Spain protests over ‘serious incidents’ near Gibraltar

OVIEDO, Spain

The Spanish government has lodged a diplomatic protest with the UK Embassy in Madrid over what it called “three serious incidents” that violated the country’s sovereignty, Spanish daily El Pais revealed on Wednesday.

In the complaint, accessed by El Pais, Spain’s Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Manuel Albares expressed his “most energetic protest” around what has been happening this month.

The first incident transpired on Aug. 1, when a tanker spilled as much as 2,000 liters (528 gallons) of fuel while bunkering. The spill closed Gibraltar’s port for a day and a half, according to the complaint, and fuel reached Spanish beaches.

Despite Gibraltar authorities allowing the practice, Spain reminded the UK that the coast is part of a natural conservation area where bunkering is illegal under Spanish law.

A second event took place on Aug. 14, when a Spanish patrol boat became suspicious of a Gibraltar-based ship sailing without proper lighting and started pursuing it. Gibraltar authorities denounced Spain for going into its waters and three British ships got in the patrol boat’s way, which Spain considers an “unjustifiable interference.”

Most recently, a Spanish fishing vessel was reportedly harassed by UK state vessels near Gibraltar and charged with fishing off the eastern side of the country. Since it occurred in what Spain says are its waters, the Foreign Ministry said this is a violation of Spanish sovereignty.

Gibraltar, a British overseas territory on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, has been a source of tension between the two countries for centuries.

Spain claims maritime rights to all areas except inside the ports, as was established in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. However, the UK claims up to three nautical miles of sea around the rocky outpost. In this diplomatic complaint, Spain emphasized that its position on the waters “remains unchanged.”

“Spain will continue to exercise its sovereignty in Spanish waters in the same way as it has since time immemorial,” said the complaint, according to El Pais.

In the post-Brexit era, Spain and the UK have been negotiating to define new relations around Gibraltar. However, Spanish elections this summer and upcoming elections in Gibraltar this autumn have forced the talks to be sidelined for now.