The Spanish Government is to issue a formal protest to the UK authorities relating to the detention of a Guardia Civil patrol boat in the waters near Gibraltar, the Asociación Unificada de la Guardia Civil describing the ‘incident’ as an act of piracy.
The Spanish Government will pursue the incident, in which a Guardia Civil patrol boat in pursuit of drug smugglers was intercepted by the Gibraltar Police, through regular diplomatic channels.
It is not yet known, however, whether this will take the form of a formal letter of complaint, the summoning of the British Ambassador, Giles Paxman, to the Ministry to explain the incident or some other draconian measure.
The AUGC maintain that the Guardia Civil officers were subjected to threats, insults and harassment in what they describe as serious aggression. These ‘incidents’ are regular occurrences in the waters around Gibraltar.