Spain's crown prince in snit at MIA
An international incident is touched off when Miami airport screeners insist
on examining the luggage of the successor to the Spanish throne and his
entourage.
BY LUISA YANEZ
lyanez@xxxxxxxxxx
Crown Prince Felipe of Spain and his fiancée pitched a royal fit at Miami
International Airport Thursday night, when screeners insisted on searching
the future king's luggage -- just as they would any Average Joe's.
Members of the prince's entourage called the required inspection of their
private belongings an ''insult'' and ''humiliating'' -- sparking a
diplomatic flap that has the United States and Spain on the brink of a
protocol war.
Crowning it off, Iberia Airlines, the prince's carrier of choice, is
suggesting it might pull out of the airport, according to two sources close
to the international incident.
Now, Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas has sent the Prince of Asturias, next in
line for the throne, an apology, saying he's asked for an investigation into
what went wrong.
Thursday's diplomatic dust-up occurred when the tall, blue-eyed,
36-year-old Prince Felipe de Borbón and his beautiful bride-to-be, Letizia
Ortiz, 31, a well-known TV newscaster, flew into MIA to catch a connecting
flight home.
The couple and four bodyguards landed at MIA around 5 p.m. on a private
chartered jet from Nassau. They were booked on a 6 p.m. Iberia Airlines
flight to Madrid.
Whether the prince gave U.S. diplomatic officials enough notice of his
arrival is at the heart of the problem.
The U.S. State Department requires 72 hours notice to arrange for expedited
security screening in a private area. The prince's people called with six
hours notice.
When members of the royal party were told that they and their carry-ons
would have to be searched -- just like the masses -- the royal flap erupted.
''We're your allies!'' one member of the royal delegation shouted in
Spanish to inspectors at a particularly tense moment.
But according to Lauren Stover, spokeswoman for the Transportation Security
Administration in Miami, the screeners were only doing their jobs. The
mandates of the Department of Homeland Security following Sept. 11 require
that all commercial airline passengers be screened -- even the princely
ones.
''The prince and his bodyguard felt they should not be subjected to the
screening, but if they do not have an escort from the State Department or
the Secret Service, it is required,'' Stover said. ``It's the law.''
To accommodate blue-blooded sensibilities, the TSA gave the group a choice
of a quick public screening or a slower but private one away from commoners.
The royal entourage chose a private screening and the group was taken to an
American Airlines' lounge.
Stover said three ''top-notch screeners with VIP experience'' and two
supervisors rushed to the lounge to conduct the search.
The need by the princess-to-be to go the powder room caused another
flare-up. Ortiz was told her already-searched purse would be searched again
on her return from the nonsecure area. She decided to hold it.
That sparked more angry words and exchanges, delaying the process and
making the entire royal party late for the flight, which waited.
At one point, Milton Oribe, Iberia's station manager, said he would ignore
the required screening, come what may, witnesses said.
Oribe also offered to vouch for the prince and his entourage, adding that
he would see to it that the Spanish carrier withdrew from MIA, according to
witnesses on the scene.
Mayor Penelas, calling the brouhaha a ''lamentable situation,'' immediately
sent a letter of apology to the the royal family and pointed out those doing
the screening were federal employees.
''The facts I have received thus far indicate an apparent disregard for
protocol and disrespect of His Highness and his delegation. . . . I have
called upon our County Manager to conduct a complete investigation into this
matter,'' Penelas wrote in a letter dated Thursday.
An official of the Spanish Consulate in Miami said Friday that it will be
up to Consul General Javier Vallaure to decide whether a complaint will be
sent to the U.S. State Department.
''We don't consider this the proper way to treat our future king; it's a
breach of protocol,'' said the consular official, who would not give his
name.
Said Stover: ``Had anything happened on that flight to the prince or anyone
on that aircraft because we decided to relax our screening processes, that
would have been catastrophic and a complete failure on our part.''
Herald business writer Ina Paiva Cordle contributed to this report.
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