As time passes, the Unidad de Acción Exterior bill that Minister Juan Manuel García Margallo is becoming more and more unclear. The regional governments are keeping their offices in foreign countries alongside their national government counterparts, and the Minister was not able to undo this obvious duplicity of roles. The extra costs of this dual-representation are not very clear, either.
The Ministry of the Exterior assures that it will integrating 149 regional government embassies with the 118 that the national government has around the world will save 10 million euros per year. This figure only takes into account the costs of having offices in foreign countries, but overlooks personnel and other operational costs related with the embassies. The People's Party estimated in 2010 that the cost of running foreign embassies exceeds 150 million euros. The Ministry of the Exterior gave regional governments a choice to join with the national government embassies, but few have stepped up.
Double embassies present greater problems than excess spending. The real issue is that it does not make sense to even have them, because they dilute Spain's brand and commercial reputation internationally. Several months ago elEconomista reported that if the regional governments do not feel adequately represented it is the Ministry of the Exterior's responsibility to figure out why that is the case and to find solutions.
It seems like nothing has changed in this respect. Officials are clinging to their political and financial interests rather than reducing extra costs associated with these embassies abroad even though it compromises the economic and political strength of Spain at home.
