Spanish ecologists protest against British nuclear submarine visit in Gibraltar

Spanish ecologists on Sunday protested against the docking of a British nuclear submarine in Gibraltar over the weekend, Spanish media reported on Sunday.

A spokesman of the Gibraltar port authority said that a Trafalgar class nuclear submarine docked over Gibraltar on Saturday morning, describing the vessel as a "floating bomb" which threatens people in the coastal area.

In August, Madrid said London was yet to honor a commitment made four years ago that British nuclear submarines would no longer dock in Gibraltar, a tiny rocky outcrop that is located at the entrance of the Mediterranean and connected with the Spanish mainland by a sandy isthmus.

Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht but has been trying to get it back.

The two countries reached an agreement in 2002 on joint sovereignty over Gibraltar, but a referendum in the region overwhelmingly approved British rule and denied Spanish role in Gibraltar which has 30,000 inhabitants.

Source: Xinhua