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La Voz de Andalucía

Cádiz Court of Appeals reviews Gibraltar land reclamation investigation

Algeciras Environmental Prosecutor's Office appeals the dismissal of a complaint regarding alleged territorial and natural resource offenses.

Generic image of a judge's gavel on a desk in a courtroom.
IA

Generic image of a judge's gavel on a desk in a courtroom.

The Cádiz Court of Appeals holds the power to reopen the investigation into the environmental impact of land reclamation activities on the eastern side of Gibraltar, in waters that Spain considers under its jurisdiction, for the Eastside Project real estate development.

The Algeciras Environmental Prosecutor's Office filed a complaint in early 2025 with the courts of La Línea de la Concepción, alleging crimes against territorial planning and natural resources. It is believed that these land reclamations may have destroyed marine habitats in a specially protected area.
However, the presiding judge ordered the dismissal of the proceedings on January 23, a decision that was appealed in February by the Prosecutor's Office to the Cádiz Court of Appeals. This process began following a complaint filed in October 2024 by an environmental organization.
The coordinating prosecutor for Environment in Algeciras initiated investigative proceedings, instructing the Civil Guard to conduct the necessary inquiries. The agents' report, submitted in November 2024, highlighted problems caused by the Eastside Project and a previous development, the Hassan Towers, also built on reclaimed land.
The Prosecutor's Office also commissioned a report from the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) to conduct biological monitoring of the area, but Gibraltar authorities prevented its execution. The Nature Protection Team (Eprona) of the Civil Guard recorded the impossibility of assessing the damage due to the intervention of Gibraltarian security forces.
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"The impossibility of carrying out an assessment of the damage caused, as it was unfeasible to conduct any scientific monitoring in the project execution area by the researchers of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography who had been entrusted with this task, due to the intervention of Gibraltar's security forces."

the Prosecutor's Office
The IEO, under the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the CSIC, is the leading public institution dedicated to marine science research in Spain and advises the Spanish Government, autonomous communities, and the European Union on the sustainability of fishing resources and marine environmental protection.
The Public Prosecutor's Office prepared a detailed complaint that was assigned to the Court of First Instance and Instruction No. 2 of La Línea. Initially, the court declared itself incompetent and referred the case to the National Court, but the Prosecutor's Office successfully argued for its return, citing the impact of the land reclamations on La Línea.
Now, the 7th Section of the Cádiz Court of Appeals, based in Algeciras, must decide whether to align with the Prosecutor's Office's criteria. If so, the case would return to the La Línea court, and the pending IEO report would likely be requested again to scientifically assess the impact of the land reclamations. The unresolved question is whether Spanish security forces would protect IEO members from pressure by Gibraltarian patrols.
The recent Gibraltar Agreement, still awaiting ratification, does not address the dispute over the waters surrounding the Rock, which were not ceded by Spain in the Treaty of Utrecht. The absence of any mention of this thorny issue in the agreement's text suggests a missed opportunity to defend Spanish sovereignty and interests.

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