November 4, 2003	Tuesday	Ramazan 8, 1424

GIBRALTAR, Nov 3: Spain shut its border with the British colony of Gibraltar on Monday for the first time in nearly two decades after a Mediterranean cruise ship carrying tourists with a stomach infection docked there, officials said.

Spain said the closure was a provisional measure aimed at protecting its citizens. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called it “unnecessary and disproportionate”.

The Aurora, with hundreds of British tourists who have suffered from the infection on board, arrived in Gibraltar’s harbour on Monday, reviving tensions between Madrid and London over the disputed territory.

A Gibraltar government spokesman said the frontier was closed at 7:00 a.m.

Spanish Health Minister Ana Pastor told state radio the closure was a preventative measure “so that no Spanish citizen runs any kind of risk.”

Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Javier Arenas said: “I hope...the British authorities can soon offer us all (necessary) guarantees so that this exceptional measure disappears.”

Straw told reporters in London he regretted the Spanish action, adding he would be talking to Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio later on Monday.

Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Peter Caruana called the Spanish response “wholly unjustified and disproportionate.”

Gibraltar said the outbreak of viral gastroenteritis was nearly over and only 11 people were sick out of 559 who had been struck by the 24-hour virus. There were seven new cases on Sunday, Gibraltar said. The ship was expected to leave Gibraltar at around 1700 GMT on Monday.

Gibraltar said infected people would not be allowed off the vessel, which left the Greek port of Piraeus on Friday after authorities there refused to allow passengers or crew to land.

Doctors in Greece treated passengers and provided medical supplies for patients suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting.

Some 1,900 tourists were on the ship, which left Southampton on October 20 on a 17-day trip. The Aurora’s owners, P&O Cruises, said the infection was believed to have been brought on board by a passenger at Southampton.

Healthy passengers got off for some sight-seeing on Monday, determined not to let the outbreak spoil their holiday.

Passenger Stan Bee told Reuters by telephone: “The captain imposed some restrictions, such as not allowing self-service in the restaurant, but they weren’t that severe.”

The border closure was the first between Spain and Gibraltar since it was fully reopened in 1985.

Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco shut the frontier in 1969 as part of Spain’s long-running dispute with Britain over sovereignty over Gibraltar, a strategically located rocky outcrop at the mouth of the Mediterranean.

Last year Straw said London was, in principle, in favour of sharing sovereignty with Madrid over Gibraltar. Talks later stalled and in a November referendum, which Spain called illegal, Gibraltarians voted overwhelmingly to stay British. In June, a British minister said a negotiated solution was years away.

Spanish state radio said about 4,000 Spaniards cross the border every day to work in Gibraltar and that about 500 people had gathered at the crossing.

P&O Cruises is part of Carnival Corp., the world’s biggest cruise group.—Reuters