This is why much of the Campo was closed yesterday

At La Atunara, La Línea
(Photo: lalineadigital/Marcos Moreno)

CAMPO DE GIBRALTAR Yesterday was a special saint's day: La Virgen del Carmen, the patron saint of fishermen, sailors and the Spanish Armada, and thus much venerated on the entire coastline of Spain, though mainly in the south. Originally honoured as Our Lady of Mount Carmel (in Israel, and the origin of the name Carmen), her image is paraded throughout the streets and in the water of most of the towns and villages with maritime traditions. It is an official local holiday in most if not all these places.

Tragedy in the Straits of Gibraltar

Two fishing boats set out for Canaries and never return · British ship involved

ALGECIRAS A book presentation is taking place this evening at the Millán Picazo Auditorium in Algeciras. José Regueira, Jimena's retired pharmacist and Official Chronicler of the village (and father to the two current pharmacists, Victor and Hector) left Galicia fifty years ago, but never lost touch with his native A Coruña, and for years wrote articles for La Voz de Galicia, connecting that northwestern region with Cádiz. Much of what he wrote was about the sea, a common thread to both communities. One of his articles, a real sea story of the Spanish Civil War, caught the attention of a reader in the northern region. It was about two fishing boats, manned by 24 Galicians, that left Algeciras, in the midst of the war, headed for a port on the Saharan side of the Canary Islands. They never returned. That reader happened to be the grandson of Enrique Pereira, the skipper of the San Fausto, one of the boats. There's a lot more to this Campo de Gibraltar story that was also researched by Luis Romero and José Manuel Algarbani.>>>

Fishing licences report is near completion

Another kind of fishing
(Photo: Jon Rawlinson)

GIBRALTAR Sources at Nº6 Convent Place say that the final report on the fishing rights issue is due for completion and presentation 'imminently'. The report will be welcomed by many, anglers and commercial fishing enterprises alike. It is widely believed that the report will contain the following measures to protect fishing stocks in the waters claimed by both Gibraltar and Spain. For this purpose a licensing regime is to be introduced, stipulating the precise sections of the waters and the times and conditions under which they may be fished. It is also believed that Spanish and other foreign fishermen will be allowed to fish specified species on specified days, but only when in possession of  a Gibraltar licence. It is expected that the long-running fishing dispute with Spain may be at an end, although there is a hard-line opinion  that since the waters do not belong to Gibraltar but to Spain, no licence is required. Watch this space.

Spain rejects fishing summons 'validity'

Fishing in whose waters?

Fisherman told to decide on his court appearance

MADRID (Agencies) Francisco Gómez Elías received a court summons on Tuesday, handed to him on the water by the RGP, as we reported here. He handed the matter over to the president of his fishing fraternity, who in turn sought advice from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. The ministry issued a statement that says>>>PLEASE BE AWARE THAT IN THE NEAR FUTURE YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO READ THE COMPLETE ITEM UNLESS YOU HAVE SUBSCRIBED. Subscription information will be available soon.>>>

Jellyfish catch limited by Levante winds

Volunteers helping to clean up in better weather

ALGECIRAS (Agencies) This year's plague of jellyfish -stings by which we are getting increasing reports- is playing havoc with bathers at practically the entire coastline of Andalucía, and no doubt a lot of other places in Spain and Portugal. In Algeciras, two boats went out yesterday carrying a net donated by one of the fishermen. It is a very thin but quite long net that needs two boats to drag all four meters of it. It is good at catching the jellyfish but lets the rest of the fish free. However, it cannot drag on the bottom yet must be close enough to the beach. Yesterday, it was taken out on trial, but time was limited by a strong Easterly wind, the infamous Levante (spelled like this, Gibraltar, without an r at the end!). Only 50 kilos of jellyfish were taken, but there is hope that it will be possible to do a lot more soon.

