The EU is to send a "fact finding mission" to the Gibraltar-Spain border to investigate checks imposed on the Spanish side amid continuing tension between the UK and Spain over the issue. The warship HMS Westminster has arrived in the area.
The president of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso has spoken on the phone with Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy about the tensions over Gibraltar:
It may be a pre-planned training exercise but what timing: UK warships sail through disputed water to Her Majesty's naval base on Gibraltar.
Spain could damage to the economy in Gibraltar, but in doing so it would harm its own, so a further escalation of threats is unlikely.
The PM has said he is seriously concerned by Spain's plans to introduce a levy at the border with Gibraltar.