<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Foreign Service section of the Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) union has formally requested that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs urgently conduct psychosocial risk assessments at the 45 consular offices with the highest workload.</strong></h4> According to the Foreign Labor Personnel Bulletin (PLEX) on Occupational Risk Prevention (ORP), published on July 2, this request is based on the Occupational Risk Prevention Law, which establishes the obligation to assess all conditions that may affect the health of staff, including work organization and its effects on the physical and emotional well-being of the workforce. "It is a reality that the structural pressure on consular staff has increased significantly in recent years," CCOO warned. This pressure is due to "several cumulative factors," such as the sustained growth of Spanish citizens residing abroad, the entry into force of the Democratic Memory Law, which has generated more than 678,000 nationality applications, and the 18% increase in visa issuance in 2023 alone, with more than 1.3 million applications registered. "Despite this evolution, staffing levels have barely changed: while the Spanish population abroad has grown by 107% since 2009, the increase in human resources in embassies and consulates remains below 2%," the union continues. "This imbalance has generated persistent overload, with obvious effects on the health of our staff," it adds. For this reason, CCOO-Exterior has proposed that psychosocial risk assessments be carried out in the 45 consular offices with the highest workload, and that, at the same time, a specific working group be established to address this issue in a structural and coordinated manner across the Foreign Service. "It is important to remember that sustained work overload is closely linked to an increase in psychosocial, musculoskeletal, and cardiovascular disorders, as indicated by multiple studies by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work," warns CCOO. "This relationship cannot be ignored," it continues. "Acting preventively is not only a legal obligation: it is an ethical requirement and a necessary measure to protect the health of those who provide public service outside our borders," it adds. Faced with this situation, CCOO denounces, "the lack of reliable data on accidents and sick leave demonstrates the absence of a real preventive policy and rigorous monitoring, something especially serious in an environment as complex and demanding as that of the Foreign Service." "Therefore, at CCOO-Exterior, we advocate that assessing psychosocial risks should be the starting point for reorganizing workloads and adapting offices based on the health, sustainability, and well-being of staff. We cannot continue to normalize a reality that puts the physical and mental health of the PLEX community at risk," it concludes. <h5><strong>“Mental load”</strong></h5> This is not the first time the union has expressed concern about the psychological impact of overwork in the Foreign Service. Last April, the CCOO warned of “the mental load” borne by “a large portion” of the staff as a result of “perennial understaffing” and the “complexity of an overwhelming bureaucracy.” In the April newsletter of the CCOO's General State Administration sector, the union warned that these problems generate “a work environment that, although not always immediately apparent, can have serious consequences for the mental health of our group.” CCOO also recalled that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had “recently” presented a draft intended to assess psychosocial risks “through the F-PSICO questionnaire,” the most widely used quantitative tool in Spain for measuring exposure to psychosocial factors. “However, at CCOO we are very aware that a document alone is not sufficient to address these problems objectively and effectively,” the union warned. “It is essential that no colleague be excluded from this evaluation process, regardless of their affiliation with the Administration (civil servant, employee, or temporary staff),” it added. Furthermore, the union also warned that “the results of these evaluations cannot be ignored or relegated to a drawer.” “At CCOO, we will demand that they be taken seriously and will ensure that concrete actions are implemented that respond to the results and needs identified,” the union continued. “We will not allow these evaluations to become just another procedure and fall on deaf ears,” Comisiones asserted. “The mental health of our staff should not be an issue that is shelved or overlooked. It is a matter of vital importance that requires attention, resources, and effective measures to guarantee a healthier and more sustainable work environment,” it concluded. <h5><strong>Consular demand</strong></h5> On June 16, the Association of Spanish Diplomats (ADE) warned, in response to the 2024 Consular Balance presented a few days earlier by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, that the "incessant increase in demand for consular services" is occurring with "increasingly precarious human and material resources" and, therefore, "urgently requires more resources to address this situation." The ADE statement recalled that, as of January 1, 2025, 3.045 million Spanish citizens resided abroad, 137,000 (4.7%) more than on the same date the previous year, an increase that "translates into an automatic increase in the services requested." To give just two examples from the Balance Sheet, according to the ADE (Spanish National Administration of Foreign Affairs), in 2024, Spanish consular offices issued 402,882 passports (a 3.6% increase compared to 2023) and registered 199,404 consular civil registries (27% more than in 2023). Furthermore, the report continued, services provided to foreign citizens also grew steadily, as consular offices processed 1,796,533 visas last year (11.6% more than in 2023). "As the ADE has been advocating since the publication of its report on the situation of the consular network in January 2024, more resources are urgently needed to address this situation, which will worsen radically with the impact of the Democratic Memory Law, which will likely increase the number of Spaniards living abroad from the current three million to nearly four million," the association warns.
