Tensions loom over Gibraltar

Tension between Spain and the UK over the disputed territory of Gibraltar looks set to increase this week following Spanish reports that it intends to lodge a complaint with the United Nations and a planned arrival on the rocky outcrop later this week of UK naval ships.

Centuries of friction over Gibraltar, a British overseas territory to which Spain lays claim, flared up this month after Spain complained that an artificial reef being built by Gibraltar would block its fishing vessels.

The source – cited by Reuters – did not specify whether Spain would ask the United Nations to back a request for Britain to give up sovereignty or adhere to certain agreements, but taking the matter to international courts would mark a change of tack and could increase tensions.

Earlier yesterday (11 August), newspaper El Pais said Spain could take the matter to the International Court of Justice, the UN General Assembly or the UN Security Council, where Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo will seek support from Argentina, which is serving a term.

"We are studying taking the matter to the UN and these are all options that are being considered," the source said, commenting on the report in País.

According to the same daily, the Socialist opposition said that Spain should ask the EU to to intervene in the handling of the Gibraltar issue and thus avoid "false alliances" and adventures.

Spain looks to Argentina for support

"The minister is travelling to Argentina in September and plans to exchange ideas over the matter," he added. Argentina is immersed in its own dispute with Britain over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy threatened unilateral measures over the Gibraltar spat on Friday, while British navy vessels were heading to the territory for what both Spain and Britain have played down as a routine, scheduled visit.

Rajoy and his British counterpart David Cameron had agreed to try and calm tempers over the disputed territory, though both sides have been reluctant to back down on their positions.

Gibraltar, the tiny rocky promontory near the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, has been a source of on-off tensions since Spain ceded the territory to Britain in the Treaty of Utrecht 300 years ago.

The latest dispute arose last month when Gibraltar's boats dumped concrete blocks into the sea to create a reef for fish at the mouth of the Mediterranean.

UK naval deployment normal

Spain said the reef would restrict its fishing boats and hit back with tougher border checks and threats of a 50-euro fee for people crossing the Gibraltar border. It is not clear whether such a fee would be legal under EU law.

In an interview on Spanish television on Saturday, Margallo said the entry fee would not be imposed on workers who frequently cross the border for their jobs and pledged aid to the fishermen whose livelihood is being hit by the reef.

Royal Navy warship HMS Westminster is due to dock at the British territory within a week as part of an annual deployment, and it will be accompanied by two auxiliary naval ships on its stop. The deployment is part of a scheduled exercise, but could stoke popular tensions in both Spain and the UK.

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