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'Flu ship' leaves, border reopens
MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Spanish authorities have reopened the tiny border crossing with Gibraltar about 13 hours after closing it for "reasons of public health," a Spanish Interior Ministry spokesman told CNN. The border was shut down following the docking of a cruise ship on which a large number of passengers were reported to be suffering from what is believed to be a flu-like virus. The ministry said the border was closed at 7 a.m. Monday (0600 GMT) and was reopened at 8:10 p.m. (1910 GMT) in the presence of Spanish Health Minister Anna Pastor after the ship left. Pastor was present to certify that health concerns had dissipated, an Interior Ministry spokesman said. While the crossing was closed, only humanitarian aid was allowed to pass. Gibraltar's chief spokesman, Francis Cantos, complained the closing was "completely undemocratic, no matter what kinds of grounds" were used to justify it. Cantos said that while the ship, the Aurora, was docked at Gibraltar, "none of the people with symptoms (were) allowed" on shore. "It's just the people who are well who came ashore for the day," he told CNN. The ship left Gibraltar around 6:15 p.m. Monday (1715 GMT) en route to Southampton, England, its port of origin, for Thursday. It was reportedly the first time the border had been closed in nearly 20 years. The cruise ship, with some 2,000 British tourists on board, had been trying to find a Mediterranean port since last week but was refused at a number of locations because of the outbreak. Spain ceded Gibraltar, which has a population of 30,000, to Britain under the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht but has been attempting ever since to recover the tiny territory. Recent negotiations have taken place between Spain and Britain without a seat at the bargaining table for Gibraltar, whose population has repeatedly said it does not want to be under Spanish control. CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman contributed to this report
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