VZCZCXRO4633
RR RUEHLA
DE RUEHMD #1950 2821536
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091536Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3596
INFO RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA 3117
UNCLAS MADRID 001950
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EUR/WE (ESAMSON) AND L/CID (TFEIGHENERY)
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: BEXP CASC ECON SP
SUBJECT: EMBASSY ASKS MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY, TOURISM AND
TRADE CHIEF OF STAFF ABOUT ROSALINI CASE
REF: A. (A) MADRID 01808 (B) MICO-SCHONANDER E-MAIL (C)
MADRID 01725 (D) SCHONANDER-ALLEGRONE
E-MAIL
B. (E) MADRID 00142 (F) 06 MADRID 02793 (G) 06
MADRID 01848E
1. This message is sensitive but unclassified.
2. EconCouns and EconOff met with the Minister of Industry,
Tourism and Trade's (Joan Clos) Chief of Staff, Marc Murtra,
and Industry Advisor Bruno Fernandez Scrimieri, on 10/4/07.
EconOff queried Murtra on the Ministry's thinking on the
Rosalini case. Murtra said that Rosalini should consider the
Barcelona Forum's offer to settle because although the offer
did not come close to the damages awarded by the court in
Cook County, Illinois, it was far more generous than awarded
in similar cases in Spain. The Chief of Staff added that
Rosalini should consider the fact that Clos might not be a
minister after the next general elections in Spain, which
must be held by March 2008 at the latest. Murtra suggested
that Clos was the Spanish politician with the greatest
interest in settling the case, and that other future
ministers would likely have much less interest in settling.
LLORENS