Carlos Bustelo, the president of the Spanish communications regulator (CMT) resigned yesterday, almost three years before the end of his mandate in December 2008. It has been reported that the reason is the �difficulties in carrying out the complex and delicate process of moving the regulator�s offices to Barcelona�.

The conflict between the regulator and the Government kicked off last December, when it was announced that in 2005 the offices would move from Madrid to Barcelona. This was a first step in the Government�s attempt to redistribute activities among other regions. The CMT strongly opposed the move but the Government argued that, while independent in its decisions, the regulator was not so with respect to its organisation. The idea is that policy making should not take place always in the capital city, and that resources should be evenly distributed across the country. This echoes the proposal by Ofcom that an eventual PSP be based somewhere other than London.

The resignation will now ease the way forward and in the near future regulatory activity will take place by the seaside. Good news if any Ofcom representative needs to meet with his Spanish counterpart!

[thanks Russ for suggesting the title of this post]