British soldiers insult Spain

The conservative daily El Mundo reports that soldiers on a vessel belonging to the British Navy stationed off the coast of Gibraltar used a buoy bearing the Spanish flag for target practice. The paper condemns this behaviour as a political insult for which the Spanish government should demand an official explanation: "It is inappropriate and offensive for soldiers of one country to use the flag of another country as a target. But it's absolutely unacceptable when we're talking about two allied states and members of the European Union. All the more so, one may add, given that [Spanish head of government José Luis Rodríguez] Zapatero is currently backing the candidacy of a barely known British woman for the post of EU foreign minister. The British government must give Spain a convincing explanation as soon as possible in order to preserve bilateral relations."

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