244
telescope for Spain, despite the economic advantages and prestige that this
would bring, was incredible. It is astonishing, to say the least, how a deaf ear
was turned to the clamour from the Canaries and the repeated demands of the
opposition in Madrid. Zapatero did not even heed the unanimous petition of
Parliament, including his own socialists, to make use of Spain’s presidency of
the European Union to push for actions to be taken to get the E-ELT located
in the Canaries. There were many opportunities to do so, given the numerous
meetings of both the President and his ministers in Europe.
One should not forget, as I have mentioned before, that ESO is a singular
and powerful scientific and technical organization that is well entrenched
within the European establishment, just like CERN, the European organization for nuclear research, or ESA. They are exclusive, expensive, and highly
bureaucratized organisms that need always to be in the public eye with spectacular achievements. The highly paid upper echelons of their governing and
managerial bodies are resistant to change and competition. This reality played
a far from trivial role in the manoeuvring that led to the E-ELT being sent
to Chile.
Let us now turn to Spain. Mrs Cristina Garmendia headed the Ministry of
Science, Technology, and Innovation from the spring of 2008. As soon as she
took possession of the portfolio, I informed her of everything relating to the
IAC, whose Governing Council she would be chairing as one of her duties. I
spoke to her of the E-ELT in particular and of the great possibilities and
advantages of having it built at the ORM. I ended by asking for her help
politically and economically. Not thinking twice, she replied that she would
not support the project until she was certain that ‘all Europe’s astrophysicists
were of unanimous accord that the telescope should go to the Canaries’. She
could not, she said, permit yet another slip-up, by which she meant Spain’s
loss of the Source of Neutrons by Spallation for Bilbao, and the subsequent
campaign by Basque news media and political parties throwing in her face her
previous public promises that such a thing would not occur. No politician
wants to back a losing horse. Once bitten, twice shy.
The growing suspicion on the part of the Minister that Spain’s candidacy
would fail became a certainty, and the reason for this must be sought in the
advice of certain astrophysicists in her confidence. Among these there come to
my mind the President of CSIC (then Rafael Rodrigo) and Xavier Barcons,
then coordinator of the National Programme for Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Both held CSIC research professorships. I understand, from what they said in
private and in public, that they thought ESO would win. They were admirers
of the great power of ESO and had first-hand knowledge that that organization wanted the telescope in Chile at all costs. Their declarations defending
F. Sánchez
telescope for Spain, despite the economic advantages and prestige that this
would bring, was incredible. It is astonishing, to say the least, how a deaf ear
was turned to the clamour from the Canaries and the repeated demands of the
opposition in Madrid. Zapatero did not even heed the unanimous petition of
Parliament, including his own socialists, to make use of Spain’s presidency of
the European Union to push for actions to be taken to get the E-ELT located
in the Canaries. There were many opportunities to do so, given the numerous
meetings of both the President and his ministers in Europe.
One should not forget, as I have mentioned before, that ESO is a singular
and powerful scientific and technical organization that is well entrenched
within the European establishment, just like CERN, the European organization for nuclear research, or ESA. They are exclusive, expensive, and highly
bureaucratized organisms that need always to be in the public eye with spectacular achievements. The highly paid upper echelons of their governing and
managerial bodies are resistant to change and competition. This reality played
a far from trivial role in the manoeuvring that led to the E-ELT being sent
to Chile.
Let us now turn to Spain. Mrs Cristina Garmendia headed the Ministry of
Science, Technology, and Innovation from the spring of 2008. As soon as she
took possession of the portfolio, I informed her of everything relating to the
IAC, whose Governing Council she would be chairing as one of her duties. I
spoke to her of the E-ELT in particular and of the great possibilities and
advantages of having it built at the ORM. I ended by asking for her help
politically and economically. Not thinking twice, she replied that she would
not support the project until she was certain that ‘all Europe’s astrophysicists
were of unanimous accord that the telescope should go to the Canaries’. She
could not, she said, permit yet another slip-up, by which she meant Spain’s
loss of the Source of Neutrons by Spallation for Bilbao, and the subsequent
campaign by Basque news media and political parties throwing in her face her
previous public promises that such a thing would not occur. No politician
wants to back a losing horse. Once bitten, twice shy.
The growing suspicion on the part of the Minister that Spain’s candidacy
would fail became a certainty, and the reason for this must be sought in the
advice of certain astrophysicists in her confidence. Among these there come to
my mind the President of CSIC (then Rafael Rodrigo) and Xavier Barcons,
then coordinator of the National Programme for Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Both held CSIC research professorships. I understand, from what they said in
private and in public, that they thought ESO would win. They were admirers
of the great power of ESO and had first-hand knowledge that that organization wanted the telescope in Chile at all costs. Their declarations defending
F. Sánchez