Syd,
[....] there wasnt really a skills test and that just completing the course was rated as a pass by the spanish authoritys
I remember that from another post of yours. As I am sure you know, that is not true: a skills test is and has always been required and, while they might be more practically minded and nowhere near as pedantic as in the UK, you do need to show a safe and acceptable standard to pass it.
Now, I do agree with your assertion that one bad apple can ruin everyone else's reputation. There are of course bad schools in Spain just like they also exist in the UK, Norway, and probably everywhere else, that is not under dispute, but out of sheer ignorance some people will extrapolate one particular instance to tar a whole country.
I had heard before that the owner of the school was well connected with some of the examiners and there maybe something going on.
It is a point of contention amongst the local flying community that in Spain, test bookings are arranged by contacting directly a suitable examiner: this in theory raises the possibility of examiners forming a "bond" with certain schools or pilots. In practise, because examiners are very hard to get hold of (the majority of them fly for the airlines as their day job), schools tend to phone around until they find someone who is available around a particular date. Reputable schools will, within the aforementioned availability constraints, try to "rotate" examiners precisely to avoid any improperties.
One advantage of this setup is that examiners who are chronic idiots are pushed out of the system as people choose not to book them. Nevertheless, I recently heard that there are demands by some schools that exam bookings be handled through AESA, in a similar fashion as to what is done in the UK.
To put it mildly, i was shocked that this could happen.
Well, understandably you have not tried, so I guess we will never know whether this would have
actually happened or not.
I looked at the possibility of reporting what had happened to the relevant authority, but proving it would have been impossible
Relatively costly and difficult, yes, especially for a foreigner, but not at all impossible. btw, the "relevant" authority here would have been the judiciary as presumably the DGAC (as it was back then) would have been liable to charges too. A quick chat with a competent lawyer, a consumer's group, or even one of the main unions, would have been very advisable.
Anyhow, so which school was that then?