EMEA News
Spain Threatened Gibraltar Bunker Supplier with Sanctions
The Spanish government has threatened a Gibraltar bunker supplier with sanctions, Gibraltar newspaper Panorama reports.
Spain, which claims the waters off Gibraltar, argued that the company was violating Spanish law.
UK Foreign Office Minister Sayeeda Hussain Warsi told the British House of Lords that the Spanish Environmental Ministry wrote to the company on June 26, 2013.
"That letter alleged the company was carrying out activities contrary to a Spanish Royal Decree," she said.
"It warned the company to cease this activity or the Ministry would initiate unspecified sanctions against them."
The bunker supplier in question was not named in the report.
Warsi said the British Embassy in Madrid protested the Spanish action and rejected Spanish efforts to exercise control over Gibraltar waters, which the UK considers a violation of British sovereignty.
"The Spanish government replied on 1 August, rejecting our protest and claiming that the waters adjacent to Gibraltar are Spanish, a claim we unreservedly reject," she added.
"Since then we have heard no more about this matter and the company concerned continues to operate."
The Gibraltar bunkering industry has not been affected by these events, Warsi said.
Tensions over Gibraltar flared last year as Spain denounced bunkering in the area and has continued with skirmishes including an "incursion" by Spanish ships in February that was captured on video.
