Thousands of Spanish Protest Presence of British Submarine

Between 70,000 and 80,000 Spaniards demonstrated for over two hours on Saturday in Algeciras, a port city in southwest Spain, against the presence of the British nuclear submarine "Tireless" in Gibraltar, local press reported.

The demonstrators shouted slogans against the presence of the British ship. Among the demonstrators were 12 ecologists led by Francisco Casero, who have all been on a hunger strike since last Monday.

About 100 people in the nearby city of La Linea de la Concepcion reportedly began their 22-kilometer-long demonstration march to Algeciras at 8:00 a.m. to join the protest against the nuclear submarine.

Local police said a total of 192 buses from different parts of Andalucia and many people from Morocco and Ceuta were also marching to Algeciras to join the demonstration.

"Tireless" has remained in Gibraltar since May 19 due to a malfunction in its cooling system.

The governments of Spain and Britain have been trying to solve the problem since then, but have failed.






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