A number of serious issues have been highlighted by Spanish air traffic controllers and its airport organisation AENA which show the extent to which Madrid’s sovereignty claim is interfering with air communications in the region. This points to the fact that despite the propaganda about the restoration of normality in air communications between Gibraltar and Spain the present situation is far from normal.

  The position of the Spanish Government that Gibraltar has no sovereign airspace has led to claims that air safety and security are being compromised in the skies around Gibraltar. AENA has complained about the absence of standardised procedures and agreements with Gibraltar that in some cases makes the safety and security of air operations difficult to guarantee. The Director of AENA last year floated the possibility of establishing  Air Traffic Flow Manangement (ATM) coordination with Gibraltar but was told that any such contacts must be first coordinated with the Spanish Foreign Ministry. It is clear from the information that has been made public that even matters of a technical nature are being made subject to political considerations because of the Spanish sovereignty claim.

  The establishment of a helicopter link between Malaga and Ceuta has added to the problem and AENA has reported an increased number of incidents as a result. The situation is expected to deteriorate even further when the planned helicopter link between Algeciras and Ceuta starts in July. The obvious reason for more incidents is because the helicopter operators will want to fly in a straight line which means the overflight of Gibraltar airspace which Spain does not recognise.

  The Opposition is not surprised that the hard-line attitude of Madrid is proving to be an obstacle to normal communications between air traffic controllers in Spain and their counterparts in Gibraltar. There have been a number of reported incidents where Spanish aeroplanes and helicopters have strayed into Gibraltar airspace and refused to leave when requested to do so by Gibraltar air traffic control. Indeed, during the air display by the Red Arrows a solitary Spanish aircraft which was believed to belong to its environment Ministry made its presence felt close to Gibraltar at the same time as the display was going on.

Moreover, when the Gibraltar Parliament enacted the Civil Aviation Act which transferred most powers over civil aviation from the Governor to the Government, it was reported at the time that this did not go down well in Madrid. In view of the position of Spain, Shadow Minister responsible for Civil Aviation Dr Joseph Garcia asked the Government in Parliament last year to confirm that the Civil Aviation Act applied to the territorial airspace of Gibraltar and for a geographical description and the geographical coordinates of Gibraltar’s territorial airspace. The Government confirmed that the Act applied “to the territorial airspace of Gibraltar, which consists of the airspace above the land mass of Gibraltar and the territorial waters of Gibraltar”, and they supplied the precise coordinates.

Commenting on the matter, Shadow Minister with responsibility for Civil Aviation Dr Joseph Garcia said:

“The Spanish Government are causing all sorts of problems because they refuse to recognise that Gibraltar has any sovereign airspace. The Spanish controllers and AENA are now calling for a formal letter of agreement between Gibraltar and Seville in order to standardise procedures for flights in and out of our airport and for Gibraltar to be assigned airspace. This is something that the Spanish Government have always refused to do for political reasons. The solution to this predicament is very simple. All that they have to do is recognise the legal and practical reality that Gibraltar has its own airspace.”

The antics of the patrol boats of the Spanish state in the waters around Gibraltar are not only intolerable from a political point of view but they also pose a danger to shipping in our territorial waters. This follows the latest incident last week which involved a patrol boat and a cruise liner.

The Opposition understands that last Wednesday 19th the cruise liner “Grand Princess” was leaving the north mole and heading out into the Bay. A launch belonging to Spain’s Servicio de Vigilancia Aduanera (SVA) was chasing a small Spanish boat inside Gibraltar waters and very close to the cruise ship itself. The SVA than proceeded to stop the small boat right in front of the path of the cruise liner, knowing full well that there was no way in which it could stop in time. The cruise liner maintained its course and both Spanish vessels then moved quickly north out of the way into the waters in the Spanish side of the Bay.

The Opposition considers that the continuing incursions by the Spanish Guardia Civil and SVA launches pose a threat and a hazard to shipping operations in and around the Port of Gibraltar. The fact is that they have no respect for our jurisdiction and that they operate in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters as if they were operating in Spain. It will be recalled that a few months ago a launch from the SVA was performing dangerous manouvres around a small boat in the entrance to the Port. The Guardia Civil patrol boat did the same to an RGP launch recently. This incident was filmed by a member of the public and it appeared in the media. Last year, after a Guardia Civil launch actually entered the Port itself at night, the Commander British Forces made it known that they would have been shot at if they had strayed into Admiralty waters inside the harbour instead.

The constant incursions by the agencies of the Spanish state inside Gibraltar waters are a matter for serious concern. This kind of behaviour by these foreign law enforcement agencies is irresponsible, wreckless and could provoke a serious accident at any moment. There was no presence by the RGP or by the Royal Navy at the incident in front of the cruise ship last week. This suggests that there is a need for continuous sea-bourne patrols in order to be able to respond promptly and protect the integrity of our sovereignty and our jurisdiction from this continuous abuse.

