The Diplomat
King Philip VI presided yesterday over the inauguration of the new headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Plaza del Marqués de Salamanca in Madrid, once the long process of refurbishing the building was completed.
The Monarch, who was received on his arrival at the new headquarters by Minister José Manuel Albares, toured the area of the Directorate General of Spaniards Abroad and Consular Affairs, the user service area, the auditorium and the press room, according to the Royal House. The King also held a meeting with representatives of the Ministry and greeted its staff. The renovated Foreign Office headquarters, a building of more than 50,000 square meters “more functional” and which has been “rehabilitated under criteria such as energy efficiency, accessibility or family conciliation”, will house around 1,300 people.
The move, carried out between October and November last year, put an end to a long history that began in 2004, when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to leave the headquarters of Marqués de Salamanca – headquarters of the former National Institute of Industry – because of naphthalene, a toxic and flammable substance, and the then Minister, Ana Palacios, ordered its transfer to the headquarters of Torres Ágora, which since then has housed the bulk of the Department. As a result of that move, the Ministry has paid around 150 million euros in rents during all this time.
In 2012 it was decided to refurbish and recover the Marqués de Salamanca building and in 2014 the works were awarded to the company Tragsa, under the direction of the Directorate General of State Assets of the Ministry of Finance. The project was approved in 2016 and the works began in October 2017, but since then they have been delayed more than expected, for one reason or another. As a result of the delays and the problems detected during the works, the initial budget, which was 69 million, has been increasing to over 80 million euros. In any case, with the abandonment of the two buildings of Torres Agora and Pechúan Street (where the Directorate General of Consular Affairs was located), the State will save about ten million euros a year in rents.
According to the Foreign Office, the refurbishment works have put “the focus on energy efficiency and sustainability”. To this end, heat demand has been reduced through proper insulation of the facade, renewable energies have been incorporated through photovoltaic panels on the roof, high-performance equipment has been installed with cooling gases without heating power and rainwater recovery systems have been installed. In addition, accessibility has been improved for people with reduced mobility or sensory difficulties. The Ministry’s new headquarters house different work areas and multi-purpose rooms, as well as an early childhood education center to facilitate the family reconciliation of its employees.
