Gibraltar Row: Spain 'Creating A Diversion'

The Chief Minister of Gibraltar has accused the Spanish government of "banging the nationalistic drum" to divert the people's attention from the country's domestic problems.

Tensions between London and Madrid have deepened, with Spain imposing checks at the border and Downing Street saying it was drawing up plans for legal action over what it said were "politically motivated" controls.

While most of the queues have formed from the Gibraltar side travelling into Spain, long lines are now being reported on the Spanish side, the Gibraltar government said. The waiting time is up to five hours, a spokesman said, calling the queues there the longest in years.

Chief Minister Fabian Picardo told Sky News that Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was trying to make people lose focus on problems at home in the same way that the head of Argentina's military junta, Leopoldo Galtieri, did in 1982 in the Falkland Islands.

"What is happening in the background is that the Spanish government has been engulfed in allegations of corruption which affect Mr Rajoy himself," Mr Picardo said.

"I think what we are seeing is a little bit like what Mr Galtieri deployed in Argentina in 1982, which is an attempt to bang the nationalistic drum to make people look away from the national problems that Spain is suffering and the PM himself is labouring under."

The Chief Minister was referring to a corruption scandal that has engulfed Mr Rajoy's People Party, forcing the prime minister to deny he or his party have accepted illegal payments. 

Mr Rajoy has rejected opposition calls to step down, but Mr Picardo said a British Prime Minister facing the same allegations "wouldn't last five minutes".

"And yet in Spain Mr Rajoy remains comfortable in his post trying to create diversions like this one," he said.

Mr Picardo also called Jose Garcia-Margallo "the least diplomatic of the Spanish foreign ministers in history".

Downing Street said it was looking at the "unprecedented step" of taking legal action after the Spanish government failed to lift the additional border checks over the weekend. The measures have caused tailbacks of several hours.

Madrid has remained defiant, saying it would not abandon what it called "legal and proportionate" checks.

Mr Picardo claimed that in a fair international court Gibraltar would win "game, set and match".

The European Commission plans to send a team of investigators to the border in the next couple of weeks to observe the controls following complaints from several MEPs and EU citizens about long waits there.

Adding to the tensions, three Royal Navy warships set sail for the Mediterranean in what defence officials stressed was a long-scheduled deployment. The vessels included the flagship HMS Bulwark, helicopter carrier HMS Illustrious and frigate HMS Montrose.

The diplomatic spat between the UK and Spain was sparked by the creation of an artificial reef by the Gibraltarian authorities, which the Spanish say will destroy fishing in the area.

Madrid responded by beefing up border controls, leading to lengthy queues, and suggesting that a 50 euro (£43.30) fee could be imposed on every vehicle entering or leaving the Rock through the fenced border with Spain.