At the Bar - Jose Maria Alcantara shares a good lunch in madrid with John Guy

Jose Maria Alcantara shares a good lunch in madrid with John Guy
Las Pocholas, Fortuny 47, Madrid.
Tel:91 308 01 07

JOSE Maria Alcantara is a courteous host. Which is just as well because, as the ubiquitous face of Spanish maritime law, he hosts conventions, meetings and gatherings of all things legal and all things Hispanic wherever he goes. On this forty degree-plus summer lunchtime, he goes to the cool Navarrese restaurant of Las Pocholas, walking distance from his office in the establishment area of Madrid, and I go with him.

The number of small tapas we sample is the same as the number of associations which Jose Maria is a member of, which is too many to list. The maitre d' opens a bottle of Vina Salceda Rioja 1994, a soft red from Alavesa, and places a jug of cold water on the table. One of the tapas is unusual, beetroot served with aniseed. I ask Jose Maria why he has chosen to be president or a member of such an unusually high number of associations. "I am a dreamer," says Jose Maria. "I love my profession, I'm keen to improve things, I like to have a provocative voice and I have always loved travelling and building relationships."

The fact that he does that, is president of the Spanish Maritime Law Association, the Spanish Average Adjusters Association, executive vice-president of the Spanish Maritime Arbitrators Association, is active in the CMI and still manages to head up a busy maritime law practice is testimony to the team he has built up. That allows him to look relaxed and to explain patiently the ins and outs of maritime law in Spain, while busy lunchtime Madrid flows by outside. "I stood for presidency of the law association as part of a team," he says. "We wanted to influence industry and the government to clear out old sections of our commercial codes, and adopt new conventions."

I have adopted some gazpacho, cold liquid salad, and he has adopted grilled asparagus. "Conventions have a higher priority than civil law here. We should adopt them and make changes that way," he says.

I suggest that the law association has been criticised for inaction and infighting. "You are right," responds Jose Maria. "It was dormant, but now we have an executive committee of committed lawyers, and we can do something. We have to achieve something to get recognition. But there will always be those who just look and envy. Envy is a Spanish national characteristic." Perhaps the fiftieth anniversary celebrations already booked for next January in the Fenix Hotel, where the association was founded, will rally support.

We have no room for envy as we both tuck into merluza a la romana, classic fried hake. But the conference which Jose Maria recently helped to organise in Barcelona, wearing his IMARCO (Arbitration Association) hat, attracted at the least a lot of interest, a lot of foreign lawyers, and almost certainly a little envy. Jose Maria shrugs that off. There was a session at the conference where another Spanish lawyer was accused by his colleagues of making Spain look like a banana republic by speaking out publicly about the lack of consistency in judgements and in the practice of arresting ships. Jose Maria gives me a stern telling off about lawyers who promote themselves, and insists that Spain and its legal system work very correctly.

Las Pocholas is like Spain then, very correct. The food is excellent, the ambience quiet, the wine soft but with a real flavour. That would not be the international image of Spain, and Jose Maria feels that image is behind the reason why there is little arbitration done locally. "There are fifteen capable practising arbitrators in Spain today," he insists. "We want to bring home those disputes between Spanish firms that currently go to London. Brokers find it too easy to agree on the LMAA clause, but we have had some success in getting a Spanish arbitration clause into local shipbuilding contracts." Jose Maria also points out that IMARCO rules say the award must be out in four months and that arbitration in Madrid is cheaper than in London.

While he is rescuing Spanish disputes, and building bridges with Latin America through yet another association, Jose Maria finds time to practise law himself. "Charter party work fascinates me," he says. "I began working with insurance, but find contract work and the negotiation that goes with it like a jungle. That's what I like about it." Out of the jungle, he finds time for four children and a patient wife. Originally from Malaga, he has chosen to live close to his Madrid office, which also allows him time to lecture at the Jesuit university.

Have you noticed that when the wine is very good and there is a lot to talk about, you drink less? We have been talking nearly three hours, and the bottle is still half full. One question, then we have to go back into the hurly-burly of the day.

In five years' time, what will he be doing? "More arbitration and more writing," he hopes. It's a good bet he will still be hosting a lot of lunches.