DISPUTE: Inhabitants are concerned the Spanish authorities
want to control the British outpost of Gibraltar
Posted on 05/23/2009 7:29:31 AM PDT by yankeedame
Royal Navy warships have forced heavily armed Spanish ships to retreat from British waters around Gibraltar. Relations between the 30,000 residents of the British outpost and mainland Spain have become strained following what the Foreign Office described as 'a violation of British sovereignty'.
The warships were dispatched after Spanish ships sent boarding parties to inspect fishing boats in British waters, despite having no authority to do so.
DISPUTE: Inhabitants are concerned the Spanish authorities
want to control the British outpost of Gibraltar
The Rock's inhabitants fear Spain could damage their economy by making moves to seize control of its sea and air traffic.
The incident on May 8 is the latest in a long series since Britain was handed Gibraltar in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht.
The Spanish Government has refused to recognise that territorial waters were a part of that agreement and made repeated attempts to reclaim them....
The latest incident followed a day after Gibraltar's government vowed to block EU moves to give responsibility for the environment around the Rock to Spain. A spokesman for Gibraltar's opposition GSLP/Liberal party said: 'The latest incident is far more serious than anything that has happened before. It represents a frontal challenge to British sovereignty, jurisdiction and control over Gibraltar's territorial sea. 'As such the UK must not only respond to Spain, but must also extract guarantees from Madrid that it will never happen again.'...
STAND-OFF: The Royal Navy sent warships to see off Spanish vessels
which had entered Gibraltar's waters
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Wow, did we have a history flashback? Spain and Britain having a naval clash!
Once again, amother confirmation that the Spanish Government is wacko and another attempt to deflect Spanish public attention from the mounting serious social and political crises’ in Spain.
Maybe Spain just wants them to drive on the same side of the road as the rest of Europe?
Why can’t Spain just come and reclaim Cuba?
Just trying to build things up for Wednesday's Champions League final between Manchester United and Barcelona.
Two bald men fighting over a comb.
The last thing we need now is NATO members fighting each other.
He is an ideologue of the left and once they gain power they can be very aggressive.
Or the Philippines?
The Royal Navy still has Warships? Who knew?
Cuba is closer and more in need of a regime change.
Do they still have rum, sodomy and the lash?
HA!!
Say what you will about the Brits, they still know how to run a navy.
Strange, one would've thought the Spaniards would've learned their lesson, and more than just once.
Then again Spain's a socialist state these days; so, guess the *bold* display of abject stupidity makes sense.
They're down to just sodomy.
Seriously, I thought this was gonna be a 1939 thread.
Maturin’s going to be pissed...
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