Spanish Incursions and Claims to British Gibraltar

Gibraltar & El Campo
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“National Day” is an annual commemoration of the sovereignty referendum held on September 10th 1967, in which 99% of the population voted to remain under British rule rather than be passed over to Spain.

Spanish incursions and its claims to Gibraltar have remained a hot and heated topic in Gibraltar for decades. Excluding the last year, the border dispute, incursions and tensions between Madrid (Government of Spain) and Gibraltar dominated headlines in one way or another.

Brexit put another variable at play, including Chief Minister Picardo and Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya meeting for "shared prosperity".

While this border-dispute has kept everyone's attention on something other than what the government of Gibraltar does behind the scenes, it in nonetheless, an important topic for Gibraltarians.

And in the interest of sharing topics "other than Covid" on Defending-Gibraltar, taking into account what Gibraltarians find important, this post has been created to provide a thread for the Gibraltar/Spain Dispute.

Gibraltar is British – period.

Gibraltar – British or Spanish?

But that doesn't stop Madrid from laying claim; and there will be a time that Cadiz is united with Gibraltar.

Uniendo el Campo de Gibraltar con el Peñón/ Uniting the Camp of Gibraltar with The Rock

Uniting the Campo under Christ not Madrid

Letter to People of the Campo

Letter to First Minister and Mayors - Madrid wanting to share Gibraltar

Background:

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2013 - Fishing dispute sparks new friction between Spain, Gibraltar ...

2013 - UK to summon Spanish ambassador over Gibraltar sea incursion ...

2014 - Spanish ambassador summoned over Gibraltar 'incursion'

2015 - Gibraltar's contested waters: it's time to settle this unedifying spat

2017 - Spanish navy patrol ship sails into Gibraltar′s waters prompting ...

2019 - Gibraltar-Spain relations: Spain to complain after ...

2020 - Spanish warship enters UK waters around Gibraltar as 'show of ...

2021 - Gibraltar standoff: Spanish police ship invades UK waters as Royal ...

Related posts on D-G:

Spain Gloats It Has Been Given Control of Gibraltar’s Borders as Part of Brexit Deal

Spain capitulates on Gibraltar! Madrid shamed as Brexit deal ‘second surrender’ of Rock

PICARDO’S SOMERSAULTS OVER THE SPAIN/EU TALKS

PICARDO COVERS EVERY EU TREATY ANGLE

PICARDO’S MADRID MEETINGS ENDS IN SILENCE

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While Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory and is self-governing but with the monarch as head of state, the UK retains responsibility for defence.

And while the Royal Navy has had run-ins concerning Spainish incursions, like the 2013 fishing disputes mentioned above, it recently defended a crown dependency – Jersey – in a fishing dispute involving France:

Timothy Bradshaw questioned the dispute in this article, "WAS Thursday’s Gilbertian stand-off between French fishing boats and two British fishery patrol vessels staged by Johnson and Macron for their own electoral purposes?" More in the article below:

About HMS Tamar

Meet The Royal Navy's newest and greenest ship HMS Tamar

Meet The Royal Navys newest and greenest ship HMS Tamar

About HMS Tamar - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/our-organisation/the-fighting-arms/surface-fleet/patrol/river-class/hms-tamar?fbclid=IwAR0P9iq15fIlSu_HVBd8vSh0PJ8OfoYRt6Q8PMVNh7rKBgGPYxe4WJCSkMs

About HMS Severn – https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/our-organisation/the-fighting-arms/surface-fleet/patrol/river-class/hms-severn

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Royal Navy boat chases Spanish police boat out of Gibraltar’s waters in tense stand-off

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1497141/royal-navy-gibraltar-latest-Spanish-boat-MoD

A ROYAL NAVY boat has chased a Spanish police boat out of Gibraltar's waters in a tense stand-off between the pair.

The Spanish police had identified a Zodiac inflatable which they believed was being used to smuggle cigarettes. Unconfirmed reports from Spain say that the MoD vessel had hit the Spanish police boat.

The tense stand-off was caught on camera and following a search of the boat, there was no evidence of wrongdoing by those on board the Zodiac.

The Spanish media have claimed the Royal Navy and the Gibraltar Customs officials were “harassing” the Civil Guard, with the media adding the events took pace in “Spanish waters Gibraltar claims sovereignty over”.

Spanish government officials and the Civil Guard have yet to make a comment on the matter.

This is not the first time that an event like this has occurred between the Royal Navy and Spanish vessels, as the Royal Navy removed Spanish police vessel from the Bay of Gibraltar in January this year.

How This is Reported by Spanish The Local – Stand-off takes place between Spanish Civil Guard and British Royal Navy boats near Gibraltar

A dramatic incident took place between a Civil Guard patrol boat and Royal Navy patrol boats on Friday in the Bay of Algeciras, just off the coast of Gibraltar, when the Spanish boat entered disputed waters.**

The event took place at around 8:30 pm when a boat from the Civil Guard Maritime Service was trying to identify the occupants of a speed boat, similar to those used in tobacco and drug smuggling.

However, during the chase the British Royal Navy cut in, placing themselves between the suspicious speed boat and the Spanish Civil Guard in a dangerous manoeuvre, reports from Spanish news website Europa Sur and a video of the incident shared online suggest.

The waters where the event occurred are located 1.5 miles off the coast and are currently in dispute, as Gibraltar claims they belong to them.

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Gibraltar Logs More Incursions than Spain -

Last year, London logged 634 and Madrid logged five.

Gibraltar is British.

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Eastern Beach incident: The

@thetimes

quotes a

@FCDOGovUK

spokesman as saying the UK Government regrets and condemns the assault suffered by the two officers and wishes them a speedy recovery.


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3:25 PM · Feb 5, 2023·