The Diplomat
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is speeding up the transfer of its offices and workers from Torres Ágora, in Calle Serrano Galvache, to the remodelled building in Plaza del Marqués de Salamanca. Apparently the aim is that by Monday, the 15th, all of them will be working in the new headquarters and that the offices that have been occupied for the last 16 years will be empty.
The last deadline, in any case, would be Monday, the 22nd, because otherwise, a new rental exercise would be opened with Inmobiliaria Colonial, the company that owns Torres Ágora.
Afterwards, the staff working in the Directorate General of Consular Affairs, located in Calle Pechúan, will be moved, and finally, some of the units working in the Palacio de Santa Cruz and the Palacio de Viana will be installed in the Marqués de Salamanca building, which are basically the offices of the Minister and the Undersecretary, Protocol, the General Technical Secretariat and the Directorate General of the Foreign Service, although it is not yet very clear which services will remain in the historic building.
By the time the operation is completed, some 1,300 people and 6,000 cubic metres of material will have been moved. To finance the removal of Torres Ágora and Pechuán, the Ministry budgeted some 300,000 euros.
With the abandonment of these two buildings, the State will save around 10 million euros per year and will put an end to a period of time that began after naphthalene contamination problems were detected in the Marqués de Salamanca building in 2004, affecting around 150 workers. In that period, the State spent around 150 million euros on renting buildings for the Foreign Ministry.
