101
Governing Council. When he got to me, he took my hand and put a friendly
arm around my shoulder. ‘Don’t worry, Professor,’ he said, ‘they’re not going
to take the European telescopes to Hawaii.’ Years later, when he was no longer
president, we met at a Prince of Asturias Awards ceremony and he still remembered my boldness.
The next meeting with the Air Force Chiefs of Staff was very different;
things had changed now that General Gabeiras (then Secretary of State for
Defence) had become aware of the situation. The military officers present,
who had flown to La Palma looked as though they had come straight from the
battle front, complete with bruises and cuts. Their helicopter, we were told,
had made ‘too complicated a landing’ at Roque de los Muchachos, in heavy
wind. They explained to us that they had now found a solution that would
station the radars on the highest peak of the island of El Hierro, with possibly
a very small one below Roque de los Muchachos Observatory. To this day, not
a single radar has been erected on El Hierro, and the inhabitants of that island
continue to fight against their ever being brought there.
The Treaty concerning Cooperation in Matters of Astrophysics was finally
approved by the Council of Ministers at the joint request of the Ministries of
the Presidency, Education and Science, and (naturally!) Defence. It was then
Fig. 11.1 President Adolfo Suárez greeting senior military officers and Canarian politicians during his 1978 visit to the islands. (Credit: Diario de Avisos)
11 Telescopes Versus Military Radars (1977–1978)
Governing Council. When he got to me, he took my hand and put a friendly
arm around my shoulder. ‘Don’t worry, Professor,’ he said, ‘they’re not going
to take the European telescopes to Hawaii.’ Years later, when he was no longer
president, we met at a Prince of Asturias Awards ceremony and he still remembered my boldness.
The next meeting with the Air Force Chiefs of Staff was very different;
things had changed now that General Gabeiras (then Secretary of State for
Defence) had become aware of the situation. The military officers present,
who had flown to La Palma looked as though they had come straight from the
battle front, complete with bruises and cuts. Their helicopter, we were told,
had made ‘too complicated a landing’ at Roque de los Muchachos, in heavy
wind. They explained to us that they had now found a solution that would
station the radars on the highest peak of the island of El Hierro, with possibly
a very small one below Roque de los Muchachos Observatory. To this day, not
a single radar has been erected on El Hierro, and the inhabitants of that island
continue to fight against their ever being brought there.
The Treaty concerning Cooperation in Matters of Astrophysics was finally
approved by the Council of Ministers at the joint request of the Ministries of
the Presidency, Education and Science, and (naturally!) Defence. It was then
Fig. 11.1 President Adolfo Suárez greeting senior military officers and Canarian politicians during his 1978 visit to the islands. (Credit: Diario de Avisos)
11 Telescopes Versus Military Radars (1977–1978)