LONDON (Reuters) - Gibraltar’s leader on Monday said an incursion into British waters by a Spanish warship at the weekend was a quixotic attempt at intimidation but that the people of Gibraltar would stand up to bullies both before and after Brexit on March 29.

“Anyone who believes in the rules-based international legal order will have been shocked by the cavalier and quixotic actions of the Spanish military vessel at the weekend,” Fabian Picardo, Gibraltar’s chief minister, said in a statement.

“This childish behavior is unsatisfactory whether it is errant or directed from above,” Picardo said. “The people of Gibraltar won’t be bullied now or after the 29th of March.”

Picardo said the Spanish vessel sailed through Gibraltar’s waters with her weapons uncovered.