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7 July 2004
MADRID – The row over Gibraltar flared up again Wednesday after Spain registered its “deep annoyance” over a British nuclear submarine docking at the colony.
The Royal Navy submarine Tireless is to stop-off at the Rock.
Madrid said the stop-off marked a “negative point” in relations with London.
It is the latest in a series of rows between the two countries over the way nuclear submarines have used Gibraltar to refuel or to carry out exercises.
Spain claims these stop-offs potentially represent an ecological risk to the surrounding Spanish territory.
The Spanish Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Bernardino León, expressed his “disgust and deep annoyance” over the affair to the British embassy Stephen Wright.
Leon said it demonstrated a “lack of sensitivity” to Spanish public opinion.
Spain objected when the same submarine previously docked at Gibraltar.
He asked Wright to provide “all the guarantees of security possible”.
[Copyright EFE with Expatica]
Subject: Spanish news