Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel García-Margallo has expressed confidence that Madrid would win a legal case over jurisdiction of Gibraltar’s isthmus, though he was less certain about success in any challenge over the waters. He said the isthmus was not ceded to Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht and “illegally” occupied, but that Spain had yet to decide whether to “legally reclaim it or not”.
Hooded far right extremists disrupted an academic event in the Spanish port of Algeciras at which Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo was due to have delivered a speech on cross-border cooperation Thursday night. They were joined by a group of fishermen from La Linea and Algeciras standing next to a banner that read “Picardo Fascista”.
Spanish oil group Repsol's board Wednesday backed a draft multi-billion-dollar compensation deal over Argentina's 2012 seizure of the company's YPF subsidiary. The deal seeks to repair the financial hit taken by Repsol when Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez in April 2012 ordered the seizure of Repsol's 51-percent stake in YPF.
Spain has assured London that the incident in which UK government bags containing official correspondence and communications were opened by Spanish officials at the Gibraltar border, will not see a repeat of these actions, according to an official release from the Foreign Office on the update to Parliament on the incident.
Spain’s Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Environment, Miguel Arias Cañete, said Spain would take the UK to the European Court of Justice if the European Commission failed to take action over reclamation works in Gibraltar waters.
Spain’s President Mariano Rajoy has declared his intent to sustain both good relations with Britain and tough controls on Gibraltar at the border. The remarks came in an interview with Radio Nacional de España in which he defended Spain’s attitude to Gibraltar.
Spain’s Minister for European Affairs Iñigo Méndez de Vigo has said Madrid will maintain strict controls at the border. Speaking with the media in Brussels the minister said that the European Commission had endorsed the action it has being taking as in line with EU norms.
The first four ship owners summoned by the Court of Marin, Galicia, northwest Spain admitted to having incurred in fraudulent tax practices in 2008, 2009 and 2010. The Pontevedra Criminal Crimes prosecutor accused the fishing vessel owners of fraud totaling 13.7 million Euros, from the sale of undeclared fish catches from the cooperative San Miguel de Marin
The European Commission called on Friday for daily cooperation between Gibraltar and Spain regarding the ongoing dispute over border controls and encourages all relevant authorities to strengthen their constructive dialogue with their counterparts for this purpose.
The Spanish Government warned on Tuesday that it would continue to implement exhaustive checks on vehicles and pedestrians crossing into Spain from Gibraltar.