Raül Romeva./ Photo: ara.cat
The Diplomat. Madrid
The new Councillor for Foreign Affairs, Institutional Relations and Transparency of the Catalan Government, Raül Romeva, yesterday announced that Catalonia would open a further 17 delegations abroad in the future, adding to the 9 already in existence, at the same time as he criticised the economic expenditure which, in his opinion, is excessive, the Spanish Embassy in Rabat.
“The residence of the Spanish Ambassador to Morocco costs 6 million euros whereas the total for all the Catalan delegations does not add up to 3 million”, Romeva said in an interview on TV3, before adding that Rabat it is not an example of what “XXI century diplomacy is all about”.
The number three in the Generalitat also pointed out that he was not at all concerned about the legality of his department –it is the first time that the term “Foreign Affairs” has been used for an autonomous office- and announced that the former president Artur Mas will have an “important” role in the international agenda of the Catalan Government.
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Romeva will have a budget of 19 million for 2016, 3 million of which is being earmarked for new delegations
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Romeva’s department has a budget of 19 million euros for 2016, of which three are being earmarked for the opening of “embassies” abroad. In addition the Councillor for Foreign Affairs stressed the number of delegation being planned,17 in total, “although it could be increased to many more”.
The leader of Junts pel Sí in the last Catalan elections will have the obligation of informing the Spanish Government of overseas trips, although only in the case of travel which is outside the “ambit of the EU”. This is established in the Ley de la Acción y del Servicio Exterior of the State, in force since March 2014, and which was only approved with the support of the PP.
The Autonomous Communities “will keep the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed” of “proposed travel, visits, exchanges and action of an overseas promotional nature, so that is department can inform and, as appropriate, issue recommendations on the adequacy of the proposed action in accordance with the directives, aims and objectives of the Foreign Policy established by the Spanish Government”, in the terms of Article 5.2 of this Law.
This regulation has already been used by the Government to appeal last year against the opening of new Generalitat delegations in Rome and Vienna on the grounds of its failure to comply with the obligation to inform the Government in advance of the creation of these new structures.
