Spain shoots at jet skiers.... ?

Or equally unfeasibly "Spanish cop shoots at Great Britain".

But as you say they may be on the right track.
 
VO5 said:
You would not like it if it happened to you.
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Well, it sounds as though Spanish cops get just as pissed off as the rest of us when it happens to them, difference is they can retaliate, we can't.
 
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MASH said:
Well, it sounds as though Spanish cops get just as pissed off as the rest of us when it happens to them, difference is they can retaliate, we can't.
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Pissed off with what exactly ?

This grave incident occurred inside British Gibraltar Territorial Waters, without any provocation, I might add.

This young lad was riding his jetski and got shot at 4 times with rubber bullets fired from a Spanish Guardia Civil Patrol Boat that had no right to fire on anyone or even be there.

Luckily all 4 shots missed.
 
VO, clearly the Spanish take a more robust view of jetski nuisance than we are used to...there are many who would sympathise with that though I agree, shooting at them and missing is quite unacceptable. ;)

And by the sound of it there ought to be a Civil Guard or two doing some remedial training after this - for a new life on the dole.
 
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If the Spanish choose or tolerate shooting at Jetkiers they can do it in their own country, and in their own territorial waters, but not in anybody else's.

The Jetskis here in Gibraltar are not allowed to become a nuisance. They are carefully watched by the Royal Gibraltar Police Marine Section and not allowed to approach beaches or areas in the proximity of swimmers, hence all the beaches have yellow demarcation bouys to indicate the limit to which they are allowed to approach.

It seems as if the Spanish paramilitary are out of control.

David Cameron has strongly protested personally on a face to face encounter to Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy as diplomatic interventions are ignored by the Spanish Government or blandly denied. In this case there is recorded footage on Youtube including sound. You can hear the crack of the weapon as it was discharged on the frightened youngster on his jetski, who skilfully weaved and avoided the rounds, making a quick getaway to Western Beach.

Western Beach is additionally plagued by the neighbouring town of La Linea (on the Spanish side of the border} persisting with discharging untreated sewage in its proximity.

Talk about having rotten neighbours...
 
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Well I wouldn't trust Cameron in charge of a pencil sharpener, but we Brits can't let this go without retaliation.

I understand the RN have responded with a warship sent to patrol.

Funnily enough the Spanish have AV-8B Harrier 2+ aircraft, while thanks to Cameron we - the inventors of the Harrier - now have none.
 
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I admit that I've asked the Boss for a high pressure water gun to use on very annoying jet skiers circling our boat in the Palma area!

For the last few years there was a boat anchored around here, the lady provided endless entertainment.. Starting off by yelling at jet skis and pedalos, she would then work up to trying to hit them with a long handled mop - sometimes successfully, the funniest ever saw her hitting her husband with a deck brush and all the poor man was trying to do was board the boat after rowing ashore for water :).
 
MASH said:
VO, clearly the Spanish take a more robust view of jetski nuisance than we are used to...there are many who would sympathise with that though I agree, shooting at them and missing is quite unacceptable. ;)

And by the sound of it there ought to be a Civil Guard or two doing some remedial training after this - for a new life on the dole.
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Retraining? Should be sacked along with their commanding officers and prosicuted in a British court.
Police are to protect not to execute their own justice.
 
robertj said:
Retraining? Should be sacked along with their commanding officers and prosicuted in a British court.
Police are to protect not to execute their own justice.
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There is obviously more to this than meets the eye. I cannot see them firing on a Jet ski for no reason (although it should be a national sport).
As jet ski's carry no ensign it is unlikely they would have know the nationality.
If they were in Gib waters when the shots were fired then they can be held accountable under GIB (British law).
 
Seajet said:
Well I wouldn't trust Cameron in charge of a pencil sharpener, but we Brits can't let this go without retaliation.

I understand the RN have responded with a warship sent to patrol.

Funnily enough the Spanish have AV-8B Harrier 2+ aircraft, while thanks to Cameron we - the inventors of the Harrier - now have none.
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so any moment now we can expect a group of RN ratings to be surrendering to another patrol boat?
 
No doubt the Guardia Civil have a tale equally as lurid and maybe nearly as emotionally charged as the near-hysterical reporting from the Gib side. Perhaps the poor heroic innocent jetski driver who so skilfully evaded the bullets of the vile Spaniards and oh so narrowly avoided a ten year old girl who wasn't actually there being severely "traumatised" (!) really was as pure as the driven snow. As "proven" by an impossibly long video shot of - well - nothing discernable at all. Or maybe not.
But sadly the flavour and content of the reporting of this incident - I say again, the reporting of this incident, has the balance, spin and agenda of a description of an "unprovoked" Police raid from the Gypsies point of view. It simply does not sound a credible or balanced description of events largely because it is so comically over-hyped that it is plain there must be another untold side to the tale.

