Spanish fishermen have sailed into
disputed waters off Gibraltar to protest about a reef put there by the British
territory's government. The fishermen say the reef restricts their right to fish but Gibraltar says
it will encourage sea-life to flourish.
The Royal Gibraltar Police said the protest, which appeared to pass off
without incident, had ended. The row over the artificial reef has led to tensions between the UK,
Gibraltar and Spain in recent weeks. 'Not
theirs'
Spanish fishing boats sailed from the "Campo de Gibraltar" - the area in
southern Spain just over the border from the British territory - to protest near
the spot where Gibraltar recently dropped 70 concrete blocks into the sea to
create the artificial reef. The BBCs Tom Burridge, at the scene, said it was "chaotic and tense" as
Spanish and Gibraltarian police boats and Spanish fishermen weaved among each
other.
At the close of the demonstration, Gibraltar's chief minister Fabian Picardo
tweeted: "Big thank you also to
Royal Navy, Gib Defence Police, HM Customs and Port Authority for their
deployment too. Cool, professional and calm!"
Meanwhile, GBC News, Gibraltar's public service broadcaster, posted: "Spanish fishermen's demo in
#Gibraltar waters seems to have passed without incident. Most fishing boats
returning to La Atunara now."
1 comment:
Capital Economics has raised its forecasts for UK growth in 2013 and 2014 against a backdrop of improving economic data.
It has revised its 2013 growth forecast to 1.2% from 0.8%. It is predicting 2% growth in 2014, compared with an earlier forecast of 1.5%, and believes strong growth will really take off from 2015.
Vicky Redwood, chief UK economist, adds:
We are revising up our GDP growth forecasts in response to the continued improvement in the economic news. Although there remain some constraints on growth which will keep it sub-par this year and next, we still think that we could be seeing pretty rapid rates of expansion from 2015 onwards. Despite this, we doubt that interest rates will rise as soon as markets are expecting.
Admittedly, there is still a big question mark over how sustainable this growth is. The recovery looks in large part consumer-driven – and with real pay still falling, that means it is being financed by rising borrowing and falling saving. And the recovery still faces some significant obstacles, not least flat bank lending and the ongoing fiscal squeeze. Indeed, the data may well weaken a touch in the near-term.
That said, as next year progresses, a recovery in real pay should finally get going. Meanwhile, the tentative improvement in the euro-zone economy suggests that external factors will not be as big a drag as we had expected.
We expect GDP growth in 2015 of 3%, which should mark the start of a lengthy period of strong growth for the UK.
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