Consulate General of Spain, Jerusalem

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Consulate General of the
Kingdom of Spain in Jerusalem
Escudo de Espana.svg
Consulate General of Spain, Jerusalem
General information
StatusCompleted
Type Consulate
LocationMakhal Street 32, Jerusalem
Coordinates 31°47′46″N35°13′47″E / 31.796141°N 35.229643°E / 31.796141; 35.229643
Inaugurated21 June 1853;172 years ago (21 June 1853)

The Consulate General of Spain in Jerusalem is a diplomatic mission located in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem. The consulate provides consular services to Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, acting as de facto diplomatic representation of Spain to the State of Palestine and to the Palestinian Authority (PA). [1] The Consulate General also manages the economic, cultural and scientific relations with the PA, the Pious Work of the Holy Places and the Spanish cooperation in the area. [2]

Contents

Status

Along with the other eight historic consulates general (and the Apostolic Delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine), the Consulate General of Spain has its own unique regime. Unlike regular consulates, where the foreign state issues a letter of credence and the receiving state grants the exequatur (or acceptance), the historic consulates in Jerusalem do not have diplomatic relations with the State of Israel, and do not follow this procedure, as the diplomat is appointed solely by the country of origin and does not require acceptance from Israel. [3] In fact, the Consulate General of Spain in Jerusalem is also unique because it is not affiliated with any embassy; it is a diplomatic mission in its own right. [4]

History

The Spanish presence in Holy Land dates back to the 13th century, thanks to the religious policy of the Aragonese monarchs. [2] [5] Also, in 1510 Pope Julius II recognized Ferdinand the Catholic as King of Naples, incorporating to the Aragonese crown several titles, highlighting that of the King of Jerusalem. [6]

After the unification of Spain in the late-15th century, the Spanish crown assumed all that claims and continued protecting holy places in what is today Israel and Palestine. [7] The influence of the Crown in the management of this places, as well as the economic contributions —which during the 14th to 19th centuries accounted for 80% of the total funds [8] —, were reflected in the leadership of the Custody of the Holy Land. One of the most important offices, the Procurador de la Custodia, who manged the Custody's funds, was occupied for centuries by a Franciscan religious of Spanish nationality. [6]

In 1772, King Charles III enacted a Real cédula to unify the protection policy of holy places and the Crown assumed directly the management of the Commissariat of the Holy Land, an Spanish institution tasked with the collection and transfer of funds to the Custody. [6] At the same time, European powers started to establish consulates in Holy Land —United Kingdom (1838), France (1843), Belgium (1851), Greece (1862), Italy (1871), Sweden (1903), and Turkey (1925)— [9] .

Spain, fearing to lose its presence and influence, did the same in 1853. By order of June 21, Queen Isabella II established a Consulate General. According to this norm, it was established to "deal with the Spanish Franciscan religious residing in Palestine, to zealously support the interests of religion and the State and to prevent the ancient rights and prerogatives of My Crown in the Holy Places from being disregarded". [10] The royal order also parelized the transfer of funds and they were placed under the administration of the consul general. [10] Likewise, the aforementioned Commissariat —which was already known at the time as the Pious Work of the Holy Places— was placed under the control of the Ministry of State. [10] In fact, the queen's main motivation for creating the consulate was to avoid interference in the Spanish funds from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, reestablished by Pope Pius IX in 1847. [11]

Spain continued to provide a great service to the Holy Land during the World War I. The traditional French protectorate over Christians in the Ottoman Empire was jeopardized, and the vacuum was filled by neutral Spain, which defended the immunity of the convents from Turkish aggression and plunder. In this endeavor, the relevant work of the Spanish Consul in Jerusalem, Antonio de la Cierva y Lewita, 2nd Count of Ballobar, was particularly noteworthy. [12] During this Great War, the Count was known as the "universal consul", [13] reaching the point of dealing with the interests of up to 29 countries, including all belligerent countries. [14] [15]

In 1940, the Pious Work of the Holy Places was re-established as an autonomous agency, that still exists.

Spain and Israel established diplomatic relations in 1986. Although Spain recognized the new Jewish state, it did not recognize its full sovereignty over Jerusalem. The joint statement between the two countries expressly stated that the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries "will in no way affect the status of the Consulate General of Spain in Jerusalem". [16]

During the Gaza war that started after the October 7 attacks by Hamas, diplomatic tensions arose between Israel and Spain due to the heavy response of Israel, which Spain described as a genocide. [17] In May 2024, after Spain recognized the State of Palestine, Israeli government ordered the consulate to stop giving assistance to Palestinians [18] and threatened to close it permanently. [19] Foreign minister José Manuel Albares rejected the Israeli government's demands and asserted that its "provocations" would not be tolerated, recalling that the consulate has a "very special status", being one of the historic ones, and that it existed "long before the existence of the State of Israel", having "functioned normally" since 1853. [20]

Pious Work of the Holy Places

As mentioned, the Pious Work of the Holy Places is still in operation. Re-established by law in 1940, it is currently regulated by the Statutes of 2015. The agency is part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs —attached to the Under-Secretary of Foreign Affairs and supervised by the Consul General [4] — and, according to the statutes, the agency is responsible for preserving Spain's historical presence in the Holy Land —mainly through cultural and educational events—, as well as preserving the Spanish heritage related to the land of Jesus, both in the Holy Places and in Spain. [21]

