26/06/2014 00:00
TW
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Dear Sir,
Michael O’Leary of Ryanair is not a fit and proper person to control the Spanish Airport Authority AENA (Viewpoint Tuesday). As Chief Executive he heads a company in breach of a judgement of the Spanish Civil Aviation Agency AESA. This agency is responsible for air safety and protection of passenger rights. Ryanair refuses to accept a current Spanish ID as proof of identity for Nigerian passengers on internal flights.
Obviously AESA has judged the rejection of valid Spanish ID as illegal and awarded compensation to the passenger involved. Ryanair has rejected this and the legal competence of this Government Agency. This is the same agency who rules on compensation for delayed flights. It also checks on planes that fly with inadequate reserves of fuel thus risking the lives of their passengers. Both of these problems have an aggressive history involving O’Leary.
Mike Lillico

Royalty and Government
Dear Sir,
As much as I admire Jason Moore’s excellent editorship of the MDB, I have to disagree with his contention that someone of royal birth automatically has the wit and wisdom, let alone the experience, to interfere with the running of government.
It is my understanding that in Britain, Prince Charles’s continual interference with various members of government is looked by them as an unavoidable nuisance. His unfortunate remark regarding Vladimir Putin, is a case in point. It was the US State Department in collusion with NATO who destabilised the Ukraine and brought down the legal government. Regarding the so-called ‘annexation’ of the Crimea by Russia: this came after an internationally supervised referendum resulted in 97% of the population voting for a return to Russian control. This is democracy in action rather than ‘annexation’.
Whilst it is understandable that the British public, subject as it is, to continual right-wing propaganda, will believe what they read and see in the media, a future king should show greater wisdom and tact if he wishes to open his mouth on matters of state.
As to king Felipe: with Catalonia specifically in mind, it looks as though he would be better advised to concentrate on the difficult business of holding Spain together rather than dabbling in the arcane affairs of government.
David Lee
Costa de la Calma

Regarding yesterday’s online Editorial
Dear Sir,
I don’ think turning an unelected monarchy into a political referee for left vs right disagreements is the right way to go here. Tribal politics does not serve the people of a country as a rule. Perhaps Spain needs a coalition government too in order to force some unity and compromise in order to move things forward for both the country and the people.
Regards
Nikki Willmott
(part time resident hoping to become full time next year)