MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Gibraltar will bring in construction materials by sea, skirting Spanish ban

The cement blocks dumped in the Gibraltar bay

Gibraltar will sidestep an ‘illegal’ Spanish ban on overland cross-border shipments of rock, sand and aggregates by shipping the vital building materials in by sea. The ban was announced at the weekend by the Spanish authorities, which are denying export permission for these commodities and say they are being used to reclaim land in breach of EU environmental rules.

The news drew an angry response from the Gibraltar Government, which immediately put contingency plans into place and threatened legal action over the restrictions.

“The Government of Gibraltar has already identified alternative sources of supplies and will shortly be finalising these alternative arrangements” No.6 Convent Place said in a release.

“There should be no delay to the envisaged works on any project as a result of these illegal and anti-European restrictions.”

The Gibraltar Government did not reveal where the materials would come from but the source is likely to be suppliers in either Morocco or Portugal. One government insider said the materials would be brought in by sea in order to skirt the Spanish export ban.

Chief Minister Fabian Picardo is expected to raise the issue during his meeting with British Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Picardo will also use the meeting to discuss “…the many other instances of illegal action being taken by the Spanish Government at the frontier and at sea.”

“Legal action and the necessary complaints to the EU Commission will follow if the restrictions in question are not removed,” the statement from No.6 Convent Place.

Spain announced the ban on rock, sand and aggregates alleging there were used to build the cement blocks dumped into Gibraltar bay to form a reef which in practical terms impede Spanish fishermen from trawling the area.