Is it really credible that British jetskiers would not make a sport of "provoking" the police of a neighbouring and hostile nation with a nice juicy disputed border to streak about on - no doubt employing suitable gestures and tactical wardrobe malfunctions? I bloodywell hope not actually, that would be so way out of character of Brits anywhere. "If" such things happen it drive Spanish patrols nuts, wouldn't it? If baiting the Spanish border patrols wasn't a popular sport I'd be astonished and maybe a bit disappointed. But only "if".

Do the Spanish by any chance have a problem with jetskis smuggling contraband from Gib to the mainland? Is this perhaps such a bone of contention that the Spanish may on occasion over react in the face of the blatant smuggling that has long been reported, occasionally proved and often hotly denied by the Gibraltarians? A few seconds on Google reveals the reality, the magnitude of the drugs and tobacco smuggling trade through Gib which frequently involves jetskis.... It isn't a very well-kept secret.
Could it be that the waters where this happened are not recognised by Spain as being anything but Spanish, and as far as they are concerned they had every right to apprehend who they please ? My support for Gib as being 110% British is unwavering, but I think we all know that Gib has a long and not very illustrious history as a major conduit of, shall we say, unofficial imports into mainland Europe and this has been a constant thorn in the side of the Spanish authorities, a situation that does nothing whatsoever to assist in improving the difficult geopolitical situation Gib exists in.

None of that exonerates shooting at people of course, let alone doing so across a border even if the border is only recognised unilaterally. But it might go a long way to explaining it. If, of course, any of these suggestions were based on fact.

Standing by for incoming...
 
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MASH said:
No doubt the Guardia Civil have a tale equally as lurid and maybe nearly as emotionally charged as the near-hysterical reporting from the Gib side. Perhaps the poor heroic innocent jetski driver who so skilfully evaded the bullets of the vile Spaniards and oh so narrowly avoided a ten year old girl who wasn't actually there being severely "traumatised" (!) really was as pure as the driven snow. As "proven" by an impossibly long video shot of - well - nothing discernable at all. Or maybe not.
But sadly the flavour and content of the reporting of this incident - I say again, the reporting of this incident, has the balance, spin and agenda of a description of an "unprovoked" Police raid from the Gypsies point of view. It simply does not sound a credible or balanced description of events largely because it is so comically over-hyped that it is plain there must be another untold side to the tale.

Is it really credible that British jetskiers would not make a sport of "provoking" the police of a neighbouring and hostile nation with a nice juicy disputed border to streak about on - no doubt employing suitable gestures and tactical wardrobe malfunctions? I bloodywell hope not actually, that would be so way out of character of Brits anywhere. "If" such things happen it drive Spanish patrols nuts, wouldn't it? If baiting the Spanish border patrols wasn't a popular sport I'd be astonished and maybe a bit disappointed. But only "if".

Do the Spanish by any chance have a problem with jetskis smuggling contraband from Gib to the mainland? Is this perhaps such a bone of contention that the Spanish may on occasion over react in the face of the blatant smuggling that has long been reported, occasionally proved and often hotly denied by the Gibraltarians? A few seconds on Google reveals the reality, the magnitude of the drugs and tobacco smuggling trade through Gib which frequently involves jetskis.... It isn't a very well-kept secret.
Could it be that the waters where this happened are not recognised by Spain as being anything but Spanish, and as far as they are concerned they had every right to apprehend who they please ? My support for Gib as being 110% British is unwavering, but I think we all know that Gib has a long and not very illustrious history as a major conduit of, shall we say, unofficial imports into mainland Europe and this has been a constant thorn in the side of the Spanish authorities, a situation that does nothing whatsoever to assist in improving the difficult geopolitical situation Gib exists in.

None of that exonerates shooting at people of course, let alone doing so across a border even if the border is only recognised unilaterally. But it might go a long way to explaining it. If, of course, any of these suggestions were based on fact.

Standing by for incoming...
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Incoming what ? Cannonballs ?:D

You ought to know better that to try to engage me inappropriately, because, as you well know, when I fire one off it always hits the target.

So here goes....

There is no spin to this tale, as you put it, just facts.

This youngster was riding his jetski within British Gibraltar Territorial Waters when a Spanish Guardia Civil patrol boat illegally incursed our waters to open fire on him without provocation, without the right to do so and in any event without cause and without warning.

As a matter of fact the Spanish Government went ahead and built a pier that encroaches upon our waters that encloses the area which lies between it and the airport runway, so there is no question or doubt about where it took place.

