
Argentina’s government could at any stage now force Spanish seafood group Pescanova to divest its squid fishing operation based in the Falkland Islands, as it is reportedly breaching fishing legislation, said Spanish media.

The Congress of Liberal International, meeting in the Netherlands, has called on the Spanish Government to end the campaign of coercion and economic sanctions against Gibraltar and urged Madrid to return to the Trilateral Forum for Dialogue.

The British Government has again voiced public concern that Spanish actions against Gibraltar are damaging its bilateral relationship with Spain. In a response to a parliamentary question in the House of Commons, Europe Minister David Lidington said Britain was keeping its options open on how to respond to Spain.

Spain's economy expanded by 0.4% in the first quarter of the year topping the previous quarter's growth rate by two-tenths of a point, the National Statistics Institute, INE, confirmed. However unemployment remains at a record 25.93%.

The Spanish government is using the full force of the law to suffocate legitimate peaceful protest, Amnesty International in Spain has said. Jezerca Tigani, Europe and Central Asia Deputy Program Director for Amnesty, published a brief report last week in which he said that the excessive use of force by Spanish police and plans to strengthen repressive legislation are a damning indictment of the Spanish government’s determination to crush peaceful protest.

Spain’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs is urging Morocco and Portugal to block the sale of rocks to Gibraltar, according to the online publication El Confidencial. The website reported at the weekend that the ministry headed by Jose Manuel García-Margallo had initiated contacts with “friendly countries” in a bid to stop Gibraltar’s “expansionist” plans.

Spanish government vessels have unlawfully entered British territorial waters around Gibraltar more than 600 times since the start of 2013, according to official figures. There were 496 incursions in 2013 and 112 in the first three months of 2014, the figures disclosed by Foreign Secretary William Hague revealed.

Catalonia President Artur Mas said he would forge ahead with his region's plans to hold a referendum on independence in November after Spain's parliament overwhelmingly rejected the petition. After a seven-hour debate in Madrid, and despite heavy support for the separatist movement in the wealthy northeastern region, 299 lawmakers voted against, 47 voted for and one abstained.

UK Ambassador to Spain, Simon Manley has told a Spanish newspaper that British people hold Gibraltar ‘close to their hearts’ and that delays at the border are politically motivated. He underscored Britain and Gibraltar’s desire to engage in “practical” dialogue toward better cross-border relations that would benefit communities on either side of the frontier fence.

The mayor of the Spanish town of Algeciras, Jose Ignacio Landaluce flew back this weekend from Argentina, where he had attended a twinning ceremony with Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego that sought to highlight the ‘English occupation’ of Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands.