Four Guardia Civil arrested in Gibraltar harbour following chase incident

According to media reports tonight, four Spanish 'Guardia Civil' officers were detained in Gibraltar earlier today, following an incident.

Gibraltar's Panorama is reporting that a Guardia Civil launch was chasing a Spanish fast boat in waters near Gibraltar. The pursuit continued into Gibraltar harbour and ended with both the fast boat and the Guardia Civil launch being grounded in Gibraltar port area by 'Harbour Views', late this evening.

Once on land, the two men on the fast launch raced for cover. The Guardia Civil rushed after them. Shots were heard, it is claimed.

The Guardia Civil officers were taken to Police HQ. Gibraltar police also arrested the two men on the fast launch and took them away. The two vessels have been seized.

The Gibraltar police said this was a 'very serious' incident.

Eyewitnesses claim that several shots were heard, but it was not clear how many and this report has not been confirmed.

Later this evening, the Guardia Civil officers were released after questioning and Spain's Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba telephoned Gibraltar's Chief Minister Peter Caruana and apologised for the incursion.

"Sr Rubalcaba called me personally tonight. He said that they deeply regretted the incident and apologised," Caruana said.

Last month, London's ambassador in Spain was obliged to make a public apology on November 20 after a Royal Navy unit based in Gibraltar was seen shooting at a buoy allegedly 'painted in the colours of the Spanish flag' during target practice.

The Spanish Government does not recognise the waters around the Rock, which are British Gibraltar Territorial Waters. But the Spanish have been arrested within the waters of the port itself, which the Spanish Government accept that these waters were ceded under the terms of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, Britain's legal title to the Rock.

Britain should show more resolve in defence of Gibraltar territorial waters

Three months ago I complained about the lack of support for Gibraltar in the British press over Spain's relentless bullying of Gibraltar.

Not that the press has given us much support since, but today I see, the Mail Online (who else) is having a bit of a go... talking about what they term as the Gibraltar ambush: Spain grabs miles of British waters to carry out 'environmental protection;.

While this 'news' broke at least three months ago, (I blogged about it at the time: Gibraltar territorial waters and sovereignty once more under threat from Spanish bullying) it's good to see that at least one British newspaper has finally decided to say something about this!

Before anyone has a go at me telling me that there have been other reports in the British press recently about the recent infringements by Spain of Gibraltar's territorial waters... I am aware of those reports. But those reports have simply mentioned the incidents of Spain's transgressions into our waters... some in rather 'gung ho' and alarmist fashion. None (to my knowledge) have looked at the issue on the way Spain has managed to trick the EU into granting Spain legal rights over our British sovereign territorial waters surrounding Gibraltar. Simon McGee, writing in today's Mail Online highlights the issue rather well. Thank you Simon... and 'middle England'!

He even tried to contact the European Commission and the Spanish Foreign Affairs Ministry for comment but... surprise surprise... the EU Commission declined to comment and the Spanish government failed to respond to phone calls.

There have been reports in the British press over the last couple of weeks, that Britain was sending some warships out to Gibraltar, following the recent incidents. I haven't been able to corroborate or confirm the veracity of these reports from any reliable source (other than the UK press) but I can tell you... NO new warships have arrived in Gibraltar... as yet.

There is however, the substantial presence of the British nuclear submarine HMS Trenchant which was observed in the Bay of Gibraltar last Thursday. However, the submarine was only there to carry out a crew transfer and was on its way elsewhere. It was met by units from the Gibraltar Squadron, who in addition to providing an escort also ferried the transferring crew rom submarine to shore. It is reported that the transfer was carried out in the bay "because of poor weather conditions" in the Strait of Gibraltar. In any event, whatever it is up to, a nuclear powered submarine, whilst powerful in any regard, is very ill equipped and totally unsuitable to deal with the types of incidents that have occurred lately.

The brief visit by the nuclear powered submarine drew the usual and predictable response from 'Blanca Luz', Spain's Popular Party opposition MP for Cádiz, Jose Ignacio Landaluce, who repeated (as he does parrot fashion) his concerns about "safety" and urged the Spanish government to "take a tougher line"... bloody cheek! But speaking of Governments taking a 'tougher line', I agree... but it's Britain that should be taking a much tougher line!

As far as I know, the defence of our territorial waters, in this important issue and with the worrying atmosphere of rising tensions, is still up to the two units, the small patrol boats HMS Sabre and HMS Scimitar, belonging to the Royal Navy's Gibraltar Squadron.

In the light of a recent Defence Management report, which argues that support in Westminster for the Royal Navy has become so bad that the service now has a mere nine ships allocated to protecting Britain's territorial waters. The Royal Navy cuts mean less maritime security for the UK, so this does not augur very well for the Royal Navy's capabilities and the defence of Gibraltar's own British sovereign territorial waters!

As I've said before... so far, all concerned have been able to show restraint in these incidents, both on the Spanish Guardia Civil maritime patrol boats and on the British side, by the Royal Navy and the Gibraltar Police's maritime units... but I can see how these confrontations could easily go awry. Let's hope further escalations can be avoided and the matter can be resolved soon... before someone is hurt and we are having to deal with a much more serious 'international incident'!

I am a little comforted that both the Royal Gibraltar Police and the Ministry of Defence in Gibraltar are trying to ensure that their personnel know exactly what they have to do if faced with yet another Spanish incursion. In the wake of these recent tense incidents at sea off Gibraltar, police and military planners have reportedly revisited the operating procedures for marine crews patrolling British waters and that is comforting to know but one would expect them to be checking and reviewing their procedures.

More importantly... if further confrontations are to be avoided, I for one would feel far more comfortable if the British government were to send more substantial naval units to Gibraltar and, if nothing else, show Spain in no uncertain terms, that unlike in the lead up to the Falklands conflict with the pulling out of a substantial naval presence then, in this instance Britain is resolved to defend its territorial waters vigorously, by stationing one or two frigates or destroyers, at least, in Gibraltar now! Trouble is... does the UK have the will or the capability?

Where is Drake when you need him?

"So please your Majesty, to singe the King of Spain's beard; it has grown somewhat too long."

Worrying escalation of incidents around Gibraltar territorial waters

Media sources in Gibraltar are reporting yet another incident in a worrying increase of tension around Gibraltar's territorial sovereign waters over the last couple of weeks.

Brian Reyes, writing in today's Chronicle says, yet again, a Guardia Civil patrol boat intercepted a suspected smuggler in Gibraltar waters yesterday. The following is his report:

In doing so, it ignored the usual procedure of informing the Royal Gibraltar Police to take up the chase.

The RGP was alerted to the incident by members of the public and, on reaching the scene, instructed the Guardia Civil to leave the area.

But although the incident comes at a time of tension over Gibraltar's territorial waters, two senior official sources initially suggested it may be overzealous policing by the Spanish officers, rather than a politically-motivated exercise.

The Government said last night it had had an initial report from the RGP in respect of the incident, when there was an incursion by a Guardia Civil launch in Gibraltar territorial waters in the area of Catalan Bay, 'in circumstances which would appear to be unacceptable'.

The Government declared that it takes a 'serious view of this matter and will take such appropriate action as may be required when all aspects of the incident have been investigated and established. '

Gibraltar and Spanish law enforcement agencies cooperate closely to tackle smuggling activity at sea. Guardia Civil vessels regularly sail through Gibraltar waters but do not normally carry out operational tasks without having first contacted the RGP.

What makes yesterday's incident unusual is that the Guardia Civil did not contact the RGP until after the incident had unfolded.

"My gut feeling is that the Guardia Civil officers were just a bit too keen on this one," one senior official said.

The incident has nonetheless generated some concern because it comes exactly two weeks after a Spanish Navy incursion in Gibraltar waters sparked diplomatic tensions.

Yesterday, the suspect launch - a small 'patera', later found to be empty - was chased close to shore in the area of Catalan Bay and eventually ended up beached at the edge of the reclaimed land.

Two men jumped off and fled from the scene. They were still at large as this edition went to press.

The RGP said it received several calls from people in the area while the chase was underway at sea and despatched both land and marine units to the scene.

"The crew on the police launch challenged the Guardia Civil as to their purpose in Gibraltar's territorial waters and told them to leave, which they did without any problem," and RGP spokesman said.

This somewhat surprising and apparent escalation of transgressions into Gibraltar' territorial waters are worrying.

Even the UK National press are now focusing on the issue with Daily Express talking about a "Return of the Armada as Spain ‘invades’ Gibraltar" and the Daily Mail Online today saying that Royal Navy warships have been "dispatched as Spanish invade seas around Gibraltar". I'm not sure what truth there is in that report.

As far as I know, so far, it has been units from the Gibraltar Squadron of the Royal Navy who have effectively dealt with these incursions, including the recent ordering of a Spanish Civil Guard patrol boat to leave Gibraltar waters in the first reported incident.

I'm hoping the 'Senior Official's gut feeling' quoted in the Chronicle report is correct, when he said his "gut feeling is that the Guardia Civil officers were just a bit too keen on this one". Maybe the local units have a new boss, who's keen to stamp his mark. I certainly hope this apparent 'new agenda' is not being directed from Madrid... as if it is, things are a little more serious.

Either way, as I said last Thursday, I very much hope the Guardia Civil and the Spanish authorities, can be 'encouraged' by the UK's Foreign Office and of course the Gibraltar authorities, to reign in whatever agenda they are now manipulating, before these incidents become more serious and someone is hurt through some 'trigger-happy' blunder.

So far, all concerned have been able to show restraint... but I can see how these could easily go awry. Let's hope this can be resolved soon... before someone is hurt and we are having to deal with a much more serious 'international incident'!

Royal Navy 'shoos' Spanish Civil Guards patrol boat out of Gibraltar territorial waters

A patrol boat from the Gibraltar Squadron of the Royal Navy recently ordered a Spanish Civil Guard patrol boat to leave Gibraltar waters.

A report in Panorama, one of Gibraltar's online newspapers, today said that the Royal Navy patrol boat approached the Civil Guard vessel and "with its armament aimed at it" ordered the Spanish vessel to leave Gibraltar waters. The incident apparently occurred on Good Friday.

According to Panorama, the Spanish Government recently said it had instructed the Guardia Civil maritime section to "keep watch on the east side of the Rock", where Gibraltar is carrying out a substantial reclamation and development project, and that Spain has described such waters as Spanish.

Panorama added that the Civil Guards contacted their superiors who requested that they leave the area so as "to avoid a major diplomatic incident".

Reports of the incident are a little murky and contradictory. Some reports say the incident occurred on the East side of Gibraltar.... and say that weapons were aimed at the Civil Guard patrol boat.

However, according to reports from Agence France Presse, carried by media affiliates, the incident occurred "when the Spanish vessel was close to the western approach to the Gibraltar airport runway, which juts out into the bay".

AFP also quote a spokesperson for British Forces Gibraltar who apparently said, "it was definitely in Gibraltar waters".

AFP further report:

"The vessel - from Spain's elite Civil Guard police force - was approached by HMS Sabre, which is armed with two machine guns at its stern. The guns were manned as is standard practice. However, they were not pointed at the Spanish vessel."

Territorial Waters Dispute

This is the latest incident in, to-date, only a 'war of words' over Gibraltar's territorial waters.

Last December, the European Union, in an apparent bureaucratic wrangle, accepted a somewhat surreptitious Spanish request to list most of Gibraltar’s territorial sea as one of Spain’s protected sites under EU environmental legislation.

In doing so, the Commission ignored the fact that Britain has jurisdiction over these waters and had already designated part of them as a European protected site in 2006.

The Spanish Government argue that the waters around the Rock are Spanish, although this has always been firmly rejected by Britain.

Reporting in the Gibraltar Chronicle earlier this month, Brian Reyes wrote that Britain "continues to seek ways of reversing the European Commission’s decision to designate Gibraltar’s territorial waters as a European protected site under Spanish responsibility."

In a response to a written question in the House of Lords, Lord Malloch-Brown, Labour’s Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said the British Government had taken up the issue with officials in Brussels and Spain. But he gave few other details and ducked a question from the crossbench peer Lord Kilclooney on how the situation had come about in the first.

Blanca Luz jumps on the bandwagon

As usual, our friend 'Blanca Luz', that guiding light of Spain's right wing PP opposition party, also known as José Ignacio Landaluce (Blanca Luz for short), has quickly jumped on the latest bandwagon to stir things up once again for Gibraltar.

The member of parliament of the Spanish Partido Popular, Jose Ignacio Landaluce, who (as Panorama also agrees), does not allow any opportunity to go by in his Gibraltar campaign, has said that the Spanish Government cannot allow a vessel of the armed Guardia Civil to be expelled "from its own home", alluding to the waters around Gibraltar as being Spanish.

He says this is a very serious matter that needs clarification in the Spanish parliament, where he intends to raise it. That was no doubt followed by a vigorous 'tub-thump' from 'Blanca Luz'!

Panorama adds:

"Sr Landaluce takes the view that a British patrol launch does not aim its guns at a vessel of the Civil Guards unless it is under strict orders to do so.

He calls for the possibility of Spain changing its policy on Gibraltar until what he terms the legal situation is restored, saying that the legality of the situation can 'only and exclusively' be restored by Britain recognising that the waters surrounding the Rock are Spanish."

Vigorous guard by Royal Navy Welcome

Whilst I very much hope the situation remains calm and we do not see any escalation with further incidents such as this one, especially armed ones, I do hope the Royal Navy's Gibraltar Squadron continue to guard Gibraltar's territorial waters vigorously!

Otherwise... we may need to once again bring our own great Knight... Sir Francis Drake into play!

"So please your Majesty, to singe the King of Spain's beard; it has grown somewhat too long."

Well... if not to singe the King of Spain's beard... at least we could have a go at singeing our friend Blanca Luz a little... but it'll have to be 'where the sun don't shine'... as he has very little left up top!

Gibraltar Squadron Royal Navy

HMS Sabre, wearing the pennant number P285, is one of two permanently stationed sea-going units in Gibraltar which make up the Gibraltar Squadron of the Royal Navy. Principally operating to maintain the security and integrity of Gibraltar Territorial Waters, HMS Sabre also contributes heavily to the support of Fleet and NATO assets in the area, provides support to Director Special Forces and offers general Search and Rescue assistance for the local authorities, for police, customs and rescue purposes.

More information on HMS Sabre (P285) @ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Royal Marines Gibraltar Memorial Unveiled... a day late

On Saturday, Royal Marines from 40 Commando returned to the scene of one of their most famous and historic battles and conducted a ceremonial parade exercising their 'Freedom of the City of Gibraltar'.

Unfortunatly, they also returned to a very rain-swept Gibraltar!

In my post leading up to the event, I said I hoped for 'a nice sunny day and no Levanter'. Clearly... I forgot about the rain... (and probably put the kibosh on things!) which deluged and delayed the unveiling of their wonderful new monument until today!

The weekend’s events for the Royal Marines culminated tonight, with a band concert at St Michael’s Cave. (I hope to publish some pictures of this tomorrow).

The weekend's events, commemorate the capture of the Rock of Gibraltar, in an amphibious assault, on the 24th of July 1704 by Engligh and Dutch Marines, who after capturing the Town, withheld a prolonged siege from October 1704 to April 1705, thereby achieving 'immortal glory' according to commentators at the time.

'Gibraltar' became the only one of many battle honours that the Royal Marines include in their 'Globe and Laurel' insignia (image on the right) when, in 1827, George IV ordered them to wear it with pride. I explain the Royal Marines long association with Gibraltar more fully in my post on Friday.

This is the first time the Royal Marines have marched through the streets of Gibraltar, exercising their 'Freedom of the City of Gibraltar', since it was awarded in 1996.

Despite the rain, their parade along Main Street was lined with hundreds of people and dignitaries. A public reception was then held on their behalf by the Governor, Lieutenant General Sir Robert Fulton KBE, himself a Royal Marine.

In a hastily-rescheduled Sunday lunchtime ceremony at Europort, Chief Minister Peter Caruana (seen here in the middle) unveiled the monument, near the point where the Marines first came ashore in 1704. Commandant General Royal Marines, Major General Garry Robison, then dedicated the monument.

Lieutenant Colonel Paul James, the Commanding Officer of 40 Commando, said:

"It is an immense privilege to be able to represent the Royal Marines at such a Parade and provide a Guard of Honour.

Gibraltar holds a hugely important position in our history and every Royal Marine is acutely aware of the events of the early eighteenth century and the traditions they helped engender."

40 Commando’s Alpha Company and attached ranks have been practicing arms drill and marching for weeks in preparation for the parade. On the transit from the United Kingdom, on the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Mounts Bay, the Company was even practicing on the flight deck of the ship.

Marine Andy Tipping, who is 22 and from Durham said, "we are very conscious of Marines of the past and their exceptional achievements, which continue to inspire us all today".

"We were all proud to be a part of this parade. All Royal Marines learn about the taking and holding of Gibraltar during our training and it’s a great honour to follow in the footsteps of our forebears."

The Commandos are in Gibraltar as their first port of call on the Royal Navy’s Taurus 09 deployment, the largest in over a decade. They move next to Cyprus to undertake amphibious exercises as the Royal Navy demonstrates its ability to project a landing force from ship to shore using helicopters and landing craft, all based from the Amphibious Task Group.

Major Sean Brady, the Officer Commanding Alpha Company and also the Guard Commander for the Parade, said:

"The Marines of Alpha Company have worked exceptionally hard preparing for this weekend but representing the Corps on such an occasion is a perfect opportunity to pay our respects to Royal Marines of the past and their exceptional achievements, which continue to inspire us all."

The commemorations and weekend's events have also been enjoyed by a large contingent of veterans, members of the Royal Marines Association, many of whom have travelled to Gibraltar from far and wide and proudly paid their respects to this wonderful memorial to the Royal Marines in Gibraltar.

Note: I am indebted to HQBF for the images of the memorial which are shown here courtesy of Cpl Ralph Merry, Command Photographer, Media Operations - HQ British Forces Gibraltar. Cpl Merry must have been challenged 'beyond the call of duty' by the torrential rain on Saturday, as unfortunately, no pics of the actual parade were able to be provided. Hopefully, nothing will get in the way of pics of the band concert at St Michael's Cave tonight... stalactites and stalagmites notwithstanding! ;)

Update: This post has been updated to include more images and a video. You can see the updated post here.

Royal Marines to unveil monument and exercise their 'Freedom of the City of Gibraltar' tomorrow

The Royal Marines have a long history and association with Gibraltar.

In 1704, during the War of the Spanish Succession with France and Spain, a combined fleet, commanded by Admiral Sir George Rooke, assisted by Field Marshal Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt, captured Gibraltar. The force, comprising of 1,900 English (The Act of Union was not until 3 years later in 1707) and 400 Dutch marines prevented Spanish reinforcements reaching the fortress. Later, English ships bombarded the city while marines and seamen stormed the defences. The force later withstood nine months of siege.

Today the Royal Marines display only the battle honour 'Gibraltar' and their close relationship with the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps continues. It is for this reason that the date of 24th July 1704 is one of the Corps’ ten most memorable dates.

In 1827, King George IV, faced with having to choose battle honours from an extensive list, decided that Royal Marines’ Colours would in future bear the symbol of the ‘Great Globe itself’ and that thereafter the only battle honour on Royal Marines’ Colours would be that of Gibraltar.

In 1996, the Corps was granted the Freedom of the City of Gibraltar. In 2006, the Gibraltar Heritage Trust suggested that a monument be erected to mark the long historical association between the Corps and the Rock.

Tomorrow, Saturday 28 February, it has been decided that the Royal Marines will exercise their Freedom of the City of Gibraltar and will unveil a monument which celebrates their long association with Gibraltar.

Monument

The Chief Minister Peter Caruana and Commandant General Royal Marines, Major General Garry Robison, will unveil and dedicate a monument at Ocean Village.

Freedom of the City

The unveiling of the monument will be followed by a parade in Casemates. The Royal Marines will then exercise their 'Freedom of of the City of Gibraltar' by marching through the city.

