Leoncio Fernandez, President of the Association of Shipowners, is organising the protest to highlight what he claims are “continuous episodes of harassment” by the Royal Gibraltar Police. The protest will take place at the border gate at 5pm, with Fernandez describing the current situation as “unsustainable for Spanish ships that fish on the coastline of La Linea”.
He also said his organisation was concerned “because of the risk it poses to those who crew the ships on both sides”.
Mr Fernandez himself is no stranger to controversy when it comes to Gibraltar.
Earlier this year he was tried – and subsequently clear – over his alleged participation in the theft of a concrete blocks thrown into the sea by the Government of Chief Minister Fabian Picardo in 2014.
A total of 74 blocks had been dropped into the sea the year earlier, with Gibraltar claiming they were intended to create an artificial reef and encourage sea life to flourish.
Spain argued the blocks would disrupt waters used by its fishing boats.
After his arrest in October, Mr Fernandez initially insisted he would refuse to attend the Magistrates’ Court hearing, saying he had “nothing to do with this matter”.
JUST IN: Gibraltar Parliament dissolved
Express.co.uk has contacted the Royal Gibraltar Police to ask for a comment about the planned demonstration.
It is not yet clear precisely what Friday’s protest will actually entail, but it will once again focus attention on Gibraltar hours after Mr Picardo dissolved Parliament and called a general election on October 17 – the day Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to meet with other EU leaders at the European Council summit for crunch Brexit talks.
At a press conference today Mr Picardo, who is currently acting Chief Minister, hopes to secure a “renewed strong mandate” to take Gibraltar through and beyond Brexit.
He said: “Gibraltar will need settled and strong leadership going into Brexit, especially if there is also to be an election in the UK and potentially in Spain thereafter.”
Gibraltar has been a British overseas territory since 1713.
Longstanding tensions between Britain and Spain have been simmering ever since Britain voted to leave the EU three years ago, and right wing Spanish party Vox made sovereignty a campaign issue in the general election held earlier this year.
Agustin Rosety Fernandez de Castro, a Vox candidate standing in nearby Cadiz, launched a scathing attack on Gibraltarians, describing them as “parasites” and threatening to make them “go live with the monkeys”.
Fishing rights with respect to the waters around Gibraltar are hotly contested – in 2012 Royal Gibraltar Police boats surrounded three Spanish fishing vessels after they cast their nets near Gibraltar harbour, and resentment continues to this day.
At the time, then-Spanish Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz said Spain would continue to dispatch police boats to protect Spanish fishermen, adding: “We are not going to accept intimidations or humiliations.”
(Additional reporting by Maria Ortega)