A Spanish ship that refused to leave Gibraltar’s waters for 20 hours has finally departed after the Foreign Office summoned Spanish ambassador Federico Trillo.
The survey vessel came within 250 metres of the entrance to the Gibraltar Port on Monday and refused direct orders from British Royal Navy patrol boats to leave.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “The RN Gibraltar Squadron’s Fast Patrol Boats HMS Sabre and HMS Scimitar … challenged the Ramon Margalef’s presence by issuing appropriate warnings and preventing the deployment of the Ramon Margalef’s oceanographic surveying probe.
“There was no damage to any Royal Navy or Spanish equipment or vessels and no injuries were incurred.
“The actions of the Royal Navy were fully in accordance with Her Majesty’s Government’s commitment to uphold the sovereignty of Gibraltar with a range of proportionate responses.”
In a statement, Prime Minister David Cameron’s office said: “Our view on this, about the importance of the territorial integrity of our sovereign waters, is unchanged.
“It’s very important. We have communicated that to the Spanish government.”
The spokesman said that although Britain’s relationship with Spain was important, it the Government would not compromise on Gibraltar.
“Clearly our relations with the Spanish government are important to us. We work with them in a number of areas. Where we have differences we will make those very clear and intend to do that,” he said.
The Gibraltar government called the Spanish state vessel’s movements an “intolerable intrusion” and a “clear violation” of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
A spokesman said: “The Government takes a very serious view of this development which represents yet another escalation of Spain’s campaign against Gibraltar on land and at sea.”
The ship sailed within “dangerous” proximity of other ships in the harbour which prompted the Gibraltar Port Authority to issue a safety warning, the spokesman added.
It is the latest incident in a long-running row between Spain and the British territory.
The European Commission last week cleared Spain of any wrongdoing after it set up stringent border checks on the Gibraltar border crossing.
Travellers faced delays of several hours over the summer following a war of words between Spain and the UK.
Spanish authorities said the tightened controls were an attempt to crack down on tobacco smuggling, but Mr Cameron claimed the checks were “politically motivated”.
The increased border security came shortly after the construction of an artificial reef by the Gibraltar government which angered Spanish fishermen.
Spain lays claim to Gibraltar, which has a population of just 30,000 and was ceded to Britain 300 years ago.
