The withdrawal of the Spanish ambassador in Argentina, María Jesús Alonso Jiménezafter Javier Milei’s insults to President Pedro Sánchez, generated discomfort in the Spanish community of our country and doubts about the continuity of the usual procedures. From the Consulate General they confirmed to elDiarioAR that services continue normally. Although the departure of the diplomat does not modify the activities carried out by Spanish centers and institutions, There is concern about what it could generate in the future in terms of cultural or social agreements.For example.
According to the Register of Spaniards Resident Abroad in 2023, 477,465 Spanish citizens live in Argentina. It is the country that has the greatest influx –even before France (297,142) and the United States (192,766) – and there is a very large community that includes social, cultural, medical and academic organizations, among others. The diplomatic conflict generated by Milei’s statements about Sánchez and his wife Begoña Gómez, whom he described as corrupt, caused uncertainty about the procedures and general activities carried out in our country. Given this The Consul General, Fernando García Casas, confirmed to elDiarioAR that all the usual services are maintained: nationality procedures, Civil Registry, first issuance and renewal of passports, social affairs and notary, among others. One of the main concerns revolved around the citizenship procedures, established in the Spanish Democratic Memory Law, something that remains as it has until now.
After the departure of Alonso Jiménez, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain, José Manuel Albares, confirmed that The embassy will be in charge of “a person in charge or charge d’affaires”. “What is already legally there is not lost, what is lost is the link that she had with the intermediate associations, with the cultural entities. Obviously it affects the non-presence of the ambassador, especially a person like her who was very active, very territorial. She mobilized a lot of all the activity of the Spanish State in Argentina, not only because of the function that she has but because of her imprint,” she told this newspaper. Diego Samiguel, member of the Council of Spanish Residents (CRE) of the Consulate of Buenos Aires.
In Argentina there are five consulates: Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Rosario, Mendoza and Bahía Blanca. Each one has its CRE, which is a non-binding advisory body, but rather a consultative one that meets regularly and communicates with the consuls. They are representatives of different political parties that function as a kind of deliberative council of the consul. “Nothing has changed,” a diplomatic source confirmed to this newspaper. The procedures remain the same in all the country’s consulates during the usual hours of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
One of the doubts is what will happen with the elections for the European Parliament that take place in June. Until this moment, both the Basque and Catalan elections were held at the Embassy. Everything indicates that next month the vote will be held at the consulate. “In the legal matter it is the same, what is going to happen now is that the 450,000 citizens in Argentina They remain politically and institutionally orphans, even if the State remains present.. They no longer have their institutional representative. The ambassador did something very important, which was to generate coordination between the consulates, she articulated the decisions of the Official Spanish Gazette to apply them in Argentine territory so that there would not be a dissimilar criterion, which would be the same for a citizen who lives in Boedo and one who “He lives in Santa Cruz,” explains Samiguel.
This newspaper consulted different Spanish entities and institutions to find out how this decision impacts the community, although they decided not to give an opinion and stay away from the diplomatic conflict. “We are non-profit cultural entities and our feeling for Argentina and Spain does not change,” they indicated from the Aragonese Center. Although the ambassador’s retirement does not impact the functioning of these spaces, it may have an impact on future activities.
Several of the entities have financing that is generated with the advice of the Spanish State, such as cultural centers or cooperation spaces.
“In the most active sectors there is concern. There are Spanish federations, schools or hospitals that do activities, cultural or many other things. And obviously you have more access from the activities that are carried out through consular links, it is like they need more institutional weight. It is not that financing is going to be cut off for any entity in the country, that is not going to happen, but the possibility of improving or doing more things today is seen as problematic. In this diplomatic or linking balance we are losing space,” Sanmiguel explained.
In recent days, resident advisors have received several queries related to administrative issues. “There are people who feel a lot of discomfort because we are united by many cultural and historical ties. “That is painful, perhaps it is not a question that is measured so much by the problems that it can cause a Spanish person in their daily life, but rather it goes beyond losing the link between two peoples,” they indicated.
After hearing the news of the ambassador’s retirement, President Milei once again criticized his Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sánchez. “It is nonsense typical of a fatally arrogant socialist,” the president remarked in a television interview and assured that Argentina will not withdraw its ambassador, Roberto Bosch, from Spain. “I’m not going to be so stupid as to repeat such a mistake,” Milei added.
CBD/MG
