The scene made for some shocking video: Greenpeace protesters approach an offshore oil-drilling ship aboard two inflatable boats, only to be repeatedly rammed by a Spanish navy boat.
Four people aboard the Greenpeace boat were injured, including one crewmember who fell overboard, and both sides are blaming the other for the incident.
The navy “did what it had to do” to prevent the environmental group from committing a “crime of piracy,” the Spanish Defense Ministry told Europa Press on Monday.
Members of the environmental group protesting the Spanish government’s drilling for oil off the Canary Islands accused the navy of an “unjustified use of force.”
