Gibraltar ambush: Spain grabs miles of British waters to carry out 'environmental protection'

Source: Daily Mail
By Simon Mcgee
31st May 2009

They've tried invasion, diplomacy and downright skulduggery to grab a piece of Gibraltar during the past 300 years.

But now the Spanish have played their trump card by laying claim to 20 square miles of sea around the Rock...in the name of the environment.

And it seems to have worked – for the moment, at least. For the EU has granted Spain legal rights over British waters surrounding Gibraltar.

But the move has sparked protests from Britain and the Gibraltar government and led to a confrontation between Royal Navy and Spanish warships.

The grab for the section of British Gibraltar Territorial Waters (BGTW) came about when Spain convinced the European Commission to include Gibraltar’s waters within a new 69sq mile EU marine conservation area called the Estrecho Oriental, to be maintained by Spain.

However, under EU law, only the member state with sovereignty over the land or sea in question can apply for it to be designated an EU conservation site – meaning the EU has recognised Spain’s possession of British water.
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The designation requires Spain to undertake environmental protection work within the specified area, handing it an excuse in EU law for its ships to mount incursions into British waters.

Gibraltar has been a key strategic asset since it was ceded by Spain to Britain in perpetuity under the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, although the Spanish still claim the territory and insist the Treaty never relinquished its waters.

Spain’s new-found recognition was tested earlier this month when it sent
a corvette into British waters, fuelling diplomatic tensions.

The armed fisheries protection ship Tarifa entered unannounced into waters to the east of Gibraltar to inspect fishing boats, insisting that it was in Spanish waters.

The vessel retreated only after the Royal Navy patrol boat HMS Sabre was sent to intercept it.

The incursion took place just a day after the Gibraltar government made it known that it was considering taking legal action against the designation.

It has lodged a bid in the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg to overturn the decision.

Britain’s Europe Minister, Caroline Flint, said: ‘We share the deep concerns that this designation has caused in Gibraltar and we continue to assert our sovereignty over BGTW. ’

A Foreign Office spokeswoman added: ‘The UK is the only member state which is able to make a proposal like this. We do not recognise the validity of their designation.’

Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Peter Caruana told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Spain has usurped British sovereignty of Gibraltar waters. This is clearly wrong and unacceptable.

'Spain argues that Britain has no waters around Gibraltar, so its actions are not an innocent mistake. There is zero basis in international law for its position.’

Labour MP Lindsay Hoyle, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Gibraltar Group, said: ‘This decision must be reversed.

'The Spanish have been trying underhand tricks for 300 years to get a piece of Gibraltar, and unless we do something soon they will have finally succeeded in chipping away at our sovereignty of the Rock.’

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory, standing guard over the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, the Strait of Gibraltar.

The territory is a thin stretch of land covering just 2.6sq miles with a fiercely patriotic population of 28,000.

The European Commission declined to comment. The Spanish government failed to respond to phone calls.