Mason Jones (Reporter)
DRAMATIC new footage has emerged of the Guardia Civil shooting at a Gibraltarian jet skier.
The video, uploaded by the Royal Gibraltar Police, shows a Guardia Civil vessel chasing local man Dale Villa,32, in the Western Bay area of Gibraltar.
The news comes as Spanish police made a second incursion into British waters today.
Locals have described the move as a rebuke to protests from the Foreign Office.
The boat is thought to have set out from its base in Algeciras and made two incursions into the waters around the Rock.
Gibraltar residents have taken to social networking sites to express their anger at the attack.
Local Navy enthusiast, Michael J Sanchez, tweeted: Can you imagine the other way round? Had the RN (Royal Navy) fired a shot in Spanish waters they would have been heard in Madrid.
Dale Villa told the Olive Press exclusively how been spending his Sunday afternoon with his new wet-bike taking out friends and family when the patrol boat twice fired on him with four shots.
There are so many examples throughout history of behaviour like this. The offending country is facing growing internal strife, unemployment is at record levels, the population are demonstrating on the streets, civil unrest is growing, the banks are approaching meltdown, so what do you do out of sheer desperation? Find a convenient scapegoat, engage in some frantic flag-waving to generate nationalist hysteria, and hope that his transparent attempt at diversional therapy will encourage the population to refocus elsewhere… Sound familiar?…
Unfortunately, the Treaty of Utrecht (the legal basis for the very existence of Gibraltar) did not specify territorial waters. Unfortunate, but true nonetheless.
Much has happened since, but it remains at best a contentious issue, one that which divides Spain and Gibraltar to this day.
@Tony Bishop. The ToU did not mention territorial waters because the concept did not exist in the 18th century, or even the 19th century. The Spanish say the waters inside the port were ceded, but the treaty does not mention waters at all, inside or outside the port, so how do they magic that up?
The 1668 Treaty of Lisbon which ceded Ceuta to Spain does not mention territorial waters either, so why does Ceuta have territorial waters but Gibraltar does not, according to the Spanish at least?
Finally, Spain signed and ratified the UNCLOS treaty, which very clearly gives Gibraltar the right to claim up to 12NM of territorial sea (obviously limited to median lines where coasts of other states are less than 12NM away, etc).
The Spanish position is full of holes, and they know that very well.
micmc47 – spot on comment, plus of course the Spanish can never be wrong about anything – lider mundial.
J.A. Roberts, you seem to think I have taken sides on this question. I have not. It´s far too complex.
On the other hand, you seem to have slammed your mind shut to other opinions, so I will make this my last comment here.
As I said, much has happened since, but it remains at best a contentious issue, one that which divides Spain and Gibraltar to this day.
why dont Spain give back Cueta and mellila in N Africa
@Tony Bishop, I don’t see where I accused you of taking sides? This issue is not very complex, it is in fact pretty straightforward, and is only contentious as far as Spain is concerned. The rest of the world accepts that Gibraltar has territorial waters… The reasons why are in my comment above. Spain has been challenged several times to take their case to the relevant court, but unsurprisingly they show little appetite for doing so, because as anyone can see, their case is full of holes.
Excuse me for interrupting the legal debate but, regardless of the rights and treaties involved, what justification did the Guardia Civil have for shooting at the boater? For crossing an invisible line in a bay? It’s a busy waterway between two friendly countries, not the Berlin Wall! Even back home in the gun crazy USA cops can’t just shoot people for the heck of it… Well O.K., sometimes they do, but they are required to come up with some kind of reason to justify drawing their guns.
Just a couple of comments.
1)The ToU does mention exclusively the waters with in the Gibraltar port.
2) The Guardian Civil regularly face drug smuggles in the area, specifically dealing with Jetskis, so the reaction is just with in the routine. And they used Rubber balls, no real fire.
@Admiral Lezo
The ToU does not mention waters at all. Not inside the port or outside the port. Nor does the Treaty of Lisbon (1668) which ceded Ceuta to Spain mention waters, yet Spain seems to think that Ceuta has territorial waters? Where’s the logic in that?
Most of the drug smuggling is heading to Spain. Gibraltar, with circa 30000 people is not a market for drugs runners.The drugs go onto the beaches of the Costa de la Luz, through the Doñana, into the Rias of Galicia, etc, etc. Gibraltar is a drop in the ocean compared to the drugs going directly into Spain. There is a general consensus among European law enforcement agencies that Spain is the gateway to Europe for drugs, especially cocaine.
SPAIN CANNOT ACCEPT GIBRALTAR CLAIMING TERRITORIAL WATERS.
especially towards a government so anti spanish as this one.