Spain Denies Gibraltar Shooting in Diplomatic Row

Spain flatly denied Wednesday allegations that its police shot at a jet ski in waters off Gibraltar and criticized Britain for giving credence to rumors.

The alleged incident on Sunday off the disputed rock has escalated into a diplomatic row.

Britain's Minister for Europe David Lidington said in a statement on Tuesday that during an "illegal incursion" into British Gibraltar waters, a Spanish officer had fired a weapon.

Lidington said he had met with his Spanish counterpart Inigo Mendez de Vigo during a European Union meeting Tuesday in Luxembourg to "protest in the strongest terms".

"I made clear that the discharge of a weapon in or near Gibraltar is completely unacceptable," he said, tasking Britain's charge d'affaires in Spain to reiterate the protest.

A spokesman for the British embassy said its diplomat, Daniel Pruce, held a meeting with the Spanish foreign ministry later on Tuesday to seek a "full explanation".

But a spokesman for Spain's foreign ministry said its political director told the British envoy that there was no shooting.

"Our position is that we completely deny that there was any incident in Spanish waters adjacent to Gibraltar," the spokesman told Agence France Presse.

"We also expressed our discontent that the United Kingdom had repeated an unverified and unfounded rumor."

The Spanish foreign office spokesman said an incident involving a jet ski did take place but that no shots were fired.

In Gibraltar, the man reportedly at the center of the incident, 32-year-old David Villa, told online news site Olive Press that he had been testing his new jet ski with family and friends on Sunday.

He said the Spanish Guardia Civil police chased him as he returned to the beach.

"There were three policemen on the boat and I actually saw one of them with a gun in his hand," he was quoted as saying.

"I was just about to drop my friend off at West Beach when I heard the first shot. I don't really think we took it seriously or believed it could be a gun, but clearly it was," he added.

"I jumped back on again and whizzed off before realizing the boat was chasing me and had soon fired three more shots at me."

In November, Spain and Britain summoned each other's ambassadors in a spat over a series of naval incidents around the small but strategically situated territory.

Britain has held Gibraltar since 1713 but Spain wants it returned and refuses to recognize British sovereignty over the waters off the land known as 'the Rock'.