Thanks to the police unit, Pegaso, a potentially dangerous situation was avoided when two powered paragliders tried to fly amongst the balloons – hot-air balloons cannot manoeuvre to avoid a collision.

The Guardia Civil unit, Pegaso, intercepted the two interlopers, aged 48 and 49 and informed that they would face a fine from the Agencia Estatal de Seguridad Aérea for entering a controlled air space.

Pegaso in the Rioja area (where these two events took place) keeps an eye on aerodromes, aeromodelling clubs, airfields, heliports, emergency strips, as well as all incidents involving the professional or recreational use of drones (UAS or Unmanned Aerial Systems).

As for aircraft (in a very wide sense) they cover aerostatic balloons, paragliders, light and ultralight aircraft. Part of their training includes Pilotos Avanzados de Drones.

Since coming into being this Guardia Civil unit in La Rioja has handed out ten fines, the more serious one can be as high as 225,000 euros

(News: Haro, La Rioja)