Spain summons UK ambassador over Gibraltar 'incident'

MADRID

Spain’s foreign ministry has summoned Britain’s ambassador to "energetically protest" an alleged incident between a Gibraltarian police boat and a Spanish vessel, according to a statement released Monday.

According to the Spanish government, last Friday a Royal Gibraltar Police patrol craft charged a Spanish police ship twice.

Spain’s Foreign Ministry secretary says it delivered U.K. ambassador Simon Manley a formal verbal complaint.

Neither Manley nor the U.K. government has yet to publicly comment.

The friction comes just after Britain voted to leave the European Union. Gibraltarians -- citizens of the tiny British territory located in the Iberian Peninsula -- voted 96 percent in favor of remaining in the EU.

Brexit has caused Spain’s government to increase rhetoric about sovereignty over Gibraltar.

“The Spanish flag on the Rock [Gibraltar] is much closer than it was before,” Spain’s foreign minister, Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo, told Spanish radio the day the Brexit results were known.

MADRID

According to the Spanish government, last Friday a Royal Gibraltar Police patrol craft charged a Spanish police ship twice.

Spain’s Foreign Ministry secretary says it delivered U.K. ambassador Simon Manley a formal verbal complaint.

Neither Manley nor the U.K. government has yet to publicly comment.

Brexit has caused Spain’s government to increase rhetoric about sovereignty over Gibraltar.

“The Spanish flag on the Rock [Gibraltar] is much closer than it was before,” Spain’s foreign minister, Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo, told Spanish radio the day the Brexit results were known.