MADRID, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The government of the British Crown Colony of Gibraltar on Tuesday accused Spain of sending a naval vessel into their territorial waters.
The incident comes just as tensions between Spain and Gibraltar, as well as the British government of Theresa May, have heightened over the implications of the Brexit for the colony.
The official Gibraltar account on Twitter said that the Spanish Naval patrol ship, Infanta Cristina, made an "illegal incursion into British#Gibraltar territorial waters."
The Spanish Foreign and Defense Ministries both admitted the "Infanta Cristina" was in the zone, but insisted it was "carrying out a routine vigilance operation in waters which are under Spanish sovereignty."
A Spanish Defense Ministry spokesman added that the Spanish navy has a patrol ship in the waters which go from the area known as the "Alboran Sea," which is between Spain and Morocco, and the Gulf of Cadiz.
