Chronicling four centuries of the consular corps in Malaga

It has been 400 years since that consular corps was formally established in the province, and almost half a millennium later, Malaga City Hall has published a book in collaboration with them chronicling its history, from 1641 to 2026, featuring more than 50 countries, with more nations joining their ranks year after year.

Historia del Cuerpo Consular en Málaga 1641-2026 (History of the Consular Corps in Malaga 1641–2026) is the title of this work, the second edition of the book published in 2022 by its author and editor, Rafael Pérez Peña, who holds a PhD in Public International Law and is Portugal’s honorary consul in Malaga.

Through this work, he explains, he seeks to reaffirm the idea with which he had already explored this subject in his doctoral thesis: ‘We are the final links in an unbroken chain of an institution that has existed for four centuries. An institution which, in recent years, has experienced a resurgence in order to bring its history to the people of Malaga’.

He thus emphasised the importance of the consular role as those responsible for "welfare and humanitarian" work. "Since its establishment in the 17th century, being a consul in this land has never been a purely bureaucratic task. It meant becoming the first beacon of help for those far from home," he explained at the book launch, referring also to those times when "the sea brought with it storms and shipwrecked sailors" and when "the great epidemics of the 19th century ravaged the city".

"We have all witnessed a similar situation just a few years ago, when the consular corps once again proved itself a faithful champion of this humanitarian work," he said, referring to the work of the consuls during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The event was also attended by the Dean of the Consular Corps of Malaga, José Luis Ramos. After thanking the entire consular corps, the Mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre, and Mar Torres, Councillor for External Affairs, for their presence, he emphasised one of the book’s main objectives: the current role of the consuls in Malaga, and not merely their history over the past 400 years.

With these words, Ramos also explained the importance this body continues to hold in the province today: "The foundation of what was originally the consular corps has always been trade relations. In an increasingly globalised world, we are witnessing the internationalisation of businesses, globalisation and all the efforts to reach agreements with business centres, technology parks or institutions in other countries in order to establish bilateral relations and give different companies the opportunity to expand into new markets too.”

The publication, about which the mayor has joked that he is hoping for ‘a third edition’ given the success of the first two, is available free of charge and has a digital version open to all users on the External Relations Department website. According to the town hall, its pages recount the history from that trade treaty between Spain and Denmark - which led to the establishment of the first consulate in 1641 - right up to the inclusion of the most recent nations. Today, they explain, the province has 55 accredited consulates.

“Consular diplomacy all too often takes place when someone knocks on the door and explains their problem. And at that moment, the institution ceases to be an abstraction and becomes someone who attends to and listens to them, someone who offers guidance,’ said Pérez Peña at the close of this presentation, describing this as the ‘cornerstone’ of its raison d’être.”

In addition to these efforts, there are the 106 countries and more than 500 cities with which public bodies and institutions in Malaga currently maintain international relations. The publication of this book itself, as they have explained, forms part of the cooperation agreement between the city council and the consular corps to "facilitate and promote" cooperation between the two bodies.

For this very reason, the city council is continuing to implement the Second External Action Plan, which sets out the city’s strategy regarding its international profile, development cooperation and the integration of the foreign population. Furthermore, they point out that they have made facilities available to other countries to facilitate voting in their elections - as in the recent cases of Colombia, Peru, Algeria and Sweden - and have provided ‘logistical support’ to itinerant consultants from countries such as Romania and Argentina.