MADRID (AFP) – Gibraltar on Friday accused Spain of a “gross violation of British sovereignty” after an incident on one of its beaches involving Spanish customs agents who were attacked by smugglers, during which shots were fired.
“The evidence surrounding this incident discloses a gross violation of British sovereignty and, potentially, the most serious and dangerous incident for many years,” said Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Fabian Picardo in a statement.
The incident happened early on Thursday when a small Spanish customs vessel lost power while pursuing suspected tobacco smugglers off Gibraltar, a source from Spain’s tax agency which is in charge of customs told AFP.
After choppy seas pushed their vessel to the shore, the two officers on board were surrounded by a group of people and pelted with rocks, some of them weighing over three kilogrammes, the source added.
The officers fired “shots into the water to try to drive away” the people throwing rocks, a tax office source told AFP, speaking on condition he was not identified.
One customs officer suffered a broken nose, the other fractured bones in his face, he added.
Videos circulating on social media appear to show several shots being fired during the incident, although it was not clear who fired them.
“Should it be confirmed that Spanish officials discharged their weapons in Gibraltar, such action would be a very serious breach of the law,” the Gibraltar government statement said.
It called the incident “reckless and dangerous, especially in an area of dense civilian population, given the proximity of a residential estate in the area”.
The governments of Gibraltar and the United Kingdom consider that the events “will require careful consideration as to the nature and level of diplomatic response”, it added.
