No promise about calls of UK nuclear submarines at Gibraltar, says Madrid
The Spanish Government says that it has never made an electoral promise about UK nuclear submarines not calling at Gibraltar.
Answering a question from the opposition PP (Partido Popular) in parliament, the Spanish Government added that neither has any member of the government made such a commitment.
The Spanish line is that nuclear submarines are a matter of ’special sensitivity’ for it. The government has repeatedly urged the UK that such calls at Gibraltar should take place within the maximum security guarantees, reports the newsagency Europa Press from Madrid.
Our Political correspondent adds:
The UK has given guarantees that calls of nuclear submarines at Gibraltar follow stringent rules that have always applied to movements of nuclear submarines, adding that the Royal Navy are proud of their record over 40 years of nuclear submarines.
The UK is however not keen on giving written commitments that repairs of nuclear submarines will not take place in Gibraltar, even though it is not UK policy that such repairs take place although this might be inevitable in the event of an emergency, as happened in the case of HMS Tireless which spent a year in Gibraltar. Since then, facilities at the nuclear berths have been upgraded by the Royal Navy.
The Spanish Government recognises that calls of such submarines are outside its jurisdiction.
From Panorama - Gibraltar’s Online Daily Newspaper
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