On February 18, the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy sent to Foreign Affairs an official letter in which it ordered “the paralysis of immediately” of the activities within the General Consulate of Spain in Mendoza (Argentina). The “significant existing pathologies” on several walls of the building, which had not been resolved over the years, recommended their closure to avoid major evils (literally, “the collapse of these walls”).
This is just an example of the decline of the Spanish consular network that, as the Association of Spanish Diplomats (ADE) has repeatedly denouncing, is on the verge of ruin. Not only from some of its buildings, deterioration also refers to the provision of troops and resources. As the president of the Ade, Alberto Virella, in telephone conversation, summarizes the reason, in Telefónica conversation, in telephone conversation, «What there is is a lack of will, a neglect towards foreign service. And that translates into worse attention to Spanish citizenship outside the country ».
The argument that there are no General State Budget (PGE) since 2023 is no longer credible. «Defense spending, for example, has increased without new budgets. If there is political will, resources can be reassigned, ”he continues.
More Spanish, more needs
The truth is that the figures speak for themselves. As the Balance of Consular Activity 2024 collects, which was presented last June, on January 1, 2025, 3,045 million Spanish citizens, 137,000 (4.7%) more than on the same date of the previous year resided abroad. “An increase that translates into an automatic increase in demanded services,” says a document made public for the ADE, the majority union of the diplomatic career. For just remembering two examples of the aforementioned balance, In 2024 the Spanish consular offices issued 402,882 passports (a 3.6 % increase compared to 2023), and made 199,404 inscriptions in consular civil records (27 % more than in 2023).
As the same statement continues, «the increase is not limited to the services provided to Spanish citizens. Also the services provided to foreign citizens grow in a sustained way: Last year the consular offices processed 1,796,533 visas (11.6% more than in 2023).
As the contrary has been defending since the publication in January 2024 of its report on the situation of the Consular Network, «More resources are urgently needed to deal with this situation, which will worsen radically with the impact of the Democratic Memory Lawwhich will possibly increase the number of Spaniards residing abroad from the current three million to about four ».
To reinforce the consulates most affected by said law, last July three places of the deputy general consul, which were temporary, have been converted into fixed by the Treasury and Public Function. A reinforcement that is far from real needs.
On June 16, the Congress of Deputies approved a proposition not of law urging the Government to create new places abroad, especially for diplomatic service. There is talk of about 90 places, starting from a proposal of the Ade that indicated the need to reinforce consulates where there are no attached general consul or there is only a second diplomat.
One of those three places that have been consolidated belongs to the consulate of the Argentine capital. «Only in Buenos Aires there are more than 600,000 applications linked to the Democratic Memory Law. And with current resources, that will take decades. In addition, once processed, the demand for daily services will increase: registration in the Civil Registry, passports, marriage, deaths … We do not speak only of a temporary overload, but of a permanent demand that will continue to grow, ”says the president of this association that integrates six out of ten Spanish diplomats.
All these requests of the ADE have periodically referred to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, with which communication is far from fluid. «In March of this year we presented a proposal to finance the consular network. We proposed that part of consular rates are directly allocated to the maintenance and improvement of that network, as other countries do. It is published on our website, it is a constructive proposal. But there has been no answer. Not even an accuse of receipt ».
Violeta Alonso Peláez lives in Frankfurt (Germany) and is the president of the General Council of Spanish Citizenship abroad (CGEE), an advisory body and advisor assigned to the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations. Its objective is to ensure the care of the rights of Spaniards who live outside our borders and who already exceed three million people.
The day after the “great blackout”, on April 29, Violeta had a meeting in Moncloa with the president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, an appointment that had to be canceled For obvious reasons and that, at least for the moment, it has not been reegued.
Gender equality
In an interview with this newspaper, the president of the CGEE says that since the beginning of her current mandate, of a voluntary and unpaid nature, in 2022 they have presented a total of 133 proposals. All counselors carry out this work in our free time. «One of the recurring issues is the lack of consular resources. Digitization has helped, but it is not enough. The population abroad has grown a lot in the last 15 years. For example, here in Frankfurt, we have twice as much population as in 2008, but half of the staff in the consulate. Consular attention is overflowed, ”he explains by phone.
One of the issues that this Spanish considers priority is the attention to women victims of gender violence abroad. «This year, after our report, the State Pact against Gender Violence included for the first time Spanish women abroad and their children as beneficiaries of all protection measures. It is a great advance. But now you have to materialize it: translate it into effective resources and mechanisms, such as free legal assistance in countries where it does not exist. There are women who cannot pay a lawyer and need immediate support. That can be worked with diplomatic agreements and networks, but requires political will and budget ».
«Another very important issue for the Council is nationality. What the Democratic Memory Law has contributed should be consolidated in a reform of the Civil Code. That access to nationality does not depend on temporary laws. That limitation is generating a lot of pressure. In addition, there are cases that do not enter the current law, and that we consider to be. We also ask to address other aspects, such as avoiding involuntary loss of nationality. For example, if in Germany you acquire German nationality and do not go in three years to say that you want to keep the Spanish, you lose it, ”concludes Violeta.