Spain's order for consul dismissal a 'witch hunt'

Wednesday was the last day in office for the honorary consul of Finland in Barcelona, Albert Ginjaume, following an order made by the Spanish government to dismiss him due to political reasons. He believes his dismissal is part of a larger “witch hunt” by Spain. The honorary consuls for the Philippines and Estonia have also both been sacked recently, following orders of Spain's executive.

In an interview with Catalan News, Albert Ginjaume explained that a clear reason had not been given to him, even though he requested one. “They haven’t given me any motive, even though I asked for one. I asked the embassy, and they told me that my dismissal was demanded for by Spain’s foreign ministry,” he explained.

Witch hunt

“It is effectively a witch hunt of people who might be sympathizing with a movement, and it’s not the same way of thinking as the central government, and if they can they get them out the picture,” Ginjaume asserted referring to Jordi Puig, ex-consul for the Philippines, and Xavier Vanyals, ex-consul of Estonia.

“In the case of Vanyals, and the case of Puig, you can evaluate if the reason why they were dismissed is sufficient or not, but there is a motive,” he argued. “Putting up an estelada (pro-independence flag) or participating in a protest, is debatable. But in my case, I haven’t done one thing or the other. What they say I’ve done is invite the president of the Barcelona region authority (the mayor of Sant Cugat,)” he said. Ginjaume was referring to an invite he made to Mercè Conesa for a lunch with other consules. 

Reasons for dismissals not "sufficient"

However, the reasons for the dismissals of Puig and Vanyals are not “sufficient” to kick someone out of their position Ginjaume believes.

Jordi Puig attended a protest on October 3, 2017 after the independence referendum. The demonstration was called to condemn acts of Spanish police violence against voters on October 1, leaving over 1,000 people injured, according to the Catalan health department. Vanyals hung a pro-independence flag from his home. 

Finland "supports" Ginjaume

The role of a consulate is to provide services, and from “one day to the next” they can no longer provide services to Finnish citizens in Barcelona, said Ginjaume.

Since the news became known, the Finnish embassy in Madrid, and Finnish citizens have been in touch with their former consul expressing their support.