The air traffic controllers who stole the macro-puente

The 90% of the air-traffic controllers in Spain decided to ruin everyone’s super-long weekend (many kids get Saturday-Wednesday off) today and calling in sick. About 250,000 people were unable to travel today and are probably extremely pissed off.

Notice the distinct lack of aiprlanes in Spanish airspace:

The government finally grew some balls and decided to pass a decree that would force controllers to undergo medical tests to check if they are really sick.

If the (not sick) workers do not immediately return to their posts, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force will take over emergency control, allowing flights to land at military airports (in Spain, many civilian airports are adjacent to military airfields). If that is insufficient, up to 300 military controllers would go to the towers and help direct flights.

The air traffic controllers union still claims that the work action was a “spontaneous” response to various disagreements over working conditions, and are especially concerned over the recent announcements concerning the partial privatization of the Madrid and Barcelona airports. They would also like to only work 1,670 hours a year (that’s a nice 10 weeks of vacation a year assuming 8 hours 5 days a week) and still be paid more than 250K per year.

I wonder if the union remembers the strikes of the US air traffic controllers strike of 1981, and how Reagan fired 11,345 of them on the spot when they refused to return to work. In the end, it turned out to be a huge political coup for Reagan and is still talked about fondly whenever right-wing think tanks fantasize about a world free of unions.

Our miserable Casa del Libro experience

Spain has an alleged Amazon.com-type site called Casadellibro, which promises more than a million books, with next day shipping.

Unfortunately the promise seems to be more aspirational rather than reality-based. We made the order for about twenty Spanish books about two weeks ago. After the order we didn’t hear from them until yesterday, when we received an email from them saying that none of the books we ordered were available. Maybe we want to order something else? Right.

The new strategy is to just order from Amazon.co.uk. They offers free shipping (did I mention free shipping?) for orders more than 25 pounds. The packages also arrive faster than orders from Spain and I’ve never run into a problem with them.

Garzon and the American Embassy Cables

El Pais has been offering a-leak-a-day coverage of the infamous US embassy cables. They provide a fascinating picture about the degree of political interference in the judicial process in Spain. I just wish they provided the original English memos, as it is sometimes difficult to figure out the exact phrase used by the Americans.

These cables make it clear why there was such a rush to push Garzon out of the judiciary. His refusal to drop the Guantanamo case was causing serious friction with the US government. There is some minor appreciation in some of the memos on Garzon’s anti-terrorism work, but it appears that embarrassing the US government is unforgivable.

It’s pretty amazing to read Chief Prosecutor Javier Zaragoza’s three step plan on how to get Garzon to drop the case.

Legal Advisor met May 4 with National Court Chief Prosecutor Javier Zaragoza (protect) to discuss Garzon’s latest move. Zaragoza said he had challenged Garzon directly and personally on this latest case, asking if he was trying to drum up more speaking fees. Garzon replied he was doing it for the record only and would let it die. Zaragoza opined that Garzon, having gotten his headline, would soon drop the matter. In case he does not, Zaragoza has a strategy to force his hand. Zaragoza’s strategy hinges on the older case in which Garzon investigated terrorism complaints against some Guantanamo detainees. In connection with those earlier investigations, Garzon ordered the Spanish police to visit Guantanamo and collect evidence against the suspected terrorists. Zaragoza reasons that he can use this fact to embarrass Garzon into dropping this latest case by suggesting Garzon in some sense condoned the U.S. approach to detainee issues circa 2004. Garzon took no action in 2004 when the suspects returned to Spain and reported to him their alleged mistreatment. Zaragoza said that if Garzon could not be shamed into dropping the case, then he would formally recommend Garzon do so and appeal if Garzon ignored him.

Key to Zaragoza’s plans is the fact that there is yet another Guantanamo-related case underway in the National Court. That case relates to so-called CIA flights carrying detainees to Guantanamo via Spain and is being heard by investigating Judge Ismael Moreno. The police officers whom Garzon sent to Guantanamo years ago are expected to testify before Moreno this month, and Zaragoza hopes their testimony will put on record Garzon’s role in the earlier cases.

Zaragoza is also banking on the fact that Garzon is already in hot water over his excessive zeal in another case. A few months ago, Garzon opened an investigation into Spanish civil war atrocities. Garzon persisted in his investigation in the face of all advice to the contrary from prosecutors. The case was finally wrestled away from Garzon, but there is now a criminal complaint against him in the Supreme Court, alleging abuse of authority. That complaint has the support of Spanish prosecutors. Zaragoza doubts Garzon will risk a second such complaint.

[…]

We believe Zaragoza is acting in good faith and playing a constructive role. Certainly he knows Garzon better than we do, having sparred with him before. Nevertheless, we do not share his optimism that this problem will go away anytime soon. Having started, it is hard for us to see why the publicity-loving Garzon would shut off his headline-generating machine unless forced to do so. And forcing him to do so could take months. We also fear Garzon -- far from being deterred by threats of disciplinary action -- may welcome the chance for martyrdom, knowing the case will attract worldwide attention.

We officially become familia numerosa

The card arrived today via certified mail about a month or so after we applied for it at the town hall in Sant Cugat. Just in time to get all the “familia numerosa” (nombrosa in Catalan) discounts at the local toy stores and for the RENFE tickets we are about to buy.

If you have three or more children, it’s definitely worth applying for it.