Albares continues to pressure Almeida to save Casa Árabe’s headquarters in Madrid

Eduardo González Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares has taken another step to try to convince the Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, to reverse his decision to reclaim the Casa Árabe headquarters in the capital for municipal use. On Tuesday, the Minister met with a group of Casa Árabe students at the Ministry headquarters in the Palacio de Santa Cruz. He thanked them for their mobilization in support of the institution and assured them that "the Spanish Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are working to find solutions for all those affected." This meeting took place just one day after Albares's telephone conversation with Martínez-Almeida, at the latter's request, to convey "the unease and surprise" caused by the City Council's "unilateral decision" and to warn him that the eviction of Casa Árabe's headquarters "represents serious damage to foreign policy, Spain's international image, and Madrid's international standing," according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The minister also extended an olive branch to the mayor, offering "a hand for dialogue and to reverse the situation, and a meeting between the two." He 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." On July 23, the minister met with the Arab ambassadors accredited in Madrid to discuss this issue. 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 the main headquarters of Casa Árabe since March 2008, following a major interior renovation. However, according to the City Council, the decision by the Community of Madrid to withdraw 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 any compensation being due,” since the transfer decree “establishes, among the grounds for termination of the transfer, ‘any alteration in the composition of the consortium’.” 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 markedly partisan character,” according to sources at the Ministry who spoke to The Diplomat.

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