King to fishermen: "We are working at a solution and backing you"

Photo: Grupo Joly/Fran Montes

ALGECIRAS King Juan Carlos spent a good part of the day in Algeciras. He arrived by helicopter at about 1pm, landing at the port, on the pier that carries his name and which he opened 12 years ago. He then visited the 'Rio Segura' Guardia Civil patrol vessel. From there he went to the Guardia Civil headquarters, where he listened to an explanation of what the Straits Maritime Watch Service does at its various command posts. Among other subjects, he was told about the unit's vigilance regarding illegal immigration and smuggling operations. At the last stage of his visit, the King received representatives of the fishing community in the area, who are currently involved in controversy with the Government of Gibraltar regarding claims on the waters around the Rock. After listening to their protestations, including one that said that the controversy "is not about the environment, nor about fishing; it is political." The King's concluding words were, "We are working (towards a solution), and we are on your side."

Renewed tension in Algeciras Bay last night

LA LÍNEA While Algeciras and La Línea prepare for their own Royal Visit, local media report about the fishing boat Divina Providencia (Divine Providence), which was fishing in the Bay of Algeciras and was 'accosted' by a Royal Gibraltar Police patrol vessel. One report quoted the head of the fishing fleet of La Línea, Leoncio Fernández, as saying, "She had to go elsewhere to work because you can't fish like that. If the Guardia Civil hadn't been there, she would have been eaten up." Fernández also announced his intention of inviting King Juan Carlos to La Atunara to see the problem with his own eyes. This despite the fact that the fishermen left the latest meeting in Gibraltar to find a solution to the three month old problem full of optimism. "Now I think that the purpose of the meeting was only to drink water," says Fernández, according to another report.

Fishing as usual in disputed waters

Fishing boat headed
for disputed waters this morning.
(Photo: europasur.es)

GIBRALTAR/SPAIN As we reported here (Fishing fleet fears problems with Gibraltar), there is an ongoing problem with Gibraltar about fishing rights and/or the disputed territoriality of the waters surrounding the Rock. Local fishing fleets have been wary of heading for these waters in case they were stopped/arrested/removed by the Gibraltarian authorities. However, at 5.30 yesterday morning, the small fleet based at La Línea, went out to their jobs in those very waters without incident. The Spanish Secretary for Fishing, Carlos Domínguez, came to Algeciras on Sunday to tell the fishermen to do their jobs in those waters, despite the ban established by Gibraltar. Rock authorities are holding their position and continue to block entry by Spanish fishing vessels since talks broke down a couple of months ago, when Gibraltar decided unilaterally to rescind a 1999 agreement to the contrary. A meeting between Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and La Línea Mayor Gemma Araujo is scheduled this afternoon aimed at bringing the dispute to an end.

Fishing fleet fear problems with Gibraltar

ALGECIRAS (Agencies) The fishing fleet based in Algeciras set out to fish yesterday. Some of the boats were ready to do so close to Gibraltar, while others decided onsetting their nets as far away as possible from trouble with the Rock after talks on the rights broke down last week. The talks came about after an agreement dating back to 1999 had come to an end. The port master, Esteban López, advised the various skippers to contact the Guardia Civil before setting ouyt to sea. Meanwhile, the fleet at La Línea, closer to Gibraltar, decided it was too risky to fish in the disputed waters and only a few boats headed further out into the Strait instead. A meeting was scheduled between the fleet representatives and Mayor Gemma Araujo, after which an announcement will be made regarding the dispute that affects some 300 families that depend on the catches of some 70 boats, from La Atunara in La Línea to Algeciras.

