of Gibraltar worked with a travel agency, and then moved on to work in the GHA in the Human Resources Department before entering Miss World in 2009.
The Miss World 2009 contest held in Johannesburg, South Africa in which 112 contestants from around the world competed, was a big win for both Kaiane Aldorino and the Rock, having secured Gibraltar’s first ever Miss World title. She was given a hero’s welcome home, with crowds of thousands of cheering people from the moment she stepped off the plane, all the way through town.
“I received such an enormous level of support and love from the Gibraltarian community both during and after Miss World”, Kaiane told Reach. “I really wanted to give back to my community, so when I was asked to become Deputy Mayor in 2014 it suddenly clicked in my mind that this would be the perfect way to say thank you and begin giving back to the community. As you know, being the Mayor is a voluntary role.”
Kaiane became the Deputy Mayor in 2014, and then Mayor of Gibraltar in 2017. “Both becoming Miss World and Mayor of Gibraltar came as surprises to me. Miss World was a steppingstone towards taking on my role as Mayor of Gibraltar because the roles are representational roles; being an ambassador for my country – of course, the role of Mayor comes with much more responsibilities.”
Her first course of action as Mayor was to update the Mayor’s Office and connect with the younger generation online: “I made it a point to start off my year by opening the website and social media accounts because not many people were aware of what the Mayor did. We wanted to connect with the community and encourage them to use the platform that the Mayor holds.”
Another initiative lead by Kaiane was the creation of photo albums for visitors that tell the story of the Mayor’s Office’s heritage (the City Hall is in the old Larios family mansion in the centre of the city): “The building has a lot of history behind it and has changed a lot throughout the years, so I thought it was important to create photo albums for visitors. We have also worked with the Gibraltar National Archives to include photos of twinning ceremonies and people who have been awarded Freedom of the City.”
Kaiane told us that the position of Mayor is also a personal role, the holder of the honour must execute responsibilities to the community as well as adding their own initiatives: “It’s a special position in the sense that you create the role. There are the traditional events that come every year, such as the Mayor’s Awards, and the rest is very personal to the person who holds the position.”
“It gave me a platform to support issues that are close to me, such as environmental issues, which affects all of us.” For example, Kaiane was and continues to be an active supporter of the Alameda Wildlife Conservation Park, where we got a unique shot of a lemur photo-bombing Kaiane and I during an exclusive photo shoot with Reach-Alcance.
“I support their work on protecting endangered species – with such a small area they are doing a magnificent job – the educational aspect of the conservation park is great too, school children learn about endangered species, deforestation, animal trafficking…”
Kaiane has led initiatives such as the Interfaith Ceremony in which she brought together leaders of different faiths in Gibraltar to pray, awareness campaigns for the environment among school children and the opening of the Strait Games to name a few.
The most treasured highlight of her career was delivering the keynote speech during a twinning ceremony between Gibraltar and Kingston in Jamaica, in which Gibraltarian WWII evacuees were also in attendance.
During the heights of WWII, many Gibraltarians were evacuated to Kingston Jamaica, where the ceremony was held, which has led to a unique bond between Jamaica and Gibraltar; not only a historical bond, but also in terms of culture, music and family ties.
“Going to Jamaica and speaking with these people who are so passionate about our links and history, it was incredibly special and emotional. There are streets named after Gibraltar, memorials dedicated to the Gibraltarian evacuees with all their names on it, an evacuation museum and the camp where the Gibraltarians lived has now been turned into a University.”
Cross-Frontier Relations
Throughout her period in office, Kaiane was also active in cross-frontier events, the Strait Games is one example; “I’ve been able to meet with Mayors from the nearby municipalities in Spain and we’ve gotten to know each other very well. Everybody I have met has been extremely nice, including the Spanish media.”
“It’s very important to maintain good cross-frontier relationships, especially on a day-to-day basis. We work with each other every day and we have friends and family on either side. Good relationships work towards everyone’s advantage and it wouldn’t make sense not to maintain this.”
What’s in Store for the Future?
“I am currently the Public Relations Officer for the Government of Gibraltar, and I hope to continue my ambassadorial role for Gibraltar, promoting the Rock and helping move Gibraltar forward, as well as using my platform to help charities close to my heart.”
