Gib tug-of-war: Stalemate after phone call from Cameron to Rajoy; Spanish fishermen caught with contraband cigarettes
Gib tug-of-war: Stalemate after phone call from Cameron to Rajoy; Spanish fishermen caught with contraband cigarettes
TENSIONS are mounting between the UK and Spain over Gibraltar as three Spanish fishermen have been caught smuggling contraband cigarettes and British prime minister David Cameron has telephoned Mariano Rajoy to discuss the situation.
The Royal Gibraltar Police (RGP) found several cartons of fake cigarettes on board the San Francisco, a fishing boat from La Línea de la Concepción (Cádiz) in the Catalán Bay area of the Rock at about 04.00hrs this morning (Wednesday).
Three men, all from La Línea and aged 46, 49 and 51 were taken into custody along with three Gibraltarians – two aged 38 and one aged 42 – who were waiting on the beach at Catalán Bay for the illicit packages.
In the meantime Spanish president Mariano Rajoy has told Conservative leader David Cameron that Gibraltar's 'unilateral actions' are 'unacceptable'.
During the 10-minute conversation between the two heads of State, in which Rajoy recalled that the UK and Spain were 'friends, allies and fellow EU members', Cameron was told that the action of dropping concrete blocks into the sea around the rock near the port town of Algeciras (Cádiz) to form an artificial reef was not acceptable to the Spanish authorities.
Rajoy added that the customs checks on cars travelling into Spain from Gibraltar, causing queues for commuters, tourists and day-trippers of between three and seven hours, were 'perfectly consistent' with the Schengen border codes of practice and that Spain was merely 'complying with its obligation' to prevent smuggling.
He said the checks answered to requisites for random, proportional and non-discriminatory selection of vehicles pulled over.
Cameron continued to stress that the UK's sovereignty of the Rock was 'not negotiable', given that the majority of Gibraltarians have expressed their wish to remain British.
Residents in the province of Cádiz, which has one of the highest unemployment rates in Spain, who work in Gibraltar – where unemployment is at just three per cent – say they are taking up to seven hours to cover the short journey home from work and are often caught in similar queues on the way in.
This and foreign affairs minister José Manuel García-Margallo's plans to charge a 50-euro exit fee from the Rock means the Gibraltar workforce are worried their jobs may be at risk.
Despite the apparent stalemate between the two country leaders, Cameron said afterwards that the telephone call had been 'constructive'.
