Travel Advice.

international | miscellaneous | news report

Wednesday July 23, 2003 16:01

by advisory service.

If they are trying to switch off the TV and tanks are on the street: (2º)

As you will see in today's papers in Ireland, yesterday two bombs exploded in Spain. They were planned, planted, and exploded by ETA.
Since the beginning of July ETA has counted five bomb attacks. Since the beginning of it's annual "summer holidays" bombing season 167 attacks have been made.

You probably are thinking something about the IRA.
Well the IRA never really went in for holiday attacks, (Mountbatten aside).

So Irish tour operators are advising Irish people to take precautions in Spain. I thought being resident in the español area, I could offer you some useful advice.

Q. How many Irish are there in the effected area?
A. lots. There are at present in excess of 20,000 Irish nationals on holidays in the south of Spain.
Q. Are there Irish in other areas of Spain?
A. yes. oodles.

Yesterday Bertie Ahern "Irish premier" (lehandakari) joined with Aznar to condemn the bombings. They had met in Madrid to discuss business relating to Ireland's turn on the rotating head of EU states which starts in January 2004.

Also on the table was the Burlosconi plan to unify criminal prosecution and investigation relating to the external borders of the EU in the next round of EU heads of state meetings.
Burlosconi is presently with his master in Texas, meanwhile the Italian Senate has finally after many years resistance caved in to his ambition, and yesterday voted him the beginning of his long craved "extra" power.
{It is my belief that Burlosconi wishes to position himself as the €U leader of choice with the White House}.

Today Italian and Spanish papers published the interesting figure that 67% of EU citizens favour a unitary constitution with only 10% against.

So what is the travel advice?

If you are in either the Basque lands or Catalúnya remember where you are.

Most people in those areas do not consider them to be an integral part of "spain" rather like the irish tourist who will loudly and proudly say "I am Irish not British". Don't worry too much ETA have never shown any interest in distinguishing their victims.

If you are in other areas of "españa" remember that you are in a country which routinely (as in
every two weeks) suffers a terrorist attack. You should avoid staying near police stations or guardia civil barracks which are most frequently attacked.

So which are the safest areas of Spain to visit?
La moncloa the palace of Aznar is very very safe.
Also considered to be safe are Cantabria, the Basque lands, Barcelona but not the Catalan coast, the Balearics, central Andalucia but not the coast. In short Madrid and the sunshine coasts are "risky".

What advice does the Irish government offer it's citizens?
not much.
but here it is:
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Purchase a return or onward ticket.
Invest in adequate travel / medical insurance.
Bring enough money for your trip, but limit the amount of cash you carry - by using travellers cheques, Eurocheques or international credit cards.
Ensure that your passport is valid for longer than the duration of your trip.
Bring a photocopy of the personal information pages of your passport.
Ensure that you obtain in advance any visas you require.
Do not overstay the period of your permitted visit.
Never carry items for others.
Never leave your luggage unattended.
If staying at a hotel, consider leaving valuables in the hotel safe or a safety deposit box.
Seek advice locally about places to visit and to steer clear of; at night,avoid dark or isolated areas.
Keep in touch with home and let family or friends know when they can next expect to hear from you and how they can contact you in the event of an emergency.
Plan the routes of car journeys in advance, keep car doors locked, do not give lifts to hitch-hikers, park in safe and well-lit areas.
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remember that though the Irish government may arrange a undertaker for your corpse, there are no funds available to re-patriate either sickly or dead Irish citizens.

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previous travel advice:
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=21203
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A zealous editor will probably delete this.
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