Gibraltar: Thousands of Gibraltarians celebrated 300 years of British rule by forming a human chain around the Rock yesterday while Spain fumed over the presence of a British minister.
Some 12,000 people, dressed in Gibraltar's colours of red and white and waving union flags, linked hands, encircling the Rock in a symbol of unity.
Yesterday was the the high point of year-long celebrations marking the anniversary of Gibraltar's occupation by an Anglo-Dutch force in 1704.
The celebrations have raised tension between Britain and Spain over the tiny British colony on the Spanish southern coast over which Madrid seeks to recover sovereignty.
Spain has protested to Britain over the presence of Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon at Wednesday's celebrations, calling it the latest of a series of "unfriendly gestures" that included a recent trip to Gibraltar by Britain's Princess Anne and a visit by British nuclear submarine HMS Tireless.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero joined the controversy on Wednesday. "Neither the government nor the immense majority of Spanish society thinks what we have seen is appropriate," he said, in what Spanish media said was a reference to London's conduct.
"But, I insist, we have a 300-year-old problem and we have to tackle it with care, calm and with dialogue," he told reporters as he arrived in the island of Menorca for a holiday.
Gibraltar Chief Minister Peter Caruana insisted Gibraltar had a perfect right to celebrate its history.
"We are not celebrating any ... battle, nor the defeat of one side or the victory of the other," he said in an interview with Spain's Cadena Ser radio. "We are celebrating our history and the 300 years of our history with the United Kingdom."
Mr Hoon did not join in the human chain but did attend a session of Gibraltar's House of Assembly, or parliament, which passed a motion conferring the "freedom of the city", the colony's highest honour, on Britain's Royal Navy which has long defended the territory.
Some 300 navy personnel were preparing last night to exercise that right by marching through the town, with fixed bayonets.
The parliament passed a second motion, pledging to resist any negotiations "against the wishes of the people of Gibraltar, for the transfer to Spain of any part of the sovereignty of Gibraltar".
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said in an article published on Tuesday that spats between Britain and Spain's new Socialist government over Gibraltar demonstrated a "clear lack of sensitivity" by London.
However, Moratinos has also expressed openness to resume talks with Britain on Gibraltar.
Negotiations between Madrid and London on sharing sovereignty fell apart in 2002 after Gibraltar's inhabitants rejected any role for Spain in a non-binding referendum.
Mr Michael Ancram, foreign affairs spokesman for Britain's Conservative Party, told BBC Radio: "This is a very important moment in Gibraltar's history - 300 years of being British, which is rather longer than it was ever Spanish.
"It's absolutely right that we now celebrate with them those 300 years and once again reiterate that they will remain British so long as that is their wish," he said. (Reuters)