Spain Opens Fire on Jet-Skier Near Gibraltar

A Spanish police patrol boat opened fire on a British jet-skier in Gibraltar’s territorial waters on June 23, according to eyewitnesses, in a serious violation of Britain’s sovereignty.

“I was just about to drop my friend off at West Beach when I heard the first shot,” the jet-skier, Dale Villa, told the news website Olive Press. “I don’t really think we took it seriously or believed it could be a gun, but clearly it was. Anyway I jumped back on again and whizzed off before realizing the boat was chasing after me and had soon fired three more shots at me. I was very shaken and furious. When a huge boat is hurling after you and you hear gunshots it is very scary.”

In a letter to British and Gibraltar authorities, including Prime Minister David Cameron and Chief Minister of Gibraltar Fabian Picardo, Villa described how “Suddenly, shots were fired, and I had to perform evasive maneuvers in order to avoid being an easy target for the person carrying the weapon, and also to avoid being run down by the substantially larger vessel.”

Spain has denied that the incident happened.

“Our position is that we completely deny that there was any incident in Spanish waters adjacent to Gibraltar,” a spokesman for Spain’s Foreign Ministry told Agence France-Presse. “We also expressed our discontent that the United Kingdom had repeated an unverified and unfounded rumor.”

A video from Gibraltar’s Vox news, as well as eye witness reports, appear to verify that the Spanish Guardia did indeed open fire.

Britain’s response? Minister for Europe David Lidington spoke to his Spanish counterpart. “I made clear that the discharge of a weapon in or near Gibraltar is completely unacceptable,” he said. Various other diplomats have also protested, but that’s the extent of the response.

Picardo wrote to Mr. Cameron saying that although he “acknowledges and appreciates” these diplomatic protests, they are not enough. “Diplomatic action to date appears to have had no material effect,” he said.

The Spanish are becoming increasingly pushy over Gibraltar, while Britain’s response is weak. In the first 10 months of last year, 200 incursions into British Gibraltar waters were reported, up from only 23 the year before.

It’s sad that Spain feels so confident that Britain won’t stand up for its rights that it opens fire on civilians.

The Trumpet has long forecast that Britain will lose control of Gibraltar. There are a number of ways this could happen. But this incident proves that Britain lacks the will to hold on to its strategic possessions.

For more information on Gibraltar’s future, see “Changing of the Guard” from our free booklet He Was Right.