The Spanish government has accused Britain of an "unfriendly" act by sending Geoff Hoon to Gibraltar for the 300th anniversary of its capture by an Anglo-Dutch fleet on August 4, 1704.

"This commemoration of a military event in the past does no favours for relations with Spain," said the Spanish foreign minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos.

"It is very strange that in the European Union, in the 21st century, the military occupation of the part of one member state by another is being celebrated."