Spanish airline collapse leaves 20,000 stranded

The collapse of Spanair, Spain’s fourth biggest airline, has stranded more than 20,000 people in Europe and Africa.

As Spanair filed for bankruptcy after grounding its fleet on Friday, passengers tried to find alternative flights. Other airlines have stepped in to help.

But for 4,000 or so direct and indirect Spanair workers, long-term misery looms. They face joining the ranks of Spain’s more than five million jobless.

“We have seen many things, many situations,” said Rajmann Singh, one of the workers hit by the collapse. “There has been bad management, politicial interests and the result is that many people are going to be unemployed.”

Spain’s government has started legal action over the collapse.

Catalonia’s regional administration is the main shareholder of Spanair, which suffered a crash at Madrid Airport in 2008 that left 154 people dead.

The Catalonian government says it can no longer provide funds for the loss-making airline.

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