The Guardia Civil took on an irate Gypsy in Argamasilla de Calatrava and seven ended up with gunshot wounds… they did manage to arrest him, mind.

This small town in Castilla-La Mancha has only 6,000 inhabitants, yet when one of them is armed and not keen on keeping company with the Green Meanies, well… life can be difficult… for the police, that is.

It all started when the police decided to carry out a house search in Calle Cantarranas because they suspected that there could be firearms inside – unfortunately, they were right.

When the 56-year-old tenant opened the door, it was merely to give himself a clear field of fire. Fortunately for the policemen, they had bulletproof shields between them and the uncooperative gentleman, but even so, one immediately received a gunshot wound to the leg.

In the ensuing gun battle, six more policemen received gunshot wounds, as did our swarthy friend. All eight of them were immediately transferred to Santa Barbara Hospital in Puertollano.

Six of them were soon discharged with superficial skin wounds. Pat ‘Gitano’ Garret, however, was not amongst them, as he had accumulated several gunshot wounds in the legs and one in the abdomen. The seventh policeman, aged 43, had two gunshot wounds in one of his legs

Now, the reason why the ‘arrested one’ was less than agreeable in general was because of marital problems, it seems, causing a dispute between two clans.

Clan clashes tend to get messy and impressive arsenals rapidly appear in keen hands… you know; cavalry-sabre-sized clasp knives, shotguns with circumcised barrels and clubs apt for felling bull elephants.

So, what was the problem? A very young wife from a clan in Argamasilla de Calatrava decided to abandon her home and hubby and return to her parents’ house. The 19-year-old husband from a Puertollano clan was not impressed and decided to visit his parents-in-law in the company of a shotgun to reinforce his point of view, preferably by rapidly becoming a widower.

The wife managed to avoid her husband by hiding behind a line of parked cars. The cars were hit but she was not.

Having failed miserably to execute his intentions, he gave himself up to the Guardia Civil, who charged him with the illegal possession of fire arms, attempted murder and being swarthy in an alarming manner.

The Argamasilla de Calatrava Town Hall, fearing that things could degenerate between the two clans, leaving the town looking like Aleppo (Syria) asked the provincial delegate of the Central Government to move in and disarm the clans… hence the ill-fated raid.

The moral of the story is don’t upset Spanish Gypsies when they are intent upon civil war over some marital dispute, even if you are a Green Meanie and have an inexhaustible supply of bulletproof vests and riot shields… Oh, and if there is an armed man inside, and you want him to open the door, don’t demand, “Open up!” as it could be misconstrued.

(News: Puertollano, Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha)