Gibraltar was furious at the incursion, and said that the wanted man would never have escaped if Spain had followed protocol.
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In one incident they are said to have been pursuing smugglers who dumped bales of drugs from a high-speed inflatable boat as they entered British territory.
Gibraltar authorities complained that Spanish police had failed to notify them.
The row broke out after suspected drug smugglers apparently entered the waters around Gibraltar.
Picardo lamented the lack of cooperation between forces and said, “We all want to stop the drug smugglers”.
Spain disputes British sovereignty over Gibraltar since the occupation of the Rock by the British fleet in 1713.
On September 5, 2014, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy reminded United Kingdom authorities of the “opposing positions” that Spain and the United Kingdom hold about the status of Gibraltar.
According to the Royal Gibraltar Police and eyewitness accounts, the Spanish helicopter hovered low over the beached speedboat while the patrol boat deployed a small dinghy, which entered the sheltered lagoon in Sandy Bay and headed to the shore.
Gibraltar has been underneath the British crown for greater than 300 years, however tensions with Spain resurface sometimes because the Spanish authorities continues to insist the territory ought to once more come beneath its management.
He said: “It beggars belief that the SVA have acted in this way that, in effect, has allowed a criminal who should be behind bars to get away”. They whole of Gibraltar will be outraged at their failure to cooperate in a way that would have better assisted to capture the criminals in question.
At the time, British Prime Minister David Cameron said the new border checks were politically motivated and violated the European Union principle of free movement.
Hugo Swire, a Foreign Office minister, said that the Spanish actions were a violation of worldwide law. Mr Picardo said: “I am sure I am speaking for the whole of Gibraltar when I say that we consider this has been a serious and unnecessary failure on the part of the Spanish SVA which has had outrageous consequences in respect of the violation of our sovereignty”.
In April 2013 the Spanish Ambassador in London was summoned to the Foreign Office for a similar incident that led to the collision between a Spanish Guardia Civil (police) vessel and a Royal Gibraltar Police vessel. There was a standoff as Royal Navy vessels circled the ship.
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Gibraltar was ceded to the U.K by Spain in 1713, but the Spanish government has recently sought to reclaim it.
