<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The building that housed the headquarters of the Spanish Consulate General in Mendoza, Argentina, closed its doors permanently on April 1 due to the deterioration of the building.</strong></h4> According to the General State Administration branch of the Workers' Commissions, the deterioration of the building has forced the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to "take a drastic decision" after "years of warning signs" and after the union filed a complaint with the Labor Inspectorate, "which ordered its closure." "This specific case has highlighted how a lack of attention to critical aspects such as the condition of a building's physical structure can lead to extremely dangerous situations and compromise the safety and health of staff," the union denounced. "While we at the CCOO welcome the decision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to relocate the Consulate's activities to a new temporary location, we want to take this opportunity to send a clear reminder to the Administration about the importance of prevention abroad and the need to urgently address warnings about safety in the workplace," he added. On March 21, the Association of Spanish Diplomats (ADE) denounced "the poor condition of many of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' buildings abroad," specifically the Embassies and Consulates, whose "deterioration" poses "a serious risk both to the people who work there and to the public who visit them" and causes "reputational damage to the image of our country." In a statement published following a report by the online newspaper 'The Objective' about the "significant defects in several walls of the building" of the Spanish Consulate General in Mendoza, the ADE (Administrative Administration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) stated that, "unfortunately, the poor condition of many of the buildings that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has abroad is not new, nor is that of the Consulate General in Mendoza an isolated case." The Mendoza Consulate's own website reported the move to another location and the "definitive" closure of the previous one. Due to this change, it continues, applications for passports and visas are not being processed "until further notice." Furthermore, and "until the transfer is completed," applications for Spanish nationality under the Democratic Memory Law are being processed at the Asturian Center "by appointment only."
