700 stranded as Spain bans cruise liner
Seven hundred cruise passengers were reportedly stranded at sea yesterday after their liner was banned from Spanish ports because it had previously docked in Gibraltar.
According to The Times, the Prinsendam, a Dutch liner, was refused entry to the port of Tarragona because it had earlier docked in Gibraltar; the newspaper states that it is the eighth such ship to have been affected in recent weeks.
Gibraltar is insisting that the ban, which was enforces three weeks ago, breaks European laws. The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office is threatening to take legal action if the problem continues, The Times reports.
A spokesman is quoted as saying: “We are at present considering all our options. We cannot rule out legal action against Spain if no solution to this problem is found.”
Joe Holliday, Gibraltar’s minister for trade, industry and communications, is quoted as saying: “There are EU citizens travelling on these cruisers and they are being denied their fight of free movement within the EU. We have been singled out by Spain purely for political reasons.”
Some 167 cruise ships carrying 145,000 passengers docked at Gibraltar last year, The Times reports – and the number is expected to rise to 200,000 this year, international feuds permitting.
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