These events will involve 78 Marines from 40 Cdo RM, plus the Band of Royal Marines Scotland and members of the Royal Marines Association.

Band Concert


The weekend will end with a concert in St Michael’s Cave by the Band of Royal Marines Scotland on Sunday evening.

Tickets for the concert are available from the Gibraltar Bookshop, Sacarello’s Coffee Shop and from the Royal Gibraltar Regiment Recruiting Office and Casemates.

Timings for Sat 28 Feb

1050 hrs: Parade leaves Waterport Coach Park
1100 hrs: Parade forms up at Ocean Village
1115 hrs: Unveiling and Dedication Service
About 1145 hrs: CGRM inspects parade in Casemates Square
About 1200 hrs Parade steps off to march up Main St, paying its compliments to the Mayor outside Parliament House
About 1230 hrs: Parade ends at the Convent

All I can add is... I wish I was there!

I shall try and do an update on these celebrations, including some pics, as soon as possible, following the events. Let's hope for a nice sunny day and no Levanter!

Update: This post has been updated to include images and a video. You can see the updated post of the weekend's commemorative events here.

Nuclear submarine collision in Gibraltar... what if?

As you may have heard on the news yesterday, both Britain and France admitted that two of their nuclear powered submarines, HMS Vanguard, armed with Trident nuclear ballistic missiles and Le Triomphant, also armed with strategic nuclear missiles, collided while submerged in the Atlantic earlier this month.

As I took in the news yesterday, I wondered how long it would be, before this event would be connected to the polemics of nuclear submarine visits to Gibraltar and transitting the Bay of Gibraltar area. Well, I didn't have long to wait.

Today, a couple of esteemed colleagues, British expats who write on matters that surround them, (and whatever else takes their fancy... ) in Southern Spain, Andalusia and Gibraltar, over at Tilting at Windmills and JimenaPulse, both made the connection to the issue in blog posts.

I suppose, understandably, they pose the question, "Nuclear submarine collision in Gibraltar - what if?"

While the usual suspects in the area, such as the 'greens', some PSOE politicians and no doubt one or two of the communities' mayors, will get all a'fluster, in their usual way... they just love any opportunity to stir this one up... there really is very little real cause for concern.

The collision, undoubtedly embarassing to both Navies, was from a point of view of nuclear threat, minimal. For starters, these submarines' hulls are designed and built to withstand extremes of pressures. Even a collision at speed would be unlikely to rupture the actual hull. The fact that these submarines enter and leave or transit the whole of the Bay of Gibraltar area at slow navigating speeds, often even being aided by tugs, (at slow speeds) makes the possibility of hull ruptures, never mind damage to reactors, through a collision, completely negligible if not farcical.

As for the nuclear weapons themselves.... the chances of one of these going BANG!... due to a collision, again is nigh on impossible. These weapons have to go through a myriad of sequential steps, before they are properly armed or able to be triggered and ready for launch.... never mind accidentally going off. It's just not physically possible for this to happen accidentally.

I know what you are thinking.... after all... they did also say the Titanic was 'unsinkable' right? But... I think we really need to get real here. Alarming the local communities about risk to life and limb... or their health is ludicrous in this particularly context, in my humble opinion.


There are much more real threats to health to all the communities in the Bay of Gibraltar. I am referring of course, to the very well documented issues of pollution in the Campo de Gibraltar area. Huge, uncontrolled and unacceptable pollution caused by the CEPSA Refinery, Acerinox and other industrial plants along with the endless and again, totally unacceptable levels of benzene, often because of bunkering activities in Gibraltar itself, that are constantly experienced throughout the area!

The Plataforma por el Estudio Epidemiologico (which includes the ESG and Bay Bucket Brigade) have been campaigning on these issues for a very long time. In November 2002, a complaint was lodged with the EU and is still awaiting a substantive response!

These groups have been seriously questioning the legality of pollution and especially benzene levels present in the Campo and Bay areas for decades.

This, to my mind, is far more worthy a cause to complain about... even to raise the alarm about... as a matter of urgency, for the better health of the people and communities of the Bay of Gibraltar and Campo de Gibraltar areas! It's long overdue. For some... it's actually too late... I suspect, yours truly included!