The joys of Madrid Airport
Just returned from our trip to the Balearic island of Mallorca … that part was great, admiring the scenery on the few days of pleasant weather and marvelling at the beauty of mother nature in the ancient olive and almond groves while hubby attended a conference on the benefits of laughter; yes that's right you read me … laughter yoga of course (www.laughteryoga.org). But we came back with a strong desire never to return, at least through Madrid Airport, a maze of miles of tunnels, trains, walkways, lifts, stairs and exits; and too many little Hitler's around with pimpled faces disguised in security uniforms refusing to speak in a language us humble tourists could understand, ready to pounce on unsuspecting travelers carrying … wait for it … bottles of wine just bought in the airport shops IN TRANSIT with proof of purchase!
Such was my good luck! And as I saw a rather delicious bottle of Spanish plonk get gingerly placed in the security bin for supposed 'destruction' at the end of the day ('down whose gullet?' I couldn't help thinking), I had to bite my tongue really hard to stop myself from yelling out loud 'bomb, bomb!' … while visions of being whisked away on the midnight plane to Guatanamo swirled in my head! Maybe they thought better of it too … couldn't bear the thought of olives being thrown at them 24/7 by a deranged English Arab sympathizer - and female too!
And all this because of new EU instructions; well, someone has to justify his cushy job in Belgium (and Tony Blair's Middle East meanderings) so they come up with harebrained security regulations … paid for by all that extra tax on tickets no doubt!
'Boycott duty-free shopping at airports now!' thinks me and wonders about the merits of it all .... but nowhere did it say a passenger in transit cannot buy liquid in whatever form from the airport … except of course when you transit Madrid Airport; obviously I missed the small print!
J
Such was my good luck! And as I saw a rather delicious bottle of Spanish plonk get gingerly placed in the security bin for supposed 'destruction' at the end of the day ('down whose gullet?' I couldn't help thinking), I had to bite my tongue really hard to stop myself from yelling out loud 'bomb, bomb!' … while visions of being whisked away on the midnight plane to Guatanamo swirled in my head! Maybe they thought better of it too … couldn't bear the thought of olives being thrown at them 24/7 by a deranged English Arab sympathizer - and female too!
And all this because of new EU instructions; well, someone has to justify his cushy job in Belgium (and Tony Blair's Middle East meanderings) so they come up with harebrained security regulations … paid for by all that extra tax on tickets no doubt!
'Boycott duty-free shopping at airports now!' thinks me and wonders about the merits of it all .... but nowhere did it say a passenger in transit cannot buy liquid in whatever form from the airport … except of course when you transit Madrid Airport; obviously I missed the small print!
J
posted by joladies at Saturday, October 27, 2007
2 Comments:
We had the same experience in Zurich airport last year. All of this is a result of the supposed attempt to mix up a bomb on board a plane using 'liguids' carried in a passenger's hand luggage. The entire episode was never proved to the satisfaction of most in the travel industry. We are all being held hostage by a few crazies.
ASH
Too true ... but I also believe this is one of the biggest scams to hit Europe in a while. The amount of confiscated duty free products (including perfumes etc) bought legitimately at airports around Europe is phenomenal - a black market windfall of enormous proportions - and this is why: the same products can be bought on the plane itself ... in flight! J
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