Scottish Tourist Board not worried about travel boycott

by Sean McLachlan on

Last week’s controversial release of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi from a Scottish prison has sparked calls for a travel boycott of Scotland. Al-Megrahi was convicted of involvement in the plot to blow up Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. A total of 270 people died. He was given a life sentence but released on compassionate grounds and allowed to return to Libya because he’s dying of prostate cancer and has less than three months to live. Coming off the plane in Libya he was given a hero’s welcome, with some in the crowd waving Scottish flags.

Now websites are springing up like Boycott Scotland and there are online petitions, including a Scottish one, protesting the terrorist’s release. The Scottish Tourist Board, however, doesn’t appear worried. Americans made 340,000 trips to Scotland last year, spending £260 million, and officials have seen no sign of a significant numbers of people canceling their trips.

Al-Megrahi’s release caused widespread condemnation in Scotland, the United States, and other countries. The Scottish parliament has been recalled for an emergency meeting as many ministers openly criticized the move and said the will of the Scottish people was not carried out.

I’m in England at the moment, and spent the last seven days on the border with Scotland, and everyone I’ve spoken to about this, English and Scottish, opposed his release. Will this move hurt Scottish tourism? Probably a bit. A few people will cancel trips, hurting the owners of hotels and B&Bs where they had reserved rooms, but the amount probably won’t be enough to hurt the Scottish government, which was responsible for this decision.

More terrorist bombs in Majorca

by Sean McLachlan on

Three small bombs exploded today in Majorca, in a coordinated attack claimed by the terrorist group ETA. There were no injuries.

The first bomb went off in the bathroom of an Italian restaurant and bar next to the beach in Palma de Majorca. Another was detonated nearby by police in a controlled explosion. Shortly thereafter, a third bomb exploded in the town square. ETA, a terrorist group that wants an independent state in Spain’s Basque region, gave a warning that the bombs were going to explode and police were able to evacuate everyone in time.

This comes less than two weeks after two other bombs by ETA, one against Guardia Civil in Majorca that left two officers killed, and another against a Guardia Civil apartment building in Burgos that left dozens with minor injuries.

ETA has killed more than 800 people in the past fifty years and often targets popular tourist destinations like Majorca and Burgos in order to undermine the Spanish economy.

Terrorist bomb blast in Spanish tourist town

by Sean McLachlan on

The northern Spanish town of Burgos, a popular destination for holidaymakers, was rocked by a car bomb early this morning. According to the BBC the bomb targeted a high-rise residential building of the Guardia Civil, injuring 46 people, many of whom are women and children.

Officials are blaming ETA, a terrorist group that seeks an independent Basque nation in Spain’s northern region. Unlike many ETA bombings, this one was not preceded by a telephone warning and seems to have been intended to cause maximum possible injury.

ETA, which stands for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (“Basque Homeland and Freedom”), has been waging a terrorist campaign since 1968, using bombings, assassination, and extortion. The group has killed more than 800 people. The Guardia Civil, who are sort of a mix between the FBI and the National Guard, are one of ETA’s favorite targets. ETA has set off bombs in other big cities and in a parking garage in Madrid’s Barajas airport in 2006, pictured here. The airport bombing killed two Ecuadorian immigrants and came just nine months after the group declared a permanent ceasefire.

ETA has targeted tourist destinations in the past and the choice of Burgos may be part of an ongoing attempt to disrupt Spain’s profitable tourist industry.

Virgin Blue calls musician terrorist

by Tom Johansmeyer on

It wasn’t until Steve Lucas actually got on the plane that he had a problem. His bullet-studded guitar strap – empty shells, of course – made it through the various points in the Sydney airport’s security gauntlet. Consequently, all his luggage was removed from the Virgin Blue flight.

Three times, the musician of 30 years was called to the front of the plane to sign a statement confirming that he had brought prohibited goods aboard. Lucas claims not to have had any problems with the shells on previous flights while on tour.

Separated from his instruments, Lucas was unable to rehearse in a timely manner, prompting him to call the airline’s complaints line … where he was told he was a potential terrorist.

Mom may have said that rock music will rot your brain, but this is extreme.


Unlike Lucas, these girls were actually *causing* problems in the sky. Click the pictures to find out what they did.

Flight attendant pleads guilty to bomb hoax

by Tom Johansmeyer on

It was a bad week for Australians, it seems. A naval officer was physically restrained on a flight to London. Not too long after, Matt Carney, a flight attendant from Melbourne, was sentenced to 18 months in jail in England. It was his own fault: he left not one but two(!) notes on a plane to London, “warning” of a bomb. Of course, he was working the flight.

The 23-year-old soon-to-be-former flight attendant is from Melbourne, but he’ll have a new home for a while. As soon as his Emirates Boeing 777 landed at Gatwick Airport, Carney was arrested. No explosives were discovered. One note was found in the lav, the other in the flight attendant’s luggage.

The note was “discovered” when Carney found wires in the lav. Though they weren’t connected to anything, the crew monitored this smallest of spaces. A passenger later found the note, which included: “We have the Taliban to thank for this.”

In pleading guilty to making a hoax threat (he denied endangering the safety of an aircraft), Carney said through his lawyer that he was stressed and tired. If Dubai to London wore him out, let’s see how he handles 18 months in the slammer.