The position in the European Union regarding the colours of ambulance beacon lights shows that it is Spain and not Gibraltar that is out of step and out of tune with the rest of Europe. This follows the recent fine imposed on a Gibraltar ambulance by the Guardia Civil because its beacon lights were flashing blue and not amber.

The EU standard for ambulances and medical transportation vehicles is CEN1789:2007. This voluntary code was published by the European Committee on Standardisation on 29 June 2007 and it is applicable to road ambulances capable of transporting at least one person on a stretcher. The European standard includes the requirements for the design, testing, performance and equipping of road ambulances used for the transport and care of patients.

The European standard makes it clear that all ambulances should be equipped with flashing blue beacon lights. The Opposition understands this was taken on board by most countries of the European Union in relation to new ambulances except for Spain and Greece who opted to keep the amber flashing lights instead. Indeed, in most EU countries the lights are blue for all emergency service vehicles including the police and fire-fighters as well. The amber lights are used by slow vehicles like large trucks, cranes or tractors.

However, the position in the Spanish traffic code is that only police cars can use flashing blue lights and the rest must use the flashing amber. One of the reasons for the standardisation recommendations in the EU is to allow an ambulance from one country to possess sufficiently common characteristics to be recognizable in another. In any case, the Guardia Civil must have immediately recognised the ambulance from Gibraltar when it was stopped and fined so that it is not clear what purpose was served by such an uncecessary action. Indeed, when ambulances from Spain cross into Gibraltar common sense dictates that these are not fined simply because their beacon lights flash a different colour.

Commenting on the matter, Shadow Health Minister Neil Costa said:
“The treatment of this ambulance, its crew, the nurse and the patient was nothing if not shameful. Whereas it is for Spain to decide how to regulate its own internal affairs, she should not penalise ambulances from other parts of the EU which, in fact, comply with EU guidelines. The CEN1789 standard dates back to June 2007, which is nearly three years ago. The reality is that Spain does not have any excuse for the actions of the Civil Guard, which reflect the continued attempts to antagonise Gibraltar. ”

The Opposition consider that it is outrageous that the incursions into Gibraltar’s territorial waters by the Guardia Civil continue unabated. This shows a complete lack of respect for the sovereignty, jurisdiction and control that Gibraltar exercises in waters which are British under international law.

The Opposition understands that there was another incident on Tuesday at a distance of only about 250/300 metres off the South Mole. This time a Guardia Civil RHIB boarded a Spanish flagged cabin cruiser and proceeded to behave as if they were in Spain and not in Gibraltar. The Civil Guard obviously have no jurisdiction here. An RGP vessel attended the scene followed later by the Royal Navy and the Guardia Civil then made its way back to Algeciras and the cabin cruiser to La Linea.

It is now abundantly clear that the Spanish Civil Guard, which is a paramilitary agency of the Spanish state and whose agents are armed, continue to come in and out Gibraltar waters as they please. This is totally unacceptable and it must be stopped. The Royal Gibraltar Police, who are often the first point of contact with the intruders, are at a distinct disadvantage in terms of resources and for this reason they must be praised for what they do. It is important to note that the larger vessels which the Chief Minister said were going to be purchased to increase the capability of Gibraltar’s maritime resources have still not materialised.

The Opposition is concerned that sooner or later there will be another serious incident. The approach of summer and the warmer weather means that an increasing number of Gibraltarians will take to the sea in their fishing and pleasure boats. Last year there were many reported cases of Guardia Civil patrol boats harassing local boat owners inside British Gibraltar Territorial Waters. It will be recalled that the situation reached such a peak that the Gibraltar Government advised boat owners to shoot a distress flare or call the Royal Gibraltar Police when they were stopped by the Civil Guard.

It is clear that Gibraltar sent the wrong signals to Spain when the four Civil Guards who entered the waters of the Port and landed on our soil at the end of last year were simply detained and released within hours. The fact is that they were allowed to break the law of Gibraltar and get away with it. They were not charged, they were not taken to court and they were not sentenced for what they did. This has clearly been interpreted as a sign of weakness on the part of Gibraltar and it probably explains why the incursions and violations of our sovereignty do not stop.

The existing predicament in which the Government now find themselves over the plans for a dolphinarium at Rosia Bay stems directly from their decision to change the conditions of a tender for that site after the tender itself had actually been awarded. This raises a number of serious political questions about the way in which the Government have mishandled the development of this area, quite apart from the concerns that have already been voiced by others as to the actual nature of the proposed project itself.

It will be recalled that Rosia Bay was put out to tender in 2002 together with the Victualling Yard and the Grand Magazine site. The reason for this was because it had proved difficult to find a developer to refurbish the Rosia Mole alone unconnected to any other project because of what the Government described as the “limited potential for maximising commercial opportunities”. The Grand Magazine was therefore included in the tender as an incentive to developers and as part of the package for the development of Rosia Bay.

