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Since it was the Spanish who got it wrong, it should have been them, and not the ambassador, who should have apologised
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Picture the scene: There was the new British ambassador Giles Paxman apologising at the Spanish Foreign Ministry for the Royal Navy having done nothing wrong.
It was the Spanish who got it all wrong, thinking that an internationally recognised maritime flag was the flag of Spain. In the circumstances, it should not have been the British ambassador, but the Spanish, who should have apologised.
The Guardia Civil patrol boat at first thought it was a fishing vessel, so they say, and when close enough to the Royal Navy's patrol launch realised what it was and evidently started taking photographs, which have now appeared here and there.
With the Spanish drawing closer, a loudhailer in HMS Scimitar urged the Spaniards to withdraw immediately as the waters were international waters.
Those in the Spanish patrol vessel M-22 prepared a report on the incident which was first sent to the Guardia Civil commander in Algeciras, and from there to the Director General of Police and Guardia Civil in Madrid. In the absence of any developments, a copy of the official report was to become available to a Madrid daily which, last Friday, gave the news.
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