Although the Spanish Crown renounced many of its privileges in 1994, especially those relating to Christian monasteries, [11] according to the last reports in 2024, this agency still had around 273 properties distributed in Jerusalem, Rome, Morocco and Turkey. [22]

Spanish cooperation

The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) has a Spanish Cooperation Office in the Consulate General since the 1990s. [23] From 2003 to 2007, it also managed the Spanish cooperation in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. [24]

List of consuls general

Since 1853, these have been the Spanish consuls in the Holy Land: [12]

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Santesteban, Nuria (2024-06-01). "Entra en vigor la prohibición al Consulado español en Jerusalén de atender a los palestinos - EFE". EFE Noticias (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  2. 1 2 Pertusa Rodríguez (2025), p. 113.
  3. ↑ Pertusa Rodríguez (2025), pp. 104–105.
  4. 1 2 Pertusa Rodríguez (2025), p. 108.
  5. ↑ "Spain and the Custody of the Holy Land" . Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  6. 1 2 3 Ministry of Finance and Public Administrations (7 November 2015). "Real Decreto 1005/2015, de 6 de noviembre, por el que se aprueba el Estatuto de la Obra Pía de los Santos Lugares" [Royal Decree 1005/2015, of November 6, approving the Statute of the Pious Work of the Holy Places.]. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 October 2025.
  7. ↑ "The Custody - Custodia di Terra Santa (The Question of the Holy Places (1517-1852)". 2024-07-09. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  8. ↑ Pertusa Rodríguez (2025), p. 114.
  9. ↑ Pertusa Rodríguez (2025), pp. 101–102.
  10. 1 2 3 Ministry of State (26 June 1853). "Real Decreto de 21 de junio de 1853 creando un consulado en Jerusalén" [Royal Decree of June 21, 1853, creating a Consulate in Jerusalem.](PDF). Official State Gazette. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2025. Retrieved 15 October 2025.
  11. 1 2 Pertusa Rodríguez (2025), p. 115.
  12. 1 2 Martín, Miguel Vallecillo (2018). "Los derechos históricos de España en Tierra Santa y su proceso de extinción" [Spain's historical rights in the Holy Land and their extinction process]. Archivo Ibero-Americano (in Spanish). 78 (286): 61–163. ISSN   2660-4418.
  13. ↑ Herrero, José Ramón Villanueva (2018-01-09). "El conde de Ballobar, en Jerusalem". El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  14. ↑ Remacha Tejada, José Ramón (1996). El exequatur consular en Jerusalén[The consular exequatur in Jerusalem] (in Spanish). Pamplona: Newbook. pp. 101–102. ISBN   84-89648-25-5.
  15. ↑ Mazza, Roberto (2016-06-15). "A Consul for all Seasons: the Spanish Diplomatic Mission in Jerusalem during World War I". Orient XXI. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  16. ↑ Pertusa Rodríguez (2025), p. 111.
  17. ↑ Jones, Sam (2025-09-08). "Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez says Israel is 'exterminating a defenceless people'". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  18. ↑ EFE, Agencia (2024-05-24). "Israel prohibirá al consulado de España en Jerusalén prestar servicio a los palestinos en represalia por las palabras de Yolanda Díaz". Cadena SER (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  19. ↑ "Israel amenaza con cerrar el Consulado español en Jerusalén tras la reclamación del Gobierno para revertir las limitaciones impuestas". ELMUNDO (in Spanish). 2024-05-31. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  20. ↑ Infobae, Por Newsroom (2024-06-03). "Albares dice que España no caerá en las "provocaciones" de Israel y responderá junto a Irlanda, Noruega y Eslovenia". infobae (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2025-10-15.{{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  21. ↑ Religión, Redacción (2021-08-19). "¿Conoces la Obra Pía de los Santos Lugares, la institución que dirigió el ex embajador de España en Kabul?". COPE (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  22. ↑ Moreno, Aristóteles (2024-10-12). "España aún gestiona una entidad pública religiosa fundada en tiempos de las Cruzadas para custodiar Tierra Santa". www.publico.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  23. ↑ "Oficina Técnica de Cooperación". www.exteriores.gob.es (in European Spanish). Archived from the original on 2025-06-13. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  24. ↑ Ministry of Foreign Affairs (20 February 2007). "Orden AEC/337/2007, de 18 de enero, por la que se crea la Oficina Técnica de Cooperación de la Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional en la Misión Diplomática Permanente de España en el Reino Hachemita de Jordania" [Order AEC/337/2007, of January 18, establishing the Technical Cooperation Office of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation in the Permanent Diplomatic Mission of Spain in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.]. Official State Gazette (in Spanish).
  25. ↑ Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation (15 April 2019). "Resolución de 10 de abril de 2019, de la Subsecretaría, por la que se resuelve la convocatoria de libre designación, efectuada por Resolución de 12 de febrero de 2019, en la Carrera Diplomática". Official State Gazette. Retrieved 15 October 2025.
  26. ↑ Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation (25 June 2021). "Resolución de 21 de junio de 2021, de la Subsecretaría, por la que se resuelve la convocatoria de libre designación, efectuada por Resolución de 10 de mayo de 2021, en la Carrera Diplomática". Official State Gazette. Retrieved 15 October 2025.
  27. ↑ Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation (20 April 2024). "Resolución de 18 de abril de 2024, de la Subsecretaría, por la que se resuelve la convocatoria de libre designación en la Carrera Diplomática, efectuada por Resolución de 9 de febrero de 2024". Official State Gazette. Retrieved 15 October 2025.
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