21st November 2014
Madrid, Spain
On Monday the Embassy will be taking part in an important international colloquium here in Madrid, organised by the Centro Sefarad-Israel. You can find more details here. We are participating on behalf of the British Government, and in the UK’s capacity as Chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance this year. The IHRA is a […]
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22nd September 2014
Madrid, Spain
Joint blog with Peter Abbott, DHM Lisbon This week in the UK it is National Work/Life Balance Week. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and its global network of posts, is committed to helping ensure its staff achieve a good balance between work and life outside of work. Something that can help people achieve that is flexible […]
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23rd May 2014
Madrid, Spain
We will be screening the documentary, “War on Women” at the Caixa Forum in Madrid on 27 May. Entrance is free but you have to register with us. This link gives you all the details. “War on Women” is a powerful film by Argentinian director Hernan Zin. It tells the personal stories of several women, […]
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16th May 2014
Madrid, Spain
It’s an important day for the British Government. We are working hard to uphold the rights and freedoms of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender communities across the world. We believe that countries must work together to address all forms of discrimination, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, and to promote […]
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23rd April 2014
Madrid, Spain
I’ve blogged before about Business and Human Rights. Sustainable trade is vital for our economy, it supports employment and promotes British and global growth. But at the same time, human rights values are intrinsic to our foreign policy. So we will not promote trade at the expense of human rights. Our work on business and […]
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21st March 2014
Madrid, Spain
Some caricature diplomacy as not being clear, avoiding hard messages, getting a deal at all costs. Worse, some see diplomats as evasive, slippery, cowardly, masters of ambiguity. In my experience the opposite is true. The best diplomats are clear about what they want to achieve, but also understand the objectives of others. They will often […]
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20th February 2014
Madrid, Spain
The British government strongly supports a new Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement between the European Union and the United States. It would break down trade barriers, unlock new growth and create a huge number of jobs. Ian Livingston, British Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Jaime García-Legaz Ponce, Spanish Secretary of State […]
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10th February 2014
Madrid, Spain
The Embassy moved into the Torre Espacio, in the North of Madrid, a few years ago. One of the benefits of moving here was to find ourselves as neighbours to La Paz Hospital – one of the best public sector hospitals in Spain. Over the years we have got to know the hospital well. Since […]
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16th December 2013
Madrid, Spain
On a recent trip to our Consulate in Alicante I was able to squeeze in a one night stay in Benidorm. Alicante is very important to us given the high numbers of British nationals who live and holiday there. In fact, a quarter of the 14 million Brits who come to Spain for their holidays […]
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28th November 2013
Madrid, Spain
I’m still a newcomer to the world of blogging. So I’m particularly grateful to those who have taken the time to read my early blog posts. And thanks also to those following me on Twitter. But one question that has been put to me a few times is: “Why are you bothering? Wouldn’t your time […]
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