Adolfo Canepa was born in London during a period of World War II when most of Gibraltar's civilian population had been evacuated.

Prior to his involvement in local politics, Canepa was already well known as part of a team of teachers at the Gibraltar Grammar School who helped the Christian Brothers to mould an entire generation of Gibraltarians.

[3] Hassan resigned without completing his term as Chief Minister in 1987 after an agreement on the shared use of Gibraltar Airport was signed by Spain and the United Kingdom, citing personal reasons.

[2] Since his official retirement from politics, Canepa has assisted successive Governments of Gibraltar as a consultant, advising them by means of his experience and expertise on legislative and constitutional matters.

For the last fifteen years he has worked in the Legislative Unit, the prime function of which is to scrutinise all European Union documents and determine how they might affect Gibraltar.