A B737 FLT CREW ON VISUAL APPROACH TO ABQ REFUSED A VECTOR THAT WOULD HAVE TAKEN HIM CLOSE TO A HOT AIR BALLOON.

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ON APCH TO ABQ I WAS GIVEN A VECTOR FOR A R DOWNWIND TO RWY 26. WE HAD GOOD VISIBILITY AS WE CLRED THE HIGH BROKEN LAYER OF CLOUDS. APCH ASKED US TO PLAN A 6 MI TURN TO RWY 26. WE WERE CLRED FOR A VISUAL. TO MY AMAZEMENT; WHAT I THOUGHT WAS THE ACFT WE WERE FOLLOWING; WAS A HOT AIR BALLOON IN OUR FLT PATH. I TURNED L TO GIVE THE BALLOON ROOM. I COULD NOT TURN MUCH AS HIGH TERRAIN IS AN ISSUE FOR RWY 26. THE CTLR DID NOT LIKE MY SPACING WITH THE ACFT WE WERE SPACED WITH. HE ASKED US TO GO AROUND; 'TURN R; HDG 270 DEGS; CLB AND MAINTAIN 10000 FT.' I TOLD THE FO TO TELL HIM 'NO; WE CAN'T TURN R; WE WILL HIT THE BALLOON.' THE FO ACCEPTED THE CLRNC. WHY? HE HAS LESS THAN 100 HRS; FELT PRESSED AND DID WHAT WAS NORMAL TO DO. HE JUST RESPONDED. I DID NOT TURN R. I ASKED THE FO TO LET APCH KNOW WE COULD NOT TURN. HE DID AS TIME PERMITTED. WE STARTED OUR CLB. THE TERRAIN WAS NEVER A FACTOR BUT THE BALLOON WAS. AFTER WE REACHED 10000 FT APCH CTL TURNED US W. APCH WAS SENDING US BACK AROUND TO RWY 26. I HAD ALREADY HAD THE FO TELL HIM ABOUT THE HOT AIR BALLOON. HE JUST DID NOT HAVE THE WHOLE PICTURE. THE HOT AIR BALLOON HAD MOVED SOME SO WE WERE ABLE TO STAY CLOSE IN FOR R TFC. WE LANDED NORMALLY. I CALLED TWR AND ASKED WHAT THE DEAL WAS. HE STATED HE HAD TOLD APCH ABOUT THE BALLOON. I TOLD HIM L TFC WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER FOR ALL. I STATED THERE SHOULD BE MORE COORD WITH THESE EVENTS. THIS IS NOT A NEW EVENT FOR ABQ. I NEVER SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON A VECTOR INTO A KNOWN THREAT TO OUR FLT.