Airport security. Ha, ha, ha!

Airport security has become a joke: a bad joke, but still a joke. The other day I described my experiences on a recent trip to Britain and back. I now learn that the situation is more complex than I had realised.

On 28 December a passenger leaving from Barcelona airport saw that passengers were routinely removing their shoes before passing through the arch. He told them that there was no requirement for them to do so unless they set off the metal detector. When this passenger’s turn came, the security guard said to him, ‘Now it’s you who takes your shoes off, smartarse.’ The passenger informed him verbally, his documents being the other side of the machine, that he was Ignasi Guardans MEP (Catalan Liberal) and that he knew what he was talking about. He called for the Guardia Civil in charge (the checks are carried out by a private company, supervised by the GC), who backed up the security guard. Guardans obeyed the order and asked the security guard for his identity. The guard, ‘visibly upset’, refused and was taken away by two of his fellows, while another said to the rest ‘Keep quiet and say nothing. It looks like we’ve got one here who knows his rights.’ This story is told in Spanish on the site www.nosinzapatos.com (nosinzapatos = notwithoutshoes). Interestingly and worryingly, the story concludes (my emphasis):

Guardans is quite clear that, except in Great Britain and the United States, passengers are not required to take their shoes off before passing through the security arch and he means to go on in the same way; informing travellers of their rights and presenting more complaints if there is no alternative.

The rules governing airport security are secret and I have mentioned this before. The secret annexe to EU Regulation 1546/2006 has been published in Spain and it contains nothing that a terrorist couldn’t find out for himself by passing through a few airports. The failure to publish it is illegal under EU law and proceedings are being taken. Changes may well be announced soon by the Commission.