The Minister for Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, has described diplomacy as “an active, day-to-day commitment to democracy, international law and peace”. At the launch of the book At the Service of Democracy by historian Ángel Viñas, the minister paid tribute to those diplomats who, during the Civil War and even afterwards, under an authoritarian regime, continued to defend the cause of democracy from exile or in hiding.
In the complex geopolitical climate we are currently experiencing, this book, as Albares has said, “is a window onto the past, but also a mirror for the present”. The minister also reiterated that the diplomacy championed by many of these diplomats was based on the rule of law, respect for international law, justice and the search for peaceful solutions to conflicts.
“These are the very same values that underpin Spanish foreign policy today, in every context: in Ukraine and Gaza, in Sudan and Iran. In all these cases, Spain’s foreign policy stands firm in its defence of human rights, equality, cooperation, multilateralism and peace. And that is why Spain’s voice is now a leading and internationally recognised voice.”
Collective work
The book, which went on sale on 29 April, features a foreword by the minister and is published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation and the publishing house Crítica.
The content focuses on the role of Spanish diplomacy and its loyalty to the Republican government during the Civil War, examining the cases of several embassies and also devoting a chapter to female diplomats.
Three generations
Ángel Viñas, the book’s lead author and editor, highlighted and expressed his gratitude for the contribution of at least three generations to the work. “New generations, new materials, new interpretations and greater historical perspective make it impossible to speak of a definitive history. But we are also very aware that writing history is not the same as spreading ideological or political propaganda,” the historian stated. “What we can aspire to, here and now, is to offer our readers a rigorous reconstruction that neither distorts nor twists the available information,” he concluded.
The presentation of the book At the Service of Democracy also served to follow on from the event held in June 2025, at which a plaque was unveiled at the Ministry’s headquarters in Marqués de Salamanca in memory of the diplomats loyal to democracy.
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