Secretary of State Mike Pompeo should immediately summon Spanish ambassador Santiago Cabanas Ansorena to hear America’s displeasure.
As the UK Defence Journal reports, on Tuesday, a Spanish warship, Infanta Elena, sailed through Gibraltar waters playing the Spanish national anthem over loudspeakers. Gibraltar is a small British outpost on Spain’s southern coast, marking the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. Seeing as Gibraltar’s waters are sovereign British waters, the incident is an outrageous affront to America’s closest ally.
A Twitter user recorded the incident and uploaded a short video.
@foreignoffice @HMGoG_MIP enough is enough it may not undermine sovereignty for the UK,but for as Gibralterians it’s an invasion of BGTW.The UK Government must take action in defence of it’s people. pic.twitter.com/QNGKpCjXKw
— Nicholas Karnani????????????????? (@Atajate71) December 4, 2018
This isn’t the first time incidents such as this one have occurred. The UK Defence Journal notes that numerous British and American warships have suffered harassment from Spanish warships or civil authorities in recent months.
This is all part of Spain’s effort to pressure Britain into new negotiations over the status of Gibraltar.
Recognizing Gibraltar’s strategic value, and the wishes of Gibraltar residents, Britain rightly refuses to consider Gibraltar’s secession to Spanish rule. Gibraltar was granted to Britain under terms of peace between 1713-1715, which ended the War of the Spanish Succession. Put plainly, if Spain didn’t want to lose Gibraltar, it shouldn’t have supported King Louis XIV’s aggressive effort to dominate European trade.
Yet, the need for expressions of American ire here reach beyond this immediate incident, because Spain’s socialist government is actively enabling Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression. Just last month, Spain appeased Russia’s navy — which is facilitating Bashar Assad’s Syrian slaughter — by inviting its warships to resupply at a Spanish port. This action was utterly at odds with Spain’s responsibilities under NATO. But although striking, the dichotomy of Spain sucking up to Putin while simultaneously using its aged warships to threaten U.K. interests shouldn’t surprise us. After all, as the NATO chart below shows, Spain is the third-lowest defense spending (as a percentage of GDP) NATO member state.
Spain is not a nation that respects its alliances.
Ultimately, Spain must be educated to the error of its arrogance here.
For one, were the Royal Navy not rightly bound to the cause of peace and effective civilian diplomacy, Spain could have quickly found the Infanta Elena decorating the bottom of the strait of Gibraltar, courtesy of a Spearfish heavy torpedo. Regardless, Spain must start respecting British sovereignty and spending more on defense. If not, the U.S. should prepare to relocate its military base at Rota to a different NATO location in the Mediterranean. If that fails to alter Spanish behavior, the U.S. can sanction Madrid.
But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. As a first step, Ambassador Cabanas should receive an invitation to hear American displeasure.
