Gibraltarians are fed up with their homeland being ridiculed by Spaniards at their leisure

by CARMEN GOMEZ
Back in 1983 in the so called “Alraigo incident” which occurred on 6th June 1983, a British Royal Navy Sea Harrier landed on the deck of a Spanish container ship.

Its pilot, Sub-lieutenant Ian “soapy” Watson undergoing his first NATO exercise for HMS Illustrious, which was operating off the coast of Portugal.
After completing a search for a French aircraft carrier under combat conditions, running out of fuel and with his radio having stopped working, he headed towards a nearby shipping lane where he made visual contact. He noticed that its cargo provided a flat landing service and so landed there. For days later the ship which was carrying a base plate for a telescope arrived in Tenerife with the 7 million sea harrier fighter still perched on its container.

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19-07-21 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR