La Isla Blanca by Jack Tindale

Author:Jack Tindale [Tindale, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sea Lion Press
Published: 2015-09-25T00:00:00+00:00

P

art Seven | The Present

(Taken from ‘internationalheraldtribune.minitel.nd’, retrieved on Friday 30th September, 2015)

“Ferry Embargo 'May Be In Violation of Antwerp Settlement’”

Spain should set out a "more robust" response to British incursions into Spanish territorial waters around the Isla Blanca - whilst also considering legal action against London, Parliamentarians have said.

Recent British incursions into Spanish-controlled waters around the Isla Blanca have prompted a furious response from the Cortes, who have accused London of ‘unprovoked acts of aggression’ and contributing to perceptions of the overseas territory being ‘under siege.’

Returning from European Confederacy budget negotiations in Cracow, the Spanish Foreign Minister, Alberto de Guindos Jurado, demanded an ‘immediate halt’ to the regular entry of British-owned ships into the ocean surrounding the controversial territory.

It is estimated that over a thousand such incursions have taken place since the start of 2014.

The United Kingdom has contested Spanish claims to the island - known as ‘The Isle of White’ in English and which was ceded to Madrid after the partial success of the Armada in 1588 - for many years, although London’s rhetoric has increased dramatically since the economic downturn began in 2009.

The United Kingdom introduced tougher passport controls in Portsmouth, the only British port-of-entry to Isla Blanca, in 2012.

The Cortes’ Committee on Foreign Affairs protested the decision, accusing the British authorities of ‘abrogation of the Settlement of Antwerp’ which enforces free movement throughout the EC.

The Committee also stated that, ‘British actions against the people of Isla Blanca are completely unacceptable and have resulted in serious disruption to the local economy.’

‘We have no doubt that the decision to introduce exit checks in Portsmouth is nothing more than political point-scoring, and that the border is now being used as little more than a means of coercion.’

The British Ambassador to Spain was summoned to the Spanish Foreign Office yesterday in order to explain the Committee’s findings.

Guindos Jurado has given the United Kingdom six weeks to rescind the checks - pending a formal complaint to the European Court of Extraterritorial Affairs.

The British government has rebuffed the claims.

Speaking in the House of Commons, the Under-Minister for Southern Affairs, Immaculate Skinner, responded to the report.

‘Spanish attempts to redraw and extend her territorial borders are completely unacceptable to HM Government,’ he said, citing the controversial construction of an artificial reef off the coast of Chaja, ‘there is absolutely no moral high-ground to be taken by Madrid.’

Proposals for Anglo-Spanish joint-sovereignty over the controversial territory were resoundingly rejected in a plebiscite held in 2002.

‘The people of Isla Blanca have made their intentions perfectly clear,’ Guindos Jurado informed The Gazette, ‘it is high time that the British government respected that.’

Have Your Say

Iggy Pop Parker posted:

Is Isla Blanca part of the EC or not? ’cos if yes, that’s a pretty big fine heading its way towards the British government

Lawn posted:

I’m glad that all the New Danes are asleep, just so we can avoid all the claims that Britain is being Literally Bucard.

I kind of understand what the Spanish issue is here - yeah, the only reason that

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