SPAIN'S flag cast a shadow over the Rock for the first time since its capture in 1704 on Sunday 6th December 1998 when right-wing Spanish extremists tore down the Union Jack and raised the red and yellow colours on Gibraltar's Moorish Castle. The Royal Gibraltar Police arrested seven men from the little-known Alliance for National Unity (AUN), including its leader, Ricardo Sáenz de Ynestrillas. The flag flew for just over ten minutes as furious Gibraltarians called the police and heckled the group.

The group had previously erected a banner on the Spanish side of the frontier and entered Gibraltar, and started distributing insulting leaflets calling for the British 'Pirates' to be thrown out of Gibraltar. They were quickly arrested by the RGP and taken into custody to appear in court on Monday 7th december 1998.

Five of the Seven Spaniards arrested were sentenced to five days in prison. They said they did not recognise the authority of the Court. They were charged with causing damage and making a disturbance. The remaining two were charged with conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace and received a suspended sentence.

AUN members seen moving into the new "party headquarters", at HM Prison, under the Moorish Castle they illegally occupied. They are viewed as a lunatic fringe in Spain, although many Spaniards hold the mistaken view that Gibraltar should be somehow 'returned to Spain'.