Eduardo González
The Association of Spanish Diplomats (ADE) has asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to inform it about the inspection opened three months ago in relation to the alleged irregularities in the use of public funds by the Spanish ambassador to India, Juan Antonio March Pujol.
Several media outlets have accused March of alleged irregularities in the use of public funds related to the supposed carrying out of cultural activities without the proper authorization from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the alleged financing of events organized by private companies without mandatory oversight, and the improper use of his diplomatic passport for family members for purposes other than official duties.
Juan Antonio March was appointed Spanish ambassador to India in June 2024 by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, replacing José María Ridao. At the time of his appointment, March had been out of the diplomatic service for more than twelve years.
It so happens that, since Ridao requested to leave his post in December 2023, the government had to wait five months for Indian authorities to grant their agrément to March (at the end of May 2024), an unusually long period between two countries that have no bilateral disputes. Sources consulted by The Diplomat attributed this delay to the desire of Narendra Modi’s government to express, in some way, its disagreement with March’s appointment.
Juan Antonio March is considered a close associate of former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and former Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos, who reportedly inquired with Indian authorities about the delay in granting the agrément.
Last February, the UGT union representatives at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested the “immediate dismissal” of Juan Antonio March Pujol because, they warned, the situation at the Embassy in India had reached “a point of no return” and, therefore, his continued presence could represent a “serious institutional deterioration” for the State Foreign Service.
The UGT’s request, according to a statement, was based on “information published in the press, internal complaints, and numerous complaints received directly” regarding alleged “orders to destroy official documents and erase the contents of the Embassy’s computers in order to eliminate traces of management,” to the detriment of “any minimum standard of legality, transparency, and administrative accountability.”
According to a letter sent on May 14 to the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, EU and Cooperation, Xavier Martí, the president of the ADE, Alberto Virella, recalls that on April 19, the association requested “a comprehensive, rigorous, and thorough inspection of the Spanish Embassy in India, following the worrying reports published in various media outlets,” and that he himself has had “exchanges of messages and conversations on the matter with the Ambassador Inspector General of Services.”
Therefore, Virella asks Martí whether “the inspection initiated by this Ministry approximately three months ago has concluded or is still underway,” and, if it has concluded, whether “the conclusions” can be made public. “We are also struck by and concerned that, especially if the inspection has been completed, not all the officials of the embassy have been interviewed and that no inspector has traveled to the Indian capital,” he continues.
“All of this, if not refuted, compels the ADE Board of Directors and any observer to conclude that the Ministry has not risen to the occasion and has not even pretended to have carried out a rigorous and professional inspection,” the association warns. “This type of action damages the Ministry’s image and conveys to its public employees that their institution does not heed reports of improper or illegal conduct within the General State Administration,” it concludes.
ONUART
Juan Antonio March was previously stationed in Geneva, where he simultaneously served as Spain’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO), both between 2004 and 2007. In his role as Permanent Representative to the United Nations, March, with the support of the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, offered to the United Nations authorities that Spain undertake the renovation of Room XX at the UN Palace of Nations in that Swiss city, later renamed the Human Rights Room.
In this endeavor, the ambassador was therefore the principal architect of the construction of the dome by the Spanish painter Miquel Barceló in the aforementioned room. According to his proposal, the Spanish State would cover 30 percent of the cost of the work, with the remainder coming from private contributions.
After accepting the offer, the Spanish government budgeted €16.6 million for the commission to the painter Miquel Barceló, although the final cost exceeded €20 million. The construction of the dome was surrounded by controversy, partly because €500,000 from the Development Aid Fund (FAD) was allocated to it, something the government attempted to justify by stating that the project aimed to promote human rights and multilateralism.
In 2017, the then-president of the Court of Auditors, Ramón Álvarez de Miranda, denounced irregularities in the State’s contribution to the dome project before the Congress of Deputies, specifically regarding the fiscal years 2007 to 2011. He indicated that “the planned contribution of five million euros in 2008 ultimately rose to 11.5 million due to increased costs and the failure of private entities to meet funding projections,” and that the State had to assume a much larger percentage of the cost due to the lack of private contributions.
The Barceló Dome was inaugurated on November 18, 2008, almost a year behind schedule, in the presence of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía, Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, then-UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and then-Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, with whom the Spanish Prime Minister was promoting the Alliance of Civilizations.
Juan Antonio March was present at the event as vice president of the ONUART Foundation, a position he held concurrently with that of Spanish ambassador to Russia, a post he held from December 2007 until the PP came to power in December 2011. Since then, he had dedicated himself to the ONUART Foundation, where he served as president until last February, when he was replaced by José Luis Bonet, president of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
