Eduardo González
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has opened the process for appointing more than one hundred positions abroad, including 29 Consulates General (one of them marked with an “asterisk,” the one in Puerto Rico) and more than 30 deputy heads of mission in Embassies and Permanent Missions.
According to the resolution of February 11, published on February 14 in the Official State Gazette (BOE), the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, Xavier Martí Martí, has announced the process for filling 118 positions for members of the Diplomatic Corps.
The list includes the procedure for appointing new consuls general in 29 consular districts: San Juan, Puerto Rico; Bordeaux; Chicago; Boston; Istanbul; Hong Kong; Düsseldorf; Frankfurt; Beijing; Casablanca; Montreal; São Paulo; Shanghai; Tetouan; Mendoza; Toronto; St. Petersburg; Sydney; Bahía Blanca; Melbourne; Guadalajara; Bangalore; Quito; Bata; Santa Cruz de la Sierra; Oran; Agadir; Lagos; and Manila.
In addition, the call for applications includes two consuls in Havana, two deputy consuls in Jerusalem, and one deputy consul each in Havana, Casablanca, Santo Domingo, Caracas, and Mexico City. The remaining positions are filled by 34 deputy heads of mission, 21 counselors, 17 secretaries, and two chargés d’affaires ad interim at Spanish embassies abroad, as well as six positions in international organizations (NATO, OECD, and the European Union).
The positions included in this call for applications will be filled through a discretionary appointment process, following a non-binding proposal from the Diplomatic Service Board. However, this proposal from the Diplomatic Service Board will not be required for the positions marked with an asterisk (asterisk). This procedure is used to mark the posts that the Government considers most sensitive, and for which the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, does not need to consult the Diplomatic Service Board to decide on the appointments.
The positions marked with an asterisk are the Consul General in Puerto Rico, the Deputy Heads of Mission at the Embassies in Germany (Minister-Counselor), Argentina (Minister-Counselor), China, and Cuba, the Cultural Affairs Office at the Spanish Embassy in Italy, and the Deputy Permanent Representative to NATO.