Knifefight Afterdance
2010-12-04 14:10:55 UTC
Travel News: Spain declares State of Alert after wildcat strikes
The Spanish government has declared a State of Alert following a
walkout by air traffic controllers, which has left at least 20,000
stranded.
December 4, 2010
Hundreds of thousands of passengers were left stranded by the walkout,
which came during one of Spain's busiest weekends for travel.
The Spanish government was holding crisis talks to try and force the
air traffic controllers back to work, and police were gathering at the
control centres in case the government decided to arrest the
controllers.
"If the situation doesn't normalise, the government will declare a
state of emergency," said Alfredo Rubalcaba, deputy prime minister,
ahead of a hastily assembled cabinet meeting in Madrid.
"The controllers will be mobilised and if they don't get back to work,
their cases will be passed immediately to the judiciary and they will
be accused of a crime which could mean a prison sentence."
Madrid airport announced that it would be shut until at least 6am on
Sunday, and police were restricting access to the terminals.
One Spanish air traffic controller told The Daily Telegraph that the
talks were likely to continue all day - meaning airports could well be
closed for much of the afternoon.
Iberia and several other airlines in Spain said they will not be
offering any services until Sunday morning.
But it was reported that some flights were leaving the Canary Islands
airports on Tenerife and Gran Canaria, where some controllers had
reported to work and signed on. Palma, in Majorca, is not planing to
reopen to flights until 8am on Sunday morning.
Air routes between Spain and the UK are the busiest in Europe, carrying
over 35m passengers per year, and thousands of Britons have been hit by
the closure of Spanish air space.
Ryanair alone has cancelled 74 flights with Spain scheduled for Friday
and Saturday.
At 9.30pm on Friday an emergency Royal Decree was signed ordering the
Ministry of Defence to take control of Spains air space. The military
have moved into all control centres and control towers in Spain.
But the civilian air traffic controllers refuse to work under them and
there are not sufficient military controllers to safely take over.
The controllers, who are the best paid in Europe with annual salaries
of up to one million euros, have been in dispute with the socialist
government for a year over plans, ratified this week, to partly
privatise the Spanish state airports authority, AENA.
It is the first time a State of Alert has been declared under the 1978
Constitution, ironically celebrated with a public holiday this Monday.
An estimated two million passengers were due to travel by air this
holiday weekend in Spain.
The Spanish military have moved into 47 control towers, four major air
traffic control centres and all airports.
There were immediate plans to open smaller military-civilian airports
to passenger flights. Barcelona airport partially reopened at 10pm on
Friday but only 15 flights took off.
The Spanish government has declared a State of Alert following a
walkout by air traffic controllers, which has left at least 20,000
stranded.
December 4, 2010
Hundreds of thousands of passengers were left stranded by the walkout,
which came during one of Spain's busiest weekends for travel.
The Spanish government was holding crisis talks to try and force the
air traffic controllers back to work, and police were gathering at the
control centres in case the government decided to arrest the
controllers.
"If the situation doesn't normalise, the government will declare a
state of emergency," said Alfredo Rubalcaba, deputy prime minister,
ahead of a hastily assembled cabinet meeting in Madrid.
"The controllers will be mobilised and if they don't get back to work,
their cases will be passed immediately to the judiciary and they will
be accused of a crime which could mean a prison sentence."
Madrid airport announced that it would be shut until at least 6am on
Sunday, and police were restricting access to the terminals.
One Spanish air traffic controller told The Daily Telegraph that the
talks were likely to continue all day - meaning airports could well be
closed for much of the afternoon.
Iberia and several other airlines in Spain said they will not be
offering any services until Sunday morning.
But it was reported that some flights were leaving the Canary Islands
airports on Tenerife and Gran Canaria, where some controllers had
reported to work and signed on. Palma, in Majorca, is not planing to
reopen to flights until 8am on Sunday morning.
Air routes between Spain and the UK are the busiest in Europe, carrying
over 35m passengers per year, and thousands of Britons have been hit by
the closure of Spanish air space.
Ryanair alone has cancelled 74 flights with Spain scheduled for Friday
and Saturday.
At 9.30pm on Friday an emergency Royal Decree was signed ordering the
Ministry of Defence to take control of Spains air space. The military
have moved into all control centres and control towers in Spain.
But the civilian air traffic controllers refuse to work under them and
there are not sufficient military controllers to safely take over.
The controllers, who are the best paid in Europe with annual salaries
of up to one million euros, have been in dispute with the socialist
government for a year over plans, ratified this week, to partly
privatise the Spanish state airports authority, AENA.
It is the first time a State of Alert has been declared under the 1978
Constitution, ironically celebrated with a public holiday this Monday.
An estimated two million passengers were due to travel by air this
holiday weekend in Spain.
The Spanish military have moved into 47 control towers, four major air
traffic control centres and all airports.
There were immediate plans to open smaller military-civilian airports
to passenger flights. Barcelona airport partially reopened at 10pm on
Friday but only 15 flights took off.