Italian police with patrol jet skis
Credit: Danny Iacob – Shutterstock
The Andalusian Motorboating Federation has requested the presence of local police forces along the coast to help clamp down on speeding jet skis.
Eduardo Botías, head of the association, spoke in the wake of the tragic death of a 7-year-old Marbella boy who was killed when the jet ski he was passenger on, hit a wave and turned over because of the speed its driver was going at. He went on to say that safety can always be improved, but in the case of this tragic accident in Marbella waters, that kind of action ‘cannot be solved’, hinting at the recklessness of the adult driving the jet ski.
Speeding jet skis out of local police jurisdiction
He pointed out that the main imprudences of jet ski users was the failure to respect navigation rules beyond 100 meters from the beach and therefore out of Local Police jurisdiction. The motorboating sector has a ‘strict sanctioning regime’ and yet some continue to not comply with the law because legally local police can do little.
Call on local authorities to help
Central government has jurisdiction in matters of maritime surveillance, and more concretely, it is the Guardia Civil who is responsible for watching over maritime law compliance, but Botías suggested, that local police could do more too. He said ‘the Maritime Service of the Guardia Civil and Customs are doing their best, but they do not have sufficient resources to be able to watch over the entire coastline’, which is why he has requested ‘not only at the regional level, but also that the municipalities do their utmost to protect citizens using the sea off their coastlines’.
He mentioned as an example, east coast towns such as Cartagena, Torrevieja or La Manga del Mar Menor where local police have jet skis to keep an eye on sea traffic and where the accident rate has dropped significantly.
Sign up for personalised news
Subscribe to our Euro Weekly News alerts to get the latest stories into your inbox!
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don’t already have one. Review our
Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Passionate about music, food and the arts. After being completely immersed in the Spanish way of life for 25 years, I now share my knowhow and experience with you.
Leave a comment Cancel reply
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Known as the PEOPLE’S PAPER, Euro Weekly News is the leading English language newspaper in Spain. And it’s FREE!
Covering the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca, Almeria, Axarquia, Mallorca and beyond, EWN supports and inspires the individuals, neighbourhoods, and communities we serve, by delivering news with a social conscience. Whether it’s local news in Spain, UK news or international stories, we are proud to be the voice for the expat communities who now call Spain home.
With around half a million print readers a week and over 1.5 million web views per month, EWN has the biggest readership of any English language newspaper in Spain. The paper prints over 150 news stories a week with many hundreds more on the web – no one else even comes close.
Our publication has won numerous awards over the last 25 years including Best Free Newspaper of the Year (Premios AEEPP), Company of the Year (Costa del Sol Business Awards) and Collaboration with Foreigners honours (Mijas Town Hall). All of this comes at ZERO cost to our readers. All our print and online content always has been and always will be FREE OF CHARGE.
Sign up for personalised news
Subscribe to our Euro Weekly News alerts to get the latest stories into your inbox!
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don’t already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Close
