Gibraltar police boarded Spanish fishing boats in the early hours of yesterday, carried out a check and requested documentation

Gibraltar police boarded Spanish fishing boats in the early hours of yesterday, carried out a check and requested documentation, said a boat owner. The boats were in waters near Gibraltar where fishing is not allowed. The incident happens on the eve of today's meeting of fishermen at No.6 Convent Place. The boat owner was said to have been told by police that it was the third occasion that they had been sighted in the area, and that they would be arrested if seen again in waters off Gibraltar. The head of the La Atunara fishing federation, Leoncio Fernandez, has confirmed the incident to Spanish media sources. He said three fishing boats had been fishing in waters near Gibraltar, as they had been doing in recent days. On this last occasion, two patrol vessels and three Ribs of the RGP met he fishing boats, to inform them that it was prohibited to fish there. It is claimed that another vessel from the Royal Navy was also seen in the area. It is claimed that after a vessel from the 'Guardia Civil' arrived in the area, tension receded, with the ishing boats returning to La Atunara. The Gibraltar government has drafted a document to enable fishing to take place, but it would appear that the representatives of the fishermen will also produce another document at the meeting. The fishermen are insisting that Spanish and European law must be taken into account. Behind it all is the question of sovereignty, as the Spanish government insists that Gibraltar does not have territorial waters and that the waters that surround the Rock are Spanish. The PP mayor of Algeciras, Jose Ignacio Landaluce, has also taken this line since the last meeting.