The Diplomat
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, closed yesterday the event commemorating the 75 years of the creation of the General Directorate of Consular Affairs, created in July 1949.
The Auditorium of the headquarters of the Marqués de Salamanca Ministry of Foreign Affairs brought together guests and participants in a round table that addressed the history of the General Directorate since its creation in 1949.
After the inauguration, led by the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Luis Manuel Cuesta, and the screening of an institutional video, Violeta Alonso, president of the General Council of Spanish Citizenship Abroad (CGCEE), spoke; Rosario Bernal, consul general of Spain in London; and Ambassador Santiago Cabanas, general director of Consular and Immigration Affairs between August 2010 and July 2011.
During the closing of the event, Albares highlighted the importance of consular action and its work in favor of “Spanish people who live and travel abroad, to guarantee their well-being and protect their interests”, and decorated the General Council of Spanish Citizenship Abroad with the delivery of the Honor Plate of the Order of Civil Merit to the president of this institution.
The General Directorate of Consular Affairs, dependent on the Undersecretariat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is the governing body in charge of promoting, coordinating and supervising all the actions of the Spanish consular offices in the management of the services of the General Administration of the State that are they lend abroad.
It is also responsible for proposing, developing and applying protection and assistance policies for people of Spanish nationality abroad and in matters of asylum, within the sphere of action of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and directly assuming the management of emergencies and situations of emergency. crises that affect Spanish citizens abroad.
Created on July 16, 1949 and currently directed by Xavier Martí Martí, the General Directorate has four bodies: the General Subdirectorate of Consular Protection and Assistance, the General Subdirectorate of Consular Legal Affairs, the General Subdirectorate of Immigration Affairs and the Division Consular Emergency.
