Ian Mallon has hit out at the Spanish Consul General for Scotland after he pulled out of an arranged meeting – an hour after it was scheduled to start – claiming it typifies the Spanish authorities’ attitude to his son’s murder.
Mr Miguel Ángel Vecino Quintana was due to meet Mr Mallon and private investigator David Swindle in Coatbridge at the end of last month.
The diplomat had agreed to meet them after he was approached by justice secretary Humza Yousaf.
After waiting for an hour, though, Mr Swindle received a call from Mr Quintana’s office saying he wouldn’t make it as a prior engagement had overrun.
Ian insists that is indicative of the treatment he and his family have had to deal with since Craig’s death.
He told the Advertiser: “It’s complete ignorance and shows a lack of respect. There’s never been any compassion from the Spanish authorities, to be honest.
“Even when we identified Craig’s body – they hadn’t wiped mud off his face and had left his eyes open.
“The way the Consul General went about this is just another example of the apathy towards us.
“It seems the unveiling of a plaque or whatever is more important to him than a young man who was killed in his country.”
However, Mr Quintana refuted any claims he had treated Mr Mallon poorly.
He said: “I would like to insist that I do not have any obligation towards this matter and I do not have any obligation to go where Mr Mallon lives.
“In spite of that, I accepted to go only moved by humanitarian reasons.
“The meeting I had before had been arranged since January and lasted for longer than I expected. My personal assistant contacted Mr Swindle and told him I couldn’t go to the meeting.”
Coatbridge MSP Fulton MacGregor helped set up the meeting and was “disappointed” to discover it hadn’t took place.
He said: “It [the meeting] was the outcome of a very productive meeting the Mallon family had with the cabinet secretary and I at parliament.
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“It’s important Craig’s family get answers and we continue to push the authorities to ensure no-one is in the same tragic position without support in the future.”
Mr Mallon added: “We come up against barrier after barrier and when we do take a step forward it’s followed by two steps back.
“We’ll keep fighting for justice for Craig but I don’t know how much longer I can keep going like this. It’s consumed my life since that day in 2012.
“We need someone in power who is willing and able to really do something about this.
“I noticed that some Liverpool fans misbehaved in Barcelona before their football match last week and the Spanish and British authorities began working together straight away.
“My son died seven years ago in Spain and not once has that been a priority. How long is my family going to have to wait until the authorities decide enough is enough?”
