The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned “the aggression suffered” by members of the Customs Surveillance Service who have been concerned “in an operation to fight smuggling in Spanish territory and waters close to the Rock of Gibraltar, leading to critical accidents.”
In this context, from the division led by José Manuel Albares they’ve “categorically” rejected the phrases of the joint declaration issued by representatives of the British Government in relation to the incident, “in addition to the claims of an alleged British sovereignty over the territory and waters of Gibraltar collected in it”.
For the Spanish authorities, this assertion “is very incomprehensible” at a time when Spain “has put an settlement on the desk to create a zone of shared prosperity.”
“The Government of Spain calls for efficient measures to fight smuggling that harms the whole space and needs the Spanish brokers their needs for a speedy restoration,” the assertion concluded.
As the Government of Gibraltar has additionally beforehand acknowledged, this intervention “would represent a really critical infringement of the regulation” within the case of “it being confirmed that Spanish officers fired their weapons in Gibraltar”, along with being a “reckless and harmful” motion in an space, as they’ve harassed, “with a excessive density of civilian inhabitants, given the proximity of a residential improvement.”
In this context, the Governments of Gibraltar and the United Kingdom have thought-about that the occasions “would require a cautious analysis when it comes to the character and degree of the diplomatic response”, for which they’ve defined that “they’ll contact Spanish officers to ask them for explanations about this violation of the sovereignty of Gibraltar earlier than making a closing choice on the measures to be adopted”.
“The proof surrounding this incident reveals a critical violation of British sovereignty and, doubtlessly, probably the most critical and harmful incident for a few years,” mentioned the primary minister, Fabián Picardo, who identified, nonetheless, that “earlier than to react” they’ll “be certain of the details. “But occasions point out that the actions of Spanish officers are insupportable,” he criticized.