<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Foreign Ministry has filed a “formal protest” to the United Kingdom over the manoeuvres carried out this week by the British Navy (Royal Navy) off the coast of the Rock of Gibraltar, in waters whose sovereignty Spain claims by virtue of the Treaty of Utrecht.</strong></h4> According to sources from the department headed by José Manuel Albares, who informed <em>The Diplomat</em> on Thursday, "the Ministry of Foreign Affairs makes a formal protest to the United Kingdom whenever this type of manoeuvre takes place and it has done so on this occasion as well." In these protests, the sources continued, "Foreign Ministry condemns the carrying out of such manoeuvres in Spanish waters and asks the United Kingdom to take the appropriate measures so that this type of action does not happen again." In addition, they added, the Ministry "reiterates that Spain's position regarding the spaces ceded and not ceded to Great Britain by the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713 remains unchanged and that Spain does not recognise the United Kingdom's other rights and situations relating to Gibraltar's maritime spaces that are not included in article X of the aforementioned Treaty of Utrecht." As reported on Wednesday by the Gibraltarian Government in a press release, the manoeuvres were coordinated by the Gibraltar Squadron of the Royal Navy and included the participation of the Royal Police Gibraltar, the Gibraltar Defence Police and the Customs Service. The units set sail from Gibraltar Naval Base and “sailed through Admiralty waters to hone their close formation driving skills,” he added. The exercises included parallel sailing and handling of the vessels with deterrent manoeuvres. These are the second inter-institutional maritime manoeuvres, after those carried out in October 2024. According to the Gibraltar Government, “planning is already underway for the next manoeuvres, in which the units will carry out more complex series with the Gibraltar Squadron of the Royal Navy and the Defence Police.” Both Spain and the United Kingdom assure that the waters surrounding the Rock are under their sovereignty. London considers that British sovereignty covers the entire Gibraltarian territory, including the “British territorial waters of Gibraltar”, and therefore denies that the waters surrounding the Rock are Spanish. For its part, Madrid has repeatedly asserted that, under the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713, Spain ceded only the city, the port, the defences and the waters of the port of Gibraltar, but not the waters surrounding the Rock (nor the isthmus, which was illegally occupied by the British in the 19th century and on which the colony's airport is located), and therefore considers that these remain under Spanish sovereignty. This discrepancy has resulted in frequent incidents between vessels of the two countries and in reciprocal verbal notes of protest.
