Gibraltar reef row slows flow of border traffic

Spain steps up 'smuggling' checks in response to artificial sea barrier

Irate drivers waited in sweltering lines for hours to enter Gibraltar on Tuesday as Spain enforced tight border checks in a growing row with the UK over the tiny British territory and its surrounding waters.

On "the Rock" itself, defiant residents declared themselves thoroughly British, surrounded by English pubs, Royal Mail letterboxes, bright red telephone cabins and the occasional monkey.

Gibraltarians are firmly on London's side in the latest of a long string of spats with Madrid over the fate of the British outpost, which lies off the southern tip of Spain and within sight of the African coastline.

The latest flare-up was sparked when Gibraltar sank concrete blocks in disputed waters to create an artificial reef, making it impossible for Spanish fishing fleets to operate in the area.

"We don't want to belong to Spain. We are happy being British," said 42-year-old Gilbratarian Kim Bickerstaff, complaining that the Spanish border checks were hurting residents and visiting workers.

Indeed, life on Gibraltar, ceded by Spain to Britain in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht, looks British right down to the police officers with their tall helmets.

Exceptions are the monkeys who wander nonchalantly through the streets. They live in the forests of the rock that looms over Gibraltar and descend during the day when tourists are about. Feeding the animals is forbidden.

On a pub terrace, 52-year-old office worker Rosana sat with her family and slipped easily between English and a Spanish that's typical of the neighboring southern region of Andalusia.

"At home we speak both languages because we are llanitos, she said, as people of Gibraltarian origin are known.

"We are British," she said.

Rosana said she backed Gibraltar's creation of an artificial reef and could not understand the response of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government, which has affected not only Gibraltarian residents but also workers coming from the Spanish border town of La Linea.

"They don't know what is happening, and they are creating all kinds of obstacles," she said.

About 10,000 Spaniards work in Gibraltar and about 6,000 Gibraltarians live on the Spanish side where housing is cheaper, according to Madrid.

"Those of us who have family or work here have a different viewpoint from the rest of the Spanish. We are not anti-Gibraltarian," said Rafael Marquina, a 46-year-old government worker from La Linea who was visiting his aunt.

"All the problems come from an incorrect starting point: that Gibraltar is Spanish. But Gibraltar is British and its people feel British," he said.

"The day they accept that it is in fact English, they will be able to solve any problem and reach agreements."

(China Daily 08/14/2013 page12)