The Diplomat
The Spanish government has mobilised to try to stop Saudi Arabia from going ahead with its intention to postulate Riyadh as the headquarters of the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), which has been located in Spain since 1975, according to sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Saudi Arabia has already made it known to the Spanish authorities that it wants the next General Assembly of the UNWTO, which will be held 30 November – 3 December in Marrakech (Morocco), to vote on the change of headquarters, something that Pedro Sánchez’s government has considered an unfriendly gesture and has made this known to the Saudi Embassy.
However, although the intentions of the Arab country are well known, and it has already been sounding out possible support to achieve its objective, its candidacy has not yet been formalised. If it were to do so, it would be an important step, which would oblige Spain to work even harder to avoid losing the only United Nations agency headquarters in our country.
The World Tourism Organisation, which reports to the United Nations Economic and Social Council, currently has 159 member states out of the 193 that make up the UN, and for a change of headquarters to take place it would have to be approved with two-thirds support, meaning that Saudi Arabia would need to win the support of 106 countries.
Curiously, among the states that are not members are some that are among the world’s main emitters of tourists, such as the United States, the United Kingdom and the Nordic countries, as well as Ireland and Belgium.
In Spain, there is some fear that Saudi Arabia’s economic potential will convince enough countries, especially among the most disadvantaged, to vote in favour of the change. Moreover, Riyadh became the headquarters of the UNWTO’s Regional Office for the Middle East last May, in an event attended by a number of tourism ministers from the region and other parts of the globe.
For this reason, the Executive has mobilised to make member countries understand that it is much more convenient for the organisation to remain in Madrid, the capital of a country with a great deal of experience in tourism and which has been the headquarters of the organisation since its creation. Spain is confident that it could win the support of the European Ibero-American countries, among others, although it knows that if the matter is put to a vote it will have to work hard.
The UNWTO Secretariat General, headed by Zurab Pololikashvili, has not made any pronouncement on these moves, and it is recalled that a possible change of venue is something that should only be decided by the General Assembly, for which there is still no specific date.
In any case, the Spanish authorities are going to use all the means at their disposal to prevent the Saudis from achieving their goal. And an important trump card that Spain can play is to accelerate as much as possible the provision of the UNWTO’s Palacio de Congresos y Exposiciones on Paseo de la Castellana, opposite the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, something that has been talked about for years and which was promised in 2018 by the then Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, but which has not become a reality due to various circumstances, including changes of government or the pandemic, as well as some bureaucratic hurdles.
The UNWTO, currently located in a building on Calle Poeta Joan Maragall (formerly Capitán Haya), has long needed more space, and the Palacio de Congresos, closed since 2012 to remedy some deficiencies in terms of self-protection and security, would be a more representative venue. The Palais also has a nucleus of offices annexed to the building that would be extended and remodelled.
In January 2019, the Government of Pedro Sánchez resumed the desire to provide the Palace to the UNWTO and both the Community of Madrid and the City Council of the capital support the move, which the Executive now wants to accelerate. In February 2020, the Official State Gazette published the feasibility study for the refurbishment of the building, which the government will cede to the UNWTO for 40 years.
On 30 July, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, spoke with Zurab Pololikashvili, to whom he announced that he hoped work on the Palace would begin soon.
