quote:
LINER OPTS FOR GIB STOP, MACSHANE TO STEP UP PROTEST
May 19, 2004Cruise liner Prinsendam, of the Holland America Line, secured its lines in Gibraltar’s port yesterday and rejected a call from Tarragona which warned it would not be accepted there if it stopped at Gibraltar first. The lure of the Rock apparently proved too much for passengers and the vessel decided to call at Gibraltar and miss Tarragona as its next port of call.
Meanwhile, in Parliament Dr Denis MacShane, Minister for Europe, said that Britain’s complaints are being followed up by talks with Spanish authorities.
Lindsay Hoyle asked what representations the Foreign Secretary has made to the Spanish Government concerning cruise liners which have previously docked at Gibraltar being prevented from entering Spanish ports and if he would make a statement on the decision by the Spanish Government to refuse entry to the cruise liner Norwegian Dream to the port of Barcelona. Dr MacShane said that on the instructions of Jack Straw, Foreign Secretary, the British Ambassador in Madrid delivered a message to the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday 29 April and complained again over the weekend of 1-2 May.
“He complained once more, to the Spanish State Secretary for Europe and the Americas, on 12 May, and to a senior Spanish official on 13 May. He expressed HMG’s disappointment and surprise at the Spanish action and stressed how seriously HMG views such hindrance to legitimate business by cruise liners. HMG is in close touch with the Spanish Authorities with a view to achieving an early solution to this problem. I will also raise the issue in meetings with Spanish officials this week.”
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CRUISE ISSUE ROCKS ANGLO-SPANISH TALKS
Opposition demand action
May 20, 2004
Foreign and Commonwealth Office has threatened to take legal action against Spain unless there was an immediate resolution to the dispute, The Times reported yesterday. The issue is expected to feature in talks between Miguel Moratinos, Spain’s new Foreign Minister, and Jack Straw today.
The Minister meet for their first bilateral over-lunchtime and are expected to cover broad international issues as well as touching on Gibraltar.
Spain is expected to raise the question of Spanish pensions although it is understood their main objective will be to seek a restart of Brussels process talks.
The London-based Passenger Shipping Association (PSA), which represents 32 of the world’s leading cruise lines, has complained to the Spanish Government about the boycott, which is causing chaos to their itineraries that include Gibraltar and Spain.
In a letter to the Spanish Embassy, William Gibbons, director of the PSA warned Spain that the action by Spanish ports could threaten “the whole business of cruising in the western Mediterranean, with customers choosing to take their holidays elsewhere.”
Spain is making use of an obscure EU regulation passed in 1986 that restricts the entry of non-EU
vessels into European Union ports.
Silversea Cruises, the latest company to cancel a visit to Gibraltar, rerouted its ship, Silver Wind, out of Lisbon to the Spanish ports of Cádiz and Málaga. Michael Sugden, a spokesman for Silversea, said: “We have decided to cancel all stops in Gibraltar for the rest of the year because of the edginess of the political situation.” The Times quoted a British diplomat as saying: “We don’t see any justification or legal basis for what they are doing. It’s a strange way to go about it if you say that you want to return to serious discussion about relations between Spain, Britain and Gibraltar.” The Dutch-registered Prinsendam with 700 passengers aboard was denied docking at the Spanish port of Tarragona Tuesday. It was the eighth such ship to have been affected by the Spanish ban that came into effect three weeks ago.
Both to The Times and BBC Joe Holliday, Gibraltar’s Minister for Trade, Industry and Communications, highlighted that a number of ships have taken the decision of not calling at Gibraltar because they would not be allowed to visit Spain.
“This is unacceptable and unjustifiable,” he said adding that this is really a no-win situation for everybody because, in every case, either we or Spain is going to lose the call.
“There are EU citizens travelling on these cruisers and they are being denied their right of free movement within the EU. We have been singled out by Spain purely for political reasons. No other EU country is interpreting the regulation in this way. It’s an attempt by the Spanish Government to undermine one of the pillars of our economy.”
“Whenever a particular sector of our economy is doing well, we get an attack on it from Spain. The time has come for the Foreign Office to take a more energetic view and to tackle something which is outside the spirit of the EU,” he told The Times.
GARCIA CONCERNED
Meanwhile, Shadow Minister for Trade and Industry, Dr Joseph Garcia declared that the Opposition is seriously concerned at the continuation of the ban on cruise liners sailing from Gibraltar to Spanish ports.
“It is clear that the situation is more serious than suggested by the information given by the Government a few weeks ago in response to Opposition questions in the House of Assembly. At the last question-time in the House of Assembly at the beginning of the month I took advantage of a question on cancelled cruise calls to raise the issue of the Spanish ban,” he said.
Dr Garcia said the Government told the House that they understood that the problem had been created by an official in the Port of Barcelona who had decided to implement certain regulations which had previously been lain dormant. The Chief Minister also told the House that he preferred to play the issue low-key in order not to inflame the situation as a solution was possible by that weekend of 8-9 May.
“The fact that Spain’s new Europe Minister was still not in place following the election of the PSOE was mentioned as another factor. It is clear to the Opposition that not only has been no resolution, but that Government’s low-key approach has now gone out of the window with Minister Joe Holliday telling the British press today that Gibraltar is fighting a battle with Spain. The situation has continued to escalate, with cruise ships deciding either to exclude Gibraltar or exclude a subsequent call at a Spanish port from their itinerary.”
“What was originally described by the Government as the actions of one official is clearly now yet another anti-Gibraltar policy orchestrated by the Spanish state given that it has also extended beyond the Port of Barcelona to take in other ports as well, “ said Shadow Minister for Trade and Industry Dr Joseph Garcia.
Dr Garcia added: “It will be recalled that at the time of the Brussels agreement, which was signed by the previous Conservative Government, Spain was supposed to lift the restrictions against Gibraltar by land, sea and air. The restrictions by land were lifted only to a degree, those by air and sea remain in place. Spain has been taking advantage of the fact that she was obliged to lift Franco’s restrictions not in order to join the EU, but because she had an agreement with London that gave her the right to join the Community with most of the restrictions remaining in place. The Conservative Government shifted from their original position and Gibraltar is paying the price.” Dr Garcia said that Europe Minister Denis MacShane has now said that they “delivered a message” to the Spanish Foreign Ministry on 29 April, and that the British Ambassador ‘complained’ again over the weekend of 1-2 May.
“Reports from the Spanish side have suggested that far from being protests, these were simple enquiries as to why the cruise ban was being enforced. There were further ‘complaints’ on 12 and 13 May and Europe Minister Mr MacShane has indicated that he now intends to ‘raise the issue’ with Spanish officials this week.,” he said.
The Opposition say that the Gibraltar Government must ensure that the United Kingdom Government gets Spain to drop the ban and abolish the policy.
“If this policy is allowed to revert to a dormant position once more, there is no doubt that Spain will revive it again and use it against Gibraltar in the future. It is totally unacceptable that EU law appears not to be upheld when it comes to requiring Spain to accept our EU rights. What the United Kingdom should do is take Spain to Court every time that they breach EU law with regard to Gibraltar, instead of trying to broker a political solution which normally ends up being a fudge. Spain does not hesitate to take UK to court over Gibraltar, and we should do the same to them,” he said.
Gibraltar Chronicle
Well done Prinsendam!! I think all cruise lines should ban Spanish ports. The loser in the end will be Spain. When it starts to hurt they'll change their attitude.