Spain in state of alert over air strike chaos

Spain in state of alert over air strike chaos
Travellers stranded at Madrid Barajas airport - 4 December 2010 Passengers have been stranded since Friday at airports across Spain
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The Spanish government has declared a state of alert after a strike by air traffic controllers grounded flights, stranding thousands of travellers.

The measures allow wildcat strikers to be charged with an offence of disobedience, and controllers began returning to work in the afternoon.

Works minister Jose Blanco warned that disruption could last up to 48 hours.

Officials said 250,000 people had been affected by the walkout, amid a long-running dispute about working hours.

Mr Blanco said all Spanish airspace had now reopened, but "normality will take some time, between 24 and 48 hours, if the controllers return to work as they must".

Almost all flights in and out of the country have been cancelled until Sunday morning.

The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Madrid says there are huge crowds of passengers at Spain's airports, many hoping to get away at the start of a national holiday, many of them frustrated and angry.

The army was called in to take charge of the country's airspace on Friday, but they do not have the training to direct air traffic.
Austerity drive

Announcing the first state of alert since the end of military rule in 1975, Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said the air traffic controllers were trying to protect "unacceptable privileges".

"Our airports are still at a standstill, and according to the Spanish constitution, the government is imposing a state of alert," Mr Rubalcaba said.

"The immediate effect is that the controllers are are now under orders to go back to work and can be charged with a crime under the military penal code if they refuse. The state of alert will initially last for 15 days."
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Analysis
image of Sarah Rainsford Sarah Rainsford BBC News, Madrid

The government has stepped in with the firmest possible measures. For the first time ever, the government has declared a state of alert in Spain, with immediate effect.

This means air traffic controllers are officially mobilised. If they refuse to work they will be committing the crime of disobedience according to Spain's military penal code.

These are extremely tough measures being taken by the government, which says the controllers are holding the country hostage and that is unacceptable.

The controllers can earn 350,000 euros ($470,000; £297,000). There is not a lot of sympathy for them in a country with 20% unemployment.

Our correspondent says the controllers could be charged with disobedience, but it is not clear what sentence any conviction would carry.

Some flights were operating to parts of Spain, including the Canary Islands and Majorca, but flagship carrier Iberia and budget airline Ryanair said they were cancelling all their flights until Sunday morning.

Iberia warned people not to travel to airports and said travellers at airports should leave if they could.

The controllers' unsanctioned action began Friday afternoon in Madrid, with staff calling in sick.

It spread across the nation, forcing travellers to find last-minute hotel rooms or sleep on airport floors. Some passengers were taken by coach to their destinations.

The controllers were already involved in a dispute about their working hours, but were further angered by austerity measures passed by the government on Friday as Spain tries to cut its budget deficit.

"We have reached our limit mentally with the new decree approved this morning obliging us to work more hours," said Jorge Ontiveros, a spokesman for the Syndicate Union of Air Controllers.

"We took the decision individually, which then spread to other colleagues who stopped work because they cannot carry on like this. In this situation we cannot control planes."
'Hostages'

The head of airport authority AENA, Juan Ignacio Lema, said the strike was "intolerable", and told the controllers to "stop blackmailing the Spanish people".

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Some were left stranded on runways as their planes had to turn back.

One woman at Barajas airport said it was "a disgrace". "How can a group of people be so selfish as to wreck the plans of so many people?"

Another traveller at Barajas airport said: "All flights are blocked, there's a huge lot of people here, sitting around everywhere. Right now everyone is calm, but we don't know what's happening."

A passenger stuck in a plane at Palma told Spanish radio: "The captain came out to say Spanish airspace had suddenly shut, with no prior warning."

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