BRITISH warships are due to set sail for the Mediterranean for a naval exercise that will see one vessel dock in Gibraltar, as tensions rise with Spain over the British-held territory.
The type 23 frigate HMS Westminster will leave Britain on Tuesday and is set to arrive in Gibraltar, at Spain's southern tip, within a week as part of what the defence ministry stressed was a "routine" and "long-planned" deployment.
Three other warships - the flagship HMS Bulwark, helicopter carrier HMS Illustrious and frigate HMS Montrose - and six supporting vessels were heading on Monday towards the Mediterranean as part of an exercise codenamed Cougar '13.
Madrid has agreed to allow HMS Illustrious to stop at a naval base in Rota in southern Spain as part of the operation, but Spanish media have described the plan for HMS Westminster to stop at Gibraltar as an intimidating move by Britain.
Britain and Spain are embroiled in an escalating diplomatic row over stringent car searches by Spanish guards at the Gibraltar border, causing tailbacks of several hours.
The government of the tiny peninsula has accused Madrid of acting in retaliation after Gibraltar built an artificial concrete reef which it says is aimed at stopping alleged incursions by Spanish fishing boats.
Writing in The Sun newspaper on Monday, Britain's Europe minister David Lidington said: "Britain and Spain matter to each other. We are NATO allies, key trading partners and millions of Brits travel to Spain every year.
"But our good friendship with Spain does not mean we will turn a blind eye when the people of Gibraltar are threatened or put under pressure."
The HMS Westminster and HMS Illustrious will set sail from the town of Portsmouth on the southern English coast, a defence ministry spokesman said. The flagship Bulwark and HMS Montrose will depart from the port of Plymouth.
The Cougar '13 deployment will allow the British navy to "hone its world-class maritime skills thousands of miles from home through exercises with a number of key allies", the defence ministry said.
The ships will visit a number of Mediterranean ports, carrying out an exercise with the Albanian armed forces before heading through the Red Sea, Indian Ocean and Arabian Gulf for exercises with other British allies.
Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain in perpetuity in 1713 but has long argued that it should be returned to Spanish sovereignty. London says it will not do so against the wishes of the 30,000 Gibraltarians, who are staunchly pro-British.
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