However, when the tender was actually awarded for the construction of The Anchorage project on the Grand Magazine site, the Government changed their minds as to what the tender would comprise. A project which at first included the Victualling Yard and Rosia Mole was effectively left only with the most profitable part for the developer which was the construction of flats at the Grand Magazine site. The impression given at the time was that the successful tenderer had not been keen to proceed with the development of Rosia Mole. The Government therefore ended up accepting a contribution of £300,000 from the developer for the refurbishment of Rosia Mole even though it was a requirement of the tender that the developer should have carried out these works themselves. The conditions of the tender were changed after the tender had been awarded not only in respect of Rosia Bay but also in respect of the density of The Anchorage increasing both the number of flats and the height of the buildings.

The Government later told Parliament in 2006 that they intended to carry out improvement and beautification works at Rosia Bay and that this would happen during 2006/2007. The aim was to convert the Rosia Mole into a leisure/bathing facility for the public to enjoy if a new project with heritage aspects which was then being considered did not materialise. The reality is that the heritage project did not materialise but neither did the Government’s own project for the refurbishment and public use of the area.

At the end of 2007, in answer to questions from Shadow Minister for Development and Planning Dr Joseph Garcia the Government confirmed to Parliament again that they wanted to see a “development at Rosia Bay to include leisure, water sports, public bathing facilities etc”. When pressed by Dr Garcia again at the last question time in February this year, the Government confirmed that they had now received “a formal proposal” for the establishment of a dolphinarium and other related leisure activities for Rosia Bay. They added that if their negotiations with the prospective developers were satisfactorily concluded they “would not be going down the tender route”. In other words, the site would now be directly allocated.

Commenting on the matter, Shadow Minister with responsibility for Development and Planning Dr Joseph Garcia said:

“The Government are entirely to blame for the present state of affairs. It was the Government that pandered to the interests of developers by changing the conditions of a tender which included Rosia Bay after the tender had been awarded. It was also the Government that did not fulfil the promise that they made as far back as 2006 to commence the refurbishment of Rosia Bay for public use.

It is the shameful manner in which the Government has mishandled the development of Rosia Bay in the past that has led directly to the present controversy over the establishment of a dolphinarium. The site at Rosia Mole has been allowed to remain derelict for years and the people of Gibraltar have been deprived by this Government of the opportunity to enjoy it because it has not been refurbished by anyone.”

The situation facing ambulances from Gibraltar when carrying out patient transfers in Spain needs to be resolved as a matter of urgency following the fine imposed by the Guardia Civil on a Gibraltar ambulance last week. It is not good enough to expect the drivers of such ambulances to carry enough money to pay the fine in the event that there should be a repetition of the incident.

 The Opposition considers that this is a serious matter which has the potential to affect the service being provided to patients and their well-being. It is totally unacceptable that patients and ambulance crews should be at the mercy of the Guardia Civil over such a petty matter as the colour of the flashing beacon lights used by ambulances from Gibraltar.

The Opposition understands that in the event of a serious hold up, which in theory can even lead to the confiscation of an ambulance until the fine has been paid, the advice is that a Spanish ambulance should be called to the scene to continue with the patient transfer. This can only serve to cause undue delay to the patient and will add to the stress and anxiety which is already normal in such a situation.

Given that Gibraltar ambulances come from a different country and are entering Spain for a specific purpose, and that our regulations are clearly different to theirs, this is an issue over which greater understanding and flexibility would have been welcome. The fact that the Guardia Civil decided to fine the ambulance because its beacon lights were flashing blue instead of orange shows a complete lack of common sense and is beyond belief.

Commenting on the matter, Shadow Health Minister Neil Costa said:

“The Opposition take a very serious view of last week’s incident because the welfare of the patient could have been adversely affected. The ambulance crews and nursing staff need the security and peace of mind to know that they can operate professionally in Spain without the risk of being interfered with or fined by the Guardia Civil . The matter must be resolved in a way in which there is a guarantee that there will not be a repetition of the incident.”

The Leader of the Opposition Joe Bossano left Gibraltar this weekend to participate in the United Nations seminar on decolonisation which is being held in New Caledonia.

The seminar takes place from 18-20^th May in Noumea. This follows the practice of alternating the seminar between the Pacific and the Carribean where the bulk of the non-self governing territories on the UN list are located.

Mr Bossano’s participation in this event is a reflection of the policy of the Opposition to continue to engage the UN Committee of 24 on the question of Gibraltar’s decolonisation.

A number of experts, non-Governmental organisations members of the Special Committee and others will be attending the seminar. This will include the Committee’s Chairman Donatus Keith St Aimee from St Lucia, as well as the representatives of Cuba, Sierra Leone and Syria from the Bureau. Russia will represent Eastern Europe and there would also be separate representation from Africa, Asia, and the Latin Amercian and Caribbean groups. A representative of the Government of the Falkland Islands will also be attending for the first time.

Mr Bossano returns to Gibraltar on 23rd May and during his absence Dr Joseph Garcia will act as Leader of the Opposition.