Albares presents 2025 consular activity report to Council of Ministers

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, presented the 2025 consular report to the Council of Ministers on Tuesday. At a time when the number of Spaniards abroad has doubled to 3.2 million since 2009, the assistance and protection provided by the Spanish consular network has become a priority. Furthermore, the various crises that have disrupted the international scene have increased the importance of the consular service provided, which in 2025 alone enabled the handling of around 9,000 collective and individual emergencies.

Albares highlighted the efforts made in Tripoli in May to evacuate 17 Spanish citizens, as well as the two evacuation operations organised in June following Israel’s attack on Iran and Iran’s subsequent response. The Minister also emphasised the support provided to the various flotillas that travelled to the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid. To address the situation, a permanent monitoring unit was set up and assistance was provided to enable the detained Spanish citizens to return to Spain.

Apart from the provision of assistance and protection in emergency situations, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation also highlighted the milestones that marked 2025 from a consular perspective: the completion of the roll-out of DICIREG and the implementation of the Unified Processing Desk, both of which form part of the consular digitalisation strategy in which €115 million have been invested, aim to meet the increased demand for consular services.

Furthermore, the consular network has been strengthened in recent years with the establishment of new Consulates General in Camagüey and Bangalore, in addition to those in Manchester and Chengdu, and the refurbishment of others, such as the one in London. This makes Spain one of the countries with the most extensive consular network among the Member States of the European Union, with 88 Consulates General, 2 Consulates and 90 Consular Sections in Embassies.

Over the last four years, the number of staff abroad has also increased by 2,300. All of this is to address new challenges, including the rise in the number of Spaniards living abroad and the passing of the Law on Democratic Memory.

During his speech, the Minister highlighted the scale of the services provided by the Spanish consular network in 2025. Last year, 390,752 passports were issued, 233,288 entries were made in the Consular Civil Registers, and almost two million visas were processed. Furthermore, by 31 December 2025, the consular network had received over 1 million applications for nationality under the Law on Democratic Memory, with 51​0,532 cases approved and 272,862 registrations completed.

Albares concluded the presentation of the report by emphasising the improvements made in consular services. These improvements must be ongoing and, to this end, the digitalisation of consular services—which is already being promoted—and the strengthening of staff numbers will be fundamental, as will the support of the Ministries for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service and Finance, and working in parallel with the 2025-2028 Foreign Action Strategy.

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For the 2005 consular activity report, click here [Spanish only].​

For the 2025-2028 Foreign Action Strategy, click here.