Luis Ayllón
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday that Spain has protested on several occasions about the landfill carried out by Gibraltar in Spanish territorial waters, and that it will continue to do so, although it did not specify whether it has now expressly protested about the arrival of lorries carrying stones to the Rock for the so-called Eastside Project.
The arrival of these lorries loaded with stones from Casares and Manilva (Malaga) to build a breakwater on the eastern side of the Rock was denounced several days ago by the environmental association Verdemar and yesterday the Mayor of Algeciras, José Ignacio Landaluce, demanded that the Government take an official position on these landfills.
The intention, according to Verdemar, would be to gain land from the sea in that area, where the so-called Eastside Project is being built, a large luxury complex that foresees the construction of a hotel, 2,500 flats, commercial facilities and a marina.
Landaluce, who is also a PP senator and president of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, issued a statement yesterday in which he said that ‘it is unacceptable that Pedro Sánchez and his government look the other way and turn a blind eye to the facts that are a serious detriment to Spain and its interests’.
Official Foreign Ministry sources told The Diplomat yesterday that ‘Spain has repeatedly protested against Gibraltar’s actions to fill in and modify the coastline in Spanish territorial waters, every time they have taken place, and will continue to do so’.
‘These protests -they added- have been made in writing on numerous occasions. These actions are contrary to international law, as well as being in breach of Spanish and European environmental protection laws“.
When asked by The Diplomat, the aforementioned sources did not specify whether a formal protest had been made to the UK on this occasion, as has been done on other occasions. This happened in August 2013, for example, when the Spanish government, then presided over by Mariano Rajoy, presented a note verbale of protest to the UK calling for a halt to landfills being carried out in the same area, on the grounds that these actions were ‘inadmissible’ and contrary to international law and the Treaty of Utrecht, which does not recognise British sovereignty over these waters.
The Spanish protests and those of environmental associations were also related to possible damage to the Patella ferruginea, a gastropod considered one of the most endangered in the western Mediterranean, which is found in this area. Following complaints from the Spanish government, the European Commission ruled in July 2014 that it had not been able to identify a breach of environmental legislation at these Eastside landfills.
In his statement yesterday, the Mayor of Algeciras said: ‘Not only are we talking about an environmental issue of the first magnitude, as the British colony’s Executive is altering a special conservation area of the highest natural value, but Gibraltar is expanding its territory at the expense of waters that we consider Spanish, in violation of both the Treaty of Utrecht and any international legislation on the matter’.
The mayor expressed his surprise ‘at the double standards used on both sides of the border: on an issue as serious as landfill, the Spanish government is not even there and chooses to remain silent, but, on the other hand, Gibraltar lodges an international protest about what was said by a player from the Spanish national football team during the celebration of the European Championship in Madrid’. ‘It is surprising how thin some people’s skin is for certain things,’ he added.
Landaluce wondered ‘what interest the Spanish government has in maintaining a silence that seems complicit’ and said: ‘We do not want to think for a second that this marks the negotiations of the agreement on Gibraltar, and that the Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, does not let go’.
‘We have always said that we want a good agreement that favours both sides of the fence equally, but seeing this situation we fear that the balance will always be tipped on the side of Gibraltar, which will be the great beneficiary of these negotiations. We hope that President Sánchez will come to his senses and, just as Mariano Rajoy’s government did years ago, lodge a formal protest against this outrage against Spain and its legitimate interests’, he concluded.
