Royal Navy expels Spanish Guardia Civil vessels from Gibraltar territorial waters
The Royal Navy expelled a Guardia Civil vessel from Gibraltar waters following an incursion by Spanish fishermen last week, in a clear sign that Britain will not tolerate any attempt to escalate the fishing row.
A British navy officer told the Spanish vessel that it was violating international law and ordered it to leave British territorial waters immediately. The message, delivered over VHF radio from a control room on land, had the desired effect and the Spanish boat complied.
The exchange came just hours after the Spanish Government said it would use Guardia Civil vessels to protect Spanish fishermen as they fished in Gibraltar waters. The Royal Navy warning was recorded and later broadcast by GBC, the first time such an exchange has been heard publicly via the mainstream media.
The intervention over the radio came after six Algeciras-based fishing vessels – each towing a smaller ‘lucero’ boat – entered Gibraltar waters at around 9.35pm and made as if to fish opposite the southern entrance of the harbour. Their presence brought a swift response from agencies in Gibraltar, which despatched three vessels to the scene.
This was the first significant incursion by Spanish fishing boats following the collapse this week of talks to resolve the ongoing dispute over fishing rights.
It meant tensions at sea were running high.
The Royal Navy then issued its warning to the Guardia Civil. “This is Gibraltar Navy Ops,” the officer said over the VHF radio.
“You are in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters and I consider you to be violating UNCLOS (Law of the Sea) Article 19 governing the right of innocent passage.”
“You are to cease your current actions and leave British Gibraltar Territorial Waters immediately.” The warning was repeated three times, sources said.
Meantime Spanish Foreign minister speaking from Brazil called for “strategic patience” in the dispute with Gibraltar.
“I hope we move toward dialogue and negotiation as we’ve always done” he told reporters. The message was echoed by the heads of the fishing guilds in Algeciras and La Linea in the wake of the standoff.
Both said that the fishermen were unlikely to head toward Gibraltar waters, though they could not rule out individual crews acting on their own and sailing toward the Rock. The fishermen are due to meet representatives of the Spanish Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry in Algeciras on Monday. The fishermen from La Linea will also meet Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and La Linea Mayor Gemma Araujo, on Tuesday
Suggested Stories
-
Jun 15th 2013
Duchess of Cambridge christened the new “Royal Princess” in Southampton
-
Jun 14th 2013
Nicaragua approves transoceanic canal to rival with Panama and to be built by Hong Kong company
-
Jun 20th 2013
Scientists expect large ‘dead zone’ in Gulf of Mexico caused by excessive nutrient pollution
-
Jun 20th 2013
Swiss lawmakers defy Washington reject deal to lift banking secrecy and expose US tax dodgers
20 comments Feed
Note: Comments do not reflect MercoPress’ opinions. They are the personal view of our users. We wish to keep this as open and unregulated as possible. However, rude or foul language, discriminative comments (based on ethnicity, religion, gender, nationality, sexual orientation or the sort), spamming or any other offensive or inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated. Please report any inadequate posts to the editor. Comments must be in English. Thank you.
Just like you RG Colonialist friends.
'What about Gibraltar to distract our people,' said the Spanish politician.
Sound familiar...?????
'But do not forget the millions of British tourists, and other financial help from Britain,' said Captain sensible.
Even better than Argie bashing this!
I am crying with laughter while I am typing this: they are such 'ferocious' opponents. LOL :o)
Fortunately, the clown from over the border, who hasn't been in the “job” five minutes, is looking for “strategic patience”. This means that he knows that if he told the world the truth, the world would laugh itself sick at how stupid his country is and has been since the 1960s. “The territorial claim was formally reasserted by the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco in the 1960s and has been continued by successive Spanish governments. They have insisted that the Gibraltar dispute is a purely bilateral matter and that the current Gibraltarians are mere settlers whose role and will are irrelevant.” Now where have we heard that before? In an interesting twist, Spain says Gibraltar has no territorial waters because they aren't mentioned in the Treaty of Utrecht. There are only a couple of problems with this contention. Having read the Treaty, it seems it doesn't mention Spain's territorial waters either! The other problem is that the concept of “territorial waters” wasn't internationally accepted until the late 18th century. There's some other country that acts the same way. Makes stuff up. Lies. Makes a nuisance of itself. Anyhow, things are looking up. The Gibraltar Squadron has flexed a couple of fingers and HMS Talent (S92) is on its way to the South Atlantic!
oh just as well
lol
The UK takes more tourists to Spain than any other country and spends the most money.
Britain could cripple Spain, if those tourists went elsewhere.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Spain
The funniest thing about the Gibraltar situation is that it really infuriates the Spanish. The second funniest thing is that once they are infuriated you can point out that a stone’s throw from Gibraltar is Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in Morocco and they can’t see the parallel.
Anyway, seeing as the European common fishery agreement allows the Spanish to fish all over the EU, they can hardly complain about 5 kms of coast.
and when we get out of this corupt gravy train, that fishing agreement will be dumpt,
and tha spannish with it .
That would make the Spain situation far worse in the pride department. The Falklanders are not argentines who want to remain British. Now that would be ridiculous. But as you know, there is no such thing. No Argentine would ever choose another nationality for a land near or in argentine territory.
In fact, it's been historically the opposite: Tarija in Bolivia, recently the ranchlands in the north shore of the Pilcomayo in Paraguay, and some towns in Southern Chile (Aisen, Natales, etc), have shown some degree of public openess to consider switching to Argentina.
I still wonder why those people are not allowed self-determination.
Yes I agree, in “the pride department” it is worse. If the Spanish people who live on the Spanish mainland want to remain British, then there is no hope in hell that British peoples living 300 miles from Argentina will want to become Argies.
With regards to Aisen, the recent protests there have made some locals claim they want to be Argies. I think if they held a referendum the majority would still want to be Chilean.
All the same, that part of Chile was settled by people coming over from Argentina so they have a lot of links with Argentina. Same as in Punta Arenas. Logistically Aisen is very isolated from the rest of Chile.
In fact Aisen is so isolated that there are 3 species of marsulial that survive there. It is an amazingly beautiful place and I would recommend anyone to go there and drive the carretera austral.
I would recommend the carretera austral too. In that part of the world you feel the Ice Age never left.
The only part of Chile where there is a genuine problem with national loyalty is Easter Island – luckily there is no one significant, close enough to adopt them. That said, last time I was there some of the locals showed me their French passports. They had dual nationality. Many of the Polynesian islanders have family links with Tahiti so they can opt for a French passport. Interestingly, the ethnic Polynesians admit to a closer cultural affinity with New Zealand than with Chile, due to the privileged status of the Maori in that country. That’s not too far off topic is it?
Talking of great drives, have you ever driven over the Paso Aguas Negras?
It's on my list along the Paso Jama in the far north, and the length of RN40 from La Quiaca to Cabo Virgenes.
Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!