Spanish air space veto on US military aircraft using Gibraltar

SPAIN/GIBRALTAR (Agencies) US military aircraft originating  or whose destibation is Gibraltar are forbidden to use Spanish air space, according to a new defence cooperation agreement signed recently between the two countries. Spain's Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE, or Official State Bulletin) yesterday published the new operating procedure that has been in operation since February 1. Article 25.8 includes 'concrete norms' for the concession and processing of flight plans for military stopovers and overflights of US military flights. The new procedure substiturtes a previous one dated in 2007 and applies to "all organizations or agencies involved in the procedures [described above] of military aircraft and those civil aircraft used for military purposes of the United States." The new regulations specify that US military aircraft "having Gibraltar as the origin or destination of flights are forbidden to fly over Spanish sovereign air space, or stop over on Spanish territory." Therefore, "no Spanish airport can be included [in a flight plan] as an alternative aerodrome."