Spain’s ‘Strictly come dancing’ moment

“WE were told he was on board,” bleated Foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo.

He referred to whistleblower Edward Snowden who fled first to Hong Kong and then Russia after telling the world that the US agency, NSA, listened in on them.

It was thought he could be aboard the aircraft of Bolivian president Evo Morales as he returned from a visit to Moscow. Spain wanted to search it before allowing it to enter its airspace after France, Italy and Portugal refused permission for Morales’s plane to overfly their countries.

Madrid finally resented, doubtless after checking that the US would not make trouble.

No country admits dancing to the US tune, but Europe gave a breathtaking display of fancy footwork to help Washington in its pursuit of Snowden.

Spain wanted to placate US but with greater business interests in Latin America than any other EU country it also needed to placate Morales.

Predictably the US is indifferent but Morales and most of Latin America are livid.  Spain has once more suffered the forelock-tugger’s fate of trying to keep everyone happy and satisfying no-one.