PP denounces the “deterioration of the consular network” and Foreign Ministry assures that it is strengthening and modernizing it

Eduardo González The state of the consular network has become a new source of tension between the People's Party (PP), which has denounced its “progressive deterioration,” and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has asserted that modernizing consular services “has become a priority” and that in 2025 “the largest quota of staff positions abroad in recent years was processed, with a 43 percent increase compared to the previous year.” In a written question submitted on November 25, the PP Parliamentary Group in Congress denounces that “the Spanish consular network is experiencing a progressive deterioration under this government, which has ended up acquiring structural characteristics.” The PP also notes that the Association of Spanish Diplomats (ADE), “the largest association within the Diplomatic Corps,” has “warned that the consular network can no longer guarantee an adequate level of service despite the extraordinary efforts of its staff.” “The problem does not lie in the professionalism of the diplomatic corps stationed abroad or the local staff, whose work is beyond question, but in the lack of resources, the lack of planning, and the absence of adequate reinforcements in a consular network that serves an increasingly large Spanish community abroad,” the People's Party (PP) asserts. “The decline of the Foreign Service is neither accidental nor inevitable: it is the direct result of the lack of resources, the absence of planning, and the erratic management that this Government and the Minister of Foreign Affairs (José Manuel Albares) have imposed on the consular network,” they denounce. This situation, which prevents the Spanish consular network from operating “under conditions comparable to those of its main partner countries,” could “constitute a breach of the principles of planning, efficiency, and effectiveness required” by the Law on Foreign Action and the Foreign Service of the State, the Popular Group warns. Therefore, the People's Party (PP) is asking the Government "what urgent, concrete, and verifiable measures it plans to adopt" to "restore an adequate level of service" in consulates and whether it is considering "the creation of new consular offices or the activation of dependent consulates, especially in countries with large Spanish communities, such as Argentina, in order to ensure efficient service delivery in accordance with the actual demand." Response from the Foreign Ministry In its response, registered on February 9 and published this Monday, February 23, in the Official Gazette of the Spanish Parliament (BOCG), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that one of its "priorities" is "to provide adequate assistance and protection to Spanish citizens abroad, through Spain's 178 Consular Offices," a "broad consular network" that "serves the more than three million Spanish citizens registered as residents abroad, a group that has doubled since the 1.5 million it represented in 2009." Furthermore, it states that in 2023, the staff was reinforced with 150 temporary positions in consular services, that in 2025 three deputy consuls were permanently added to the staff in Buenos Aires, Havana, and Mexico, that the creation of six additional positions to strengthen our consular network is currently underway, and that last year the largest number of staff positions abroad in recent years were processed, with a 43 percent increase compared to the previous year. Regarding the creation of new consular offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs specifies that two new Consulates General will open in 2026: one in Camagüey, Cuba, and the other in Bangalore, India. On the other hand, it continues, "the modernization of our consular services has become a priority for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation." To this end, the Ministry states, “more than €110 million from the European Union’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan has been invested in implementing new applications. These will allow, by 2026, through the new Electronic Office, consular procedures to be carried out online, the status of files to be checked, appointments to be scheduled, and documents to be accessed from a personalized Consular Folder, thus avoiding trips to Consular Offices.” “In addition to reinforcing material and human resources, efforts will be made to optimize the efficiency of processes, including outsourcing some of them where possible, and consular visits by consular office staff will be promoted, particularly in large consular districts with a high volume of applications,” the Ministry adds in its response.

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