from the New Flame had polluted Spanish beaches around the Bay of Gibraltar. Official Spanish sources played this down stating that the fuel reaching the beaches of Algeciras was in "insignificant amounts". 2009 – The dispute over British-claimed territorial waters gained prominence with deliberate incursions by Spain, triggering angry headlines in the UK tabloid press. In December 2009, four armed Civil Guard officers were detained after three landed in Gibraltar in pursuit of two suspected smugglers, who were themselves arrested. The Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba personally telephoned Chief Minister Peter Caruana to apologise, stating that there were "no political intentions" behind the incident. The Chief Minister was prepared to accept it had not been a political act. The Spanish officers were released by the police the following day, who said that "Enquiries established that the Guardia Civil mistakenly entered Gibraltar Territorial Waters in hot pursuit and have since apologised for their actions." 2012 – Queen Sofía of Spain cancelled plans to travel to the United Kingdom to participate in the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The cancellation was a protest in response to a planned visit to Gibraltar by Prince Edward. The Spanish government also lodged a protest to the planned visit by Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex. Relations between Britain and Spain reportedly "returned to a state of growing confrontation" following the election of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of the People's Party in December 2011. Additional protests followed in August 2012 after Gibraltar abrogated an accord that allowed Spanish fishing boats to operate in its waters. 2013 – Disagreements between Spain and the United Kingdom Government re-surfaced in July 2013, initially after the Gibraltar Government placed a number of concrete blocks in the sea off the coast of Gibraltar, intending to form an artificial reef. The Spanish Government protested however stating that it had a negative impact on fishing in the area, restricting access for Spanish fishing vessels. At the end of July the Spanish Government introduced extra border checks for people going in and out of the territory into Spain. The British Government protested as the checks were causing major delays of up to seven hours while people waited to cross the border, and on 2 August the Spanish Ambassador was summoned to the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London to discuss these developments. On 2 August 2013, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Garcia-Margallo