The Minister for Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has conveyed to the United Kingdom his "strong protest" at the "unjustifiable presence" of British ships in Spanish waters around Gibraltar and the three "serious incidents" that occurred in relation to them during this month of August.
The ministry sent this Monday a verbal note to the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Madrid, according to the newspaper El País and the Europa Press agency, to transfer the protest of the Spanish Government for these events that have occurred in waters of Spanish sovereignty .
Specifically, Foreign Affairs has cited three specific incidents. The first of these, which occurred on August 1, is related to the spill of fuel made by a methane tanker while refueling from another ship.
The second occurred on August 14, when a Customs Surveillance Service vessel was hampered by three British vessels while chasing a Gibraltar auxiliary ship that it intercepted in Spanish waters.
The last of them took place on August 21, when a Spanish fishing boat was also harassed in waters near Gibraltar under Spanish sovereignty. Precisely because of this event, the mayor of Algeciras and senator of the PP, José Ignacio Landaluce, and the Junta de Andalucía had asked Foreign Affairs to intervene in this event.
In addition to exposing the incidents, Foreign Affairs reaffirms in the note the Spanish position regarding the waters adjacent to the Rock, reaffirming that only what is stipulated in the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713 by which Spain ceded Gibraltar to the United Kingdom is recognized, and makes it clear that it will not tolerate a fait accompli policy on this issue.
The Government of Gibraltar has responded to the diplomatic complaint stating that it has "no doubts about the British sovereignty of the waters surrounding Gibraltar" and has called to "avoid unnecessary incidents in them, as they pose a risk to the crews of the boats involved", reports the Efe news agency.
