€30,000 'ransom' paid in Gibraltar

(Agencies / photo: EuropaSur) The owner of the 'Kyria', Cantabria businessman Francisco Isa González, had to pay €30,000 to recover his boat, which he had reported stolen in Ibiza early last August and was found a couple of weeks later moored in La Línea. For reasons under investigation, it ended up in Gibraltar, where he was required to pay for its return. The owner refused but, after a lot of hedging by his insurance company and its eventual refusal to cover the so-called 'transport costs', Isa finally paid up. It is now moored at the Club Marítimo Linense. According to EuropaSur, it is common practice on the Rock to ask for 'ransom' on boats thus recovered, though it depends on the boat's condition.