Professor Del Campo and the Twelfth World Congress of Sociology.

The article discusses the failure of the Twelfth World Congress of Sociology in Madrid, Spain, from July 9-13, 1990. Even by the customary standards of the International Sociological Association, which are not high, the treatment received by participants was questionable. The housing arrangements had been entrusted to a private travel agency named Ibercolor. Foreign guests at the Congress were required to make hotel reservations several months in advance, with substantial deposits. Ibercolor received deposits from the majority of foreign guests but sent out no confirmations so that people had to stand in long, slow lines at the Congress headquarters to discover where one is supposed to stay. Many people found that they had been assigned to a hotel of a more expensive category than the one they had requested. They had no recourse since Ibercolor refused, to return deposits for any reason. Moreover, the special Congress rates arranged by Ibercolor turned out to be higher than the customary rates posted in each hotel room But the hotels refused to accept direct payment; guests were required to pay their hotel bills to Ibercolor, after another long wait in line.