Secondly jetskiers are very well aware of where the boundaries of British Territorial waters lie and your suggestion of taunting trigger happy armed vessels for sport is inflammatory nonsense.

Thirdly, all the smuggling that takes place at sea in this region is exclusively Spanish, not Gibraltarian. All the fast ribs loaded with tons of Hash originating in Morocco are trafficked by Moroccan and Spanish crews and owners and the route is Ceuta to the Spanish mainland in which a sizeable market exists to justify the risks these operators take in crossing the Strait of Gibraltar to deliver their loads. The destinations include the Bay of Gibraltar on the Spanish side, and all the coast all the way up to Malaga. Marbella, which is infested with criminals of every nationality is a hotspot destination. Gibraltar does not come into it. If and when a smuggling operation strays into our waters the Royal Gibraltar Police responds by giving chase and boarding, arresting, confiscating the vessel and prosecuting the perpetrators here in Gibraltar according to British Law, the cases periodically heard in our Supreme Court and subject to unrestricted reporting in the media, both locally and worldwide.

One such operation just a few weeks ago resulted in the arrest of four Spanish nationals operating a rib that entered Gibraltar waters carrying several tons of hashish. They have been held on remand here pending trial.

The smuggling of tobacco across the frontier between Gibraltar and Spain occurs because of the disparity of prices existent between us. Again, this is operated by Spanish nationals who make a living out of it to compensate for the drastic unemployment situation in Spain, notwithstanding the fact that 5000 Spanish workers cross the frontier to work here in Gibraltar to earn their living to feed their families, so not all the Spaniards who cross the frontier to come here are smugglers, but there are organised gangs that do.

Again the Gibraltar Government is mindful of this nuisance and does its best to curb such malpractices and only recently shut down several retail outlets of tobacco and additionally scrapped their licenses. The Royal Gibraltar Police is on the case as well, preventing large quantities of tobacco being tossed over the fence by Spanish smugglers.
Only recently in one such operation they were met by a hail of stones and rocks thrown at them from the Spanish side, wrecking one of their cars as a reprisal, one of many.

So I don't know what planet you are on or whether you are just stirring for the sake of it because you are bored but those are the facts.
 
MASH said:
VO, clearly the Spanish take a more robust view of jetski nuisance than we are used to...there are many who would sympathise with that though I agree, shooting at them and missing is quite unacceptable. ;)

And by the sound of it there ought to be a Civil Guard or two doing some remedial training after this - for a new life on the dole.
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The Royal Navy should have blown them out of the water.
 
As far as I understood the tobacco smuggling the small time stuff across the border can be seen by anyone and it happens id plain view of the Gibraltar authorities. The same people do it every day making a few euros and are tolerated. These people all seem to be Spanish but with the economy and the fact they get no dole as such they are doing it more to make ends meet rather than make huge profits.
The profitable side of larger scale smuggling is probably more rife from the Gibraltar side than it is from the Spanish but it is better organised.

The jet ski incident is probably more to do with Madrid who want to harass Gibraltar at ever opportunity so the people have something to focus on apart from the economy.
I am sure Cameron would get rid of Gibraltar to the Spanish in the blink of an eye. It is the Gibraltarians who are fighting against this.
 
Nostrodamus said:
As far as I understood the tobacco smuggling the small time stuff across the border can be seen by anyone and it happens id plain view of the Gibraltar authorities. The same people do it every day making a few euros and are tolerated. These people all seem to be Spanish but with the economy and the fact they get no dole as such they are doing it more to make ends meet rather than make huge profits.
The profitable side of larger scale smuggling is probably more rife from the Gibraltar side than it is from the Spanish but it is better organised.

The jet ski incident is probably more to do with Madrid who want to harass Gibraltar at ever opportunity so the people have something to focus on apart from the economy.
I am sure Cameron would get rid of Gibraltar to the Spanish in the blink of an eye. It is the Gibraltarians who are fighting against this.
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What are you talking about now ?

You have no idea because you do not have the facts.

The facts are that tobacco smuggling big scale has nothing to do with Gibraltar.

The hidden truth is that there is very large scale tobacco smuggling across Europe but the problem is that it is smuggling of counterfeit tobacco.

There is no counterfeit tobacco in Gibraltar to smuggle, so again you are ill informed.

Your second comment however is correct. Anything to do with Gibraltar to the Spanish is a diversion away from their own self inflicted very grave economic problems and their internal political implications.

And I am adding this because I have just remembered....

Why do you venture the opinion that David Cameron would "get rid" of Gibraltar in the blink of an eye ?

Where do you get this opinion from, or is it that he has told you himself ?

What you say is nonsense.

No British Prime Minister can do that, don't be silly.
 
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