Tensions Rise As Spanish Fishermen Claim They've Been Stopped From Casting Their Nets

Tensions between Spain and the UK over Gibraltar have sharply increased after Spanish police demanded naval protection to defuse a fishing dispute around the Rock. A leading police union has urged Madrid to send in its armed forces to square up to the Royal Navy if it continued to back attempts to stop Spanish fishermen casting their nets near the British colony. The Spanish police claimed they were facing a "David and Goliath" battle every time Royal Navy vessels went to the aid of the Royal Gibraltar Police (RGP). Civil guards have recently been involved in a tense stand-off with the RGP and Royal Navy support vessels after Spanish fishermen claimed they had been stopped from casting their nets. A civil guard patrol boat is understood to have collided with an RGP boat, although there were no reports of any injuries. Spain's interior minister, Jorge Fernandez Diaz, insisted the country would not be "intimidated or humilliated" over the fishing dispute. "Our fishing vessels are going to be protected at all times and I am sure we will reach an understanding in the end. "We're not going to accept intimidation or humiliation, which I am sure no-one wants, to make Spain suffer." It's about protecting our fishermen. The problem occurs when David goes up against Goliath. The Union of Civil Guard Officers Mr Diaz claimed the RGB had apologised for the incident and insisted they had mistaken the Spanish fishermen from Algeciras for fishermen from the north African enclave of Ceuta. No-one from the RGP was immediately available for comment. But Gibraltar's chief minister, Fabian Picardo condemned the events as "a carefully premeditated challenge to our indisputable sovereignty." He said: "Those who are orchestrating these dangerous confrontations need to come to their senses and accept the challenge, once and for all, to litigate their claims to our territory in the relevant international tribunals." He claimed the civil guard had ignored repeated warnings by the Royal Navy to order the Spanish fishing vessels to leave British Gibraltar territorial waters. The Spanish fishermen - based in the southern Spanish port city of Algeciras - say they are being prevented from fishing off the Rock in waters they claim as their own in breach of a 1999 agreement aimed at protecting fish numbers. Mr Picardo said fishing with nets in waters Gibraltar claims as its own is outlawed under a 1991 environmental law unless a licence is issued. A spokesman for the Union of Civil Guard Officers said: "It's about protecting our fishermen. The problem occurs when David goes up against Goliath. "Civil guard vessels are 18 metres long and equipped with light weapons whereas Royal Navy vessels are at least 70 metres long and have military weapons. "It's the same as a police patrol car going up against an army unit with a combat tank." Spain's foreign minister, Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo will address the issue in a meeting with his British counterpart, William Hague, in London next week.

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