Shocking Video Shows Spanish Navy Attacking Greenpeace Protesters Off Canary Islands

Screenshot via Youtube

In a bold move of aggression on Saturday morning, Spanish Navy rigid-hulled inflatable boats repeatedly slammed into Greenpeace protesters off the Canary Islands.  The activists were protesting against an offshore drilling campaign headed up by Repsol utilizing the Rowan Renaissance drillship.

In the following video released by Greenpeace, an activist suffered a broken leg as a result.

A source tells gCaptain the Greenpeace activists approached the Rowan Renaissance in the early morning in three boats with the Spanish Navy chasing them.

The aggressive moves against the Greenpeace boats by the Spanish seemed to be an attempt to damage the engines of the Greenpeace boats and prevent the activists from boarding the rig.

At one point during the confrontation, one of the Greenpeace boats broke away and headed toward the drillship with intentions, it seems, to board it.

Although we can’t confirm this at this time, the injuries sustained by the Greenpeace activist, an Italian national, occurred after she was knocked out of the boat and was hit by a propeller.

The Spanish Navy acknowledges the incident and was quick to point out that all the propellers on their RHIBs are shrouded, while the Greenpeace activists’ boats did not have shrouds.

The injured activist was flown off the rig via helicopter and is being treated in a Canary Islands hospital.

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