Almuñécar Town Hall obviously want to show that they are taking the menace of Jet Skis very seriously.

They do this by having a photoshoot with the mayor Juan José Ruiz Joya looking interested in front of a Jet Ski.

The reality is that Almuñécar has submitted over 100 complaints to the Maritime compliance people over in Motril for offences ranging from the misuse of boats and jet skis through to base jumping from the rocks at the Peñon.

So, how did they manage to catch all these naughty nauticals? Drones of course! Nearly all of the offences were captured using aerial surveillance via a drone which was active from the middle of July right through to the end of August. Sneaky, eh?

So chuffed are they with the results that Happy Juan José made the findings public, whilst also deeming the new service “very positive” in the fight against seabound savagery.

The drone service was also used in a deterrent capacity, such as in the case of the base jumpers on the rock, by closing in and informing the juvenile jumpers that they were in a restricted bathing area and they should leave or they would come under heavy and sustained machine gun fire… (I may have made up the last bit).

The mayor, who amazingly became an instant expert on the use of drone technology, explained this deterrent usage, “The aerial surveillance service with a drone has had a prevention aspect, since it has served to warn bathers who were acting recklessly, for example by jumping from the rocks in areas prohibited for bathing and the drone has been used to send messages alerting of this and informing them that they could not be in that area,” he said, adding “the fight against people who have misused their boats, jet skis or other types of vessels on our coast will continue.”

So, with all these complaints landing on the desks in Motril, what sanctions can the offenders expect? Well, that part of the story is not entirely clear, as each offence will be looked at individually by and the punishment assessed to ‘fit the crime.’

We could extend this article even more by explaining how the mayor advised us (and anyone that would listen), that the drone service would be increased next year on the back of the success achieved this summer. So, readers beware! When you’re out there doing a naked, two-and-half, piked somersault from the Peñon, or ramming toddlers on your jet ski, keep a weather eye on the skies, Big Brother could be watching you!

(News/Noticias: Almunecar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)