Britain says it will send ten warships to Gibraltar on Monday. The ships will make a stop on their way to the Middle East. Many people think the stopover is bad timing because relations between Britain and Spain have become bad recently. Spain got angry after Gibraltar's government put concrete blocks on the seabed. It said this was to let sea life grow and to stop Spanish boats fishing nearby. Spain then said it might start charging 50 euros (about $67) for people to travel across the border between Gibraltar and Spain. Tensions increased again when Spain started searching people entering Spain as security against terrorism. Motorists had to wait for up to six hours at the border.

Spain gave Gibraltar to Britain in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht. It became an important base for Britain's Royal Navy. Gibraltar is a small area of land measuring just 6.8 square kilometers, south of Cadiz. The 430-meter-tall Rock of Gibraltar stands in the center. The population is around 30,000 and most of them are very pro-British. Many parts of Gibraltar look like a piece of mainland Britain. Spain has argued for decades that Gibraltar should be returned to Spain. Britain's government said that could only happen if the people of Gibraltar vote for it. The British prime minister told his Spanish counterpart: "This issue should not damage our bilateral relations. However there was a real risk of this happening."