Eduardo González
Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares personally asked the Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, on Monday to reverse his decision to evict Casa Árabe headquarters from the capital because “it represents serious damage to foreign policy, Spain’s international image, and Madrid’s international standing.”
On June 29, the Madrid City Council formally informed the Extraordinary Governing Council of the Casa Árabe Consortium that Martínez-Almeida had decided to reclaim the Escuelas Aguirre building “for its renovation and subsequent use by the City Council.”
The building, located at the intersection of Alcalá and O’Donnell streets, has housed Casa Árabe’s headquarters since March 2008, following a major interior renovation. However, according to the City Council, the withdrawal of the Community of Madrid from the Casa Árabe Consortium, announced last January and ratified on June 29, implies a modification of the Board of Trustees and “enables the City Council to exercise its right to recover the building without compensation,” in accordance with the transfer decree, which “establishes, among the grounds for termination of the transfer, ‘any alteration in the composition of the consortium’.”
According to sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Albares spoke with Mayor Almeida on Monday morning, “at the minister’s request,” to discuss the unilateral announcement of the eviction of Casa Árabe and to reiterate “what he had already conveyed to him in a letter: his willingness to engage in dialogue and reverse the situation, and his offer of a meeting between them.”
He also conveyed to him “the unease and surprise that this unilateral decision has generated among the Arab ambassadors residing in Madrid, the Arabic students at Casa Árabe, Spanish and international intellectuals, and numerous Madrid residents who have enjoyed Casa Árabe’s activities for the past 20 years.” On July 23, Albares met with members of the Council of Arab Ambassadors residing in Spain to discuss the issue.
The minister also warned the mayor that “this decision is incomprehensible to the governments and societies of our Arab friends, with whom Spain maintains the best relationship in its history, and represents serious damage to foreign policy, Spain’s international image, and Madrid’s international standing.”
He also reminded him that “the City Council has participated in all the board meetings and signed all the minutes relating to the management of Casa Árabe, and has praised its current leadership, which is implementing a comprehensive management plan,” and conveyed “his surprise at an announcement made by the mayor himself to the media in a surprising manner and without prior notice.”
“The conversation, which was cordial and constructive throughout, concluded with an agreement to continue the dialogue between both parties and between the technical staff with a view to keeping Casa Árabe at its current location,” the sources confirmed. “The minister will meet tomorrow, Tuesday, with the Arabic students at the Palacio de Santa Cruz at 11:00 a.m., at their request, to convey their unease and rejection of the City Council’s announcement to the minister and to gather his feedback on the matter,” they concluded.
Following Almeida’s announcement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the City Council of acting “with absolute institutional disloyalty” and denounced that this decision, like the one taken by the Autonomous Community of Madrid regarding Casa Árabe, “has a marked partisan character,” according to sources from the Ministry who spoke to The Diplomat.