The days of the operations of the Dominican consulate at its current headquarters in Madrid, Spain, are numbered. The eviction order has the force of a sentence, so his transfer is urgent.
The decision was evacuated by a competent court in the Spanish capital. Its scope also impacts the work of the Central Electoral Board, the Passport Office and other offices that work in the building, located in the central avenue Paseo de la Castellana #128.
This measure is important because Spain is the second nation with the largest Dominican immigration, amounting to more than 187,345 compatriots.
A source confirmed to elCaribe that the consular delegation is currently looking hard for where to establish itself to continue offering consular services. “When they evict, they are not only going to evict the consulate, the Central Electoral Board and the Passport Directorate that operate in the same place are leaving,” he pointed out.
The court order is the product of years of litigation and, according to the source consulted, is the result of continuous complaints from tenants and building owners concerning “noise” typical of these activities and the confluence of people in search of services.
“It is a judicial process that has been dragging on for several years. It all started because the tenants and owners where the Dominican consulate operates have complained about the number of people who attend that building and the noise. That makes it uncomfortable for people who own it,” he said.
According to the information he handles, the residents complained to the owner of the premises where the consular mission operates, and he saw no other option than to sue the consulate to leave the place, because he is not interested in renewing the contract.
The source consulted emphasized that it is not a conflict that arose in the management of the current consul or in the past. It is a problem that has been going on for years, he said. He noted that the consulate appealed the decision, but most available legal remedies have been exhausted. “They are already in the final stage,” he says, while indicating that the entity urgently needs to find a location.
In that order, it subtracted from the version that it is a matter of local payments, as is stated in some circles. This newspaper tried through the relevant media to obtain a response from the Foreign Ministry of the Dominican Republic, but as is customary with the media, there was no response.
Hours increase
At the beginning of December, the Dominican consular office in Madrid increased the daily working hours to 30 minutes more with the aim of making the services provided more efficient. The new hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
A forced eviction of the Consulate of the Dominican Republic in Madrid would affect services such as visa applications, issuance, renewal and reports of loss of passports, certifications as well as renewal and duplication of driver’s licenses, among others.
A module of the National Institute of Transit and Land Transportation also operates in space. The same fate runs for the Institute for Dominicans Abroad, which also has a module in this building to promote Dominican culture and identity in that land.
You need a place that brings together all the services
The Consulate of the Dominican Republic in Madrid operates out of premises located on the second floor of a ten-story building mostly occupied by residents. The great bet of the Dominican consulate in the Spanish capital is precisely to “bring closer” the services to the Dominican community abroad in order to facilitate the movement of citizens. Hence the congregation of modules from different institutions in the building in conflict is explained. Just ten days ago, Banco de Reservas inaugurated a representative office in the Spanish capital as part of its internationalization strategy, which will allow the Dominican diaspora to manage banking services and financial advice related to possible investments. Although this location is not in the same building as the Dominican consulate, this situation is read by some as a lack of coordination given the time and weight of the sentence. The Banreservas office in Madrid is located on Avenida La Castellana, near the consular office. With this opening, it becomes the first and only Dominican bank with a presence in Spain.
