Spain will go to the United Nations on Friday to insist that talks are opened on the sovereignty of Gibraltar, The Telegraph reports.

Spain's Ambassador to the UN will present a report reiterating Spanish claims over the Rock and calling for Britain to open talks to negotiate on the future of the 2.6 square mile territory which lies at the foot of Spain's southern coast.
"Spain will reiterate its position and talk about the how the situation has been developing in recent months," confirmed a spokesman at Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Daily Telegraph. "We will ask the UK to engage in conversation over sovereignty."

The report to the United Nations Decolonisation Committee comes amid rising diplomatic tensions over the Rock and just days after a Royal visit by the Earl and Countess of Wessex to the territory raised hackles over the border.

Jose Garcia Margallo, Spain's foreign minister, had labelled the visit "inopportune" coming amid an ongoing dispute over fishing rights in the waters around Gibraltar that have led to stand-offs between Spanish Civil Guard boats and Royal Gibraltar police vessels.

Last week Spain lodged a formal complaint to the European Union over Gibraltar's new tax laws. Spain has told the Competition Directorate that it believes Gibraltar's 10 per cent tax regime amounts to illegal state aid under EU laws.

Tuesday night's massive projection of an image of the Queen beside a Union flag on the north face of the emblematic Rock and clearly visible over the border in Spain was seen as an "act of provocation" by many Spanish.

Gibraltar was ceded to Britain in perpetuity under the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. But Spain has not renounced its claims of sovereignty and believes that auto-determination by the people of Gibraltar contravenes the treaty.