Spanish ministry complains to Britain about fishing

MADRID The Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the British Embassy's number 2, Chargé d'Affairs Robert John Tinline (in the absence of Ambassador Giles Paxman) to express the Spanish Government's complaint that the maritime authorities of Gibraltar have decided not to allow Spanish fishing boats within 3 miles of the Rock on the Eastern side, and 1.5 miles within the Bay of Algeciras. The Ministry asked Tinline to 'find measures to re-establish' the agreements reached in 1999, which allowed commercial fishing up to a maximum of 225 metres from the coast. The Spanish say that this agreement was broken unilaterally when Gibraltar invoked the 1991 Nature Protection Law. The Ministry adopted this measure parallel to a meeting the Mayor of Algeciras and National Deputy José Ignacio Landaluce held with Gibraltar's Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, during which the subject of fishing was on the agenda.

Fishing with 'art' in the Straits

Baelo Claudia

TARIFA The museum at the Baelo Claudia Roman Ruins site near Bolonia (officially, Conjunto Arqueológico de Baelo Claudia) is holding an exhibition of sea fishing equipment as used by Phoenicians and Romans, and therefore as used in Andalucía. Called 'Pescar con arte. Fenicios y romanos en el origen de los aparejos andaluces', it is on until July 31, 2012 and is described as a 'journey' that, although centered on the stretch between Bolonia and Algeciras, it also travels through the Mediterranean, from the Algarve to Sicily, via North Africa, 'in antiquity', showing the links between the different (or not-so-different) cultures and their influence upon each other. Several museums have cooperated in allowing 'priceless' objects to be shown, and there is information, too, from some 15 archaeological sites all over Andalucía. Worth seeing, we think. (note for Spanish Conversation students: the word arte means 'art', yes, but it is also applied to fishing tackle, particularly of the type used in the Straits area - fishing being an art, according to fishing people of our acquaintance.)

Food industry move to non-urbanizable land gets approval

TARIFA (Agencies/Photo: illustration only) A unanimous decision by Tarifa Council has given the go-ahead to changes in the PGOU (Plan General de Ordenación Urbana) that will allow food producing industries to use non-urbanizable, rural or natural land. The move comes as a way to support local industries such as the canning facilities of Marina Real, La Tarifeña and Diego Piñero, grouped together years ago, and which had been demanding more space with which to expand and modernize, and thus compete in this highly competitive market. Aside from which, the plants have been progressively surrounded by housing, so a move to new facilities at the La Vega industrial estate is almost an inevitable one. It is also true that fish bones left over from the canning process are used to make flour; Harinas de Andalucía has a plant at La Vega, so the two go together and save transportation costs as well. All this, without mentioning the 'environmental impact' produced by these industries, which often produce extremely unpleasant smells in their neighbourhood, something that will be avoided in future.

Fisherman falls 5m down cliff and is rescued

 TARIFA (Agencies) He's a lucky man, is C.T.S., 54. Having fallen down a cliff yesterday at Isla de las Palomas, onto the rocks and broken a leg, he is able to tell the story, which began when he set out to fish from the rocks in an area that is not esily accessble but certainly quieter for fishing. The call came into mthe 112 emergency services at 8am. He apparently had tried to climb down the cliff aided by a rope, lost his grip and down he went. He was finally rescued at noon by the bomberos (fire/rescue). Fishing in the area is a contentious sport because Isla de las Palomas is within the Parque Natural del Estrecho (Strait Nature Park), and includes the marine zone as well. This is a highly protected area, but local fishermen (and women) have long disputed their right to fish there as they have been doing for centuries before the park was established.

Hunting, shooting, fishing fair coming up

LOS BARRIOS The fourth edition of FICAPT (Feria Internacional de Caza, Pesca y Turismo Rural de Los Barrios) is scheduled from October 7 to 10 at the fair grounds in Los Barrios. Held every two years, the presentation last week heralded a large variety of events, including an exhibition of taxidermy from the Parque de las Ciencias in Granada (a superb natural science 'museum' well worth a visit there), a canary breeding exhibition, as well as an indoor shooting gallery, police dog shows, hunting dog show and much more. Exhibitors in all sectors of the rural lifestyle come from all over the country, and some 30,000 visitors are expected. (More info in Spanish here.)