The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, met yesterday with a group of students from Casa Árabe, to inform them about the situation created by the announcement of the Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, regarding the eviction of this public diplomacy institution from its current headquarters at the Escuelas Aguirre, where it has remained for the last 20 years.
During the meeting, Albares thanked the students for their support and expressed his satisfaction because “their mobilization reflects an active civil society“. The minister emphasized that the Government of Spain is working to find solutions to this situation and informed that he himself had a conversation with Martínez-Almeida on Monday, to whom he reiterated his willingness to talk to reverse the decision of the City Council, which has set a deadline until September 1 for Casa Árabe to leave its current headquarters.
The mayor offered his own version of the conversation he had with Minister Albares yesterday and insisted that the City Council needs to vacate the building in order to renovate it. At the same time, the mayor claims he conveyed to the minister his desire for Casa Árabe to remain in Madrid, but it is unknown whether he offered any alternative to its current location. This seems highly unlikely, given that there is barely a month left before the eviction is scheduled.
Albares emphasized that the eviction decision, announced by the mayor, is incomprehensible to Arab countries, with which Spain maintains excellent relations. Furthermore, he said, it could damage Spain’s international image and its projection in the Arab world. At the end of the conversation, it was agreed to continue the dialogue to keep Casa Árabe in its current headquarters, in a context where the Council of Arab Ambassadors in Madrid also expressed its support for the continuity of the institution and its work in strengthening relations between Spain and the Arab world.
Albares met precisely last Thursday with the Arab ambassadors in Madrid, before whom he committed to continue dialoguing with the mayor to provide a satisfactory solution to the conflict.
The council of Arab ambassadors, in a letter addressed to the Ministry, expressed its support for Casa Árabe and its desire for the current headquarters to be maintained. The ambassadors praised the work done by the Ministry in recent years and highlighted that the continuity of Casa Árabe is essential to strengthen Spain’s international relations in the Arab region.