Gibraltar and Spain are currently embroiled in a bitter row over a £282 million marina project that’s been branded a “territorial invasion”.
The Rock’s eastern side is currently undergoing a significant transformation, with works being carried out in highly disputed waters.
The Eastside Project is a 150,000 square-metre development expected to add £2.5 billion to Gibraltar’s economy with its luxury apartments, office spaces, shopping centre, restaurants, and a new marina.
The Spanish government claims it owns the waters, calling the marina development an “invasion of sovereign Spnaish waters” that “fails to comply with international environmental rules”.
It claimed Gibraltar had not obtained the correct permits for carrying out landfills in “ecologically protected Spanish waters”, also called Special Conservation Zones.
Gibraltar hit back at this, calling it “legal and political nonsense” and seeminly daring Spain to sue them.
A spokesperson told the Olive Press: “The best thing that could ever happen to Gibraltar would be that any official entity of Spain should start litigation on our waters, in any court, even their own.
“It would enable us to make justiciable the nonsense of the argument they make that we have no territorial waters or, indeed, that our reclamation projects have not complied with all relevant and applicable rules.
“Gibraltar will not ever seek permission from Spain to reclaim land or for any other lawful activity in the exclusively British waters around Gibraltar.
“Anyone who thinks we would does not understand the rights we have under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the worthless legal nature of the reservations entered by Spain in respect thereof.”
It’s not clear who would be able to settle this dispute as Spain refused to take the issue of the contested waters to the International Court of Justice in the 1960s, and the EU is not able to get involved following Brexit.
Despite this, Gibraltar is still eager to escalate the matter as it sees Spain’s claims over the waters as baseless, arguing that they would not stand up in court, even a Spanish one.
The spokesperson added: “All reclamation projects done by Gibraltar in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters comply with all international and EU rules.
“In fact, the reclamation on the Eastside was approved by the EU Commission at the time we were members of the EU.”
