The Court of Auditors has warned of the “critical financial situation” faced by Casa Arabe, an organization with one of its headquarters in Cordoba, and which calls into question the viability of this instrument of public diplomacy, while … disfigured the ministry of Foreign Affairsto which this entity is attached, its lack of assistance and supervision and alerted to a whole series of “weaknesses and deficiencies.
This is indicated in his audit report of the Casa Arab Consortium corresponding to the years 2023 and 2024, during which he led this entity. Irene Lozanoformer PSOE deputy and who helped the president of the government, Pedro Sanchezto prepare his book ‘Manuel de Résistance’.
The Casa Arab Consortium is a public entity of an interadministrative nature created in 2006 by the General Administration of the State, the Community of Madridthe Junta de Andalucía, as well as the Municipalities of Córdoba and Madrid, where it has two headquarters, with the aim of creating mutually beneficial relations between the Arab world and Spain.
After analyzing its economic-financial management, its internal organization and the development of its activities as an instrument of public diplomacy of the State within the framework of the Network of Houses, the Court of Auditors concludes that “the entity is in a financial situation critical which affects its viability, due to persistent annual deficits and significant deficiencies in the assets of Madridwhich requires us to adopt urgent measures to resolve it.
As detailed, there have been recurring negative results, close to the million euros annually, with ordinary management fees of €3.2 million in 2023 and €3.3 million in 2024, which were offset by the use of remaining cash.
Given the “significant deficiencies of roofs, roofs, humidity and air conditioning system” presented by its headquarters in Madrid, warns that “if any of the urgent expenses were to be faced due to said deficiencies, the stay “It would be exhausted in 2026.”
Internal control
Furthermore, “it formally lacks a complete and structured internal control system, having noted weaknesses and deficiencies linked to the organization of personnel, instructions, procedures and internal manuals for economic and financial management, as well as the management system and documentary archives”, according to the report.
Its internal control system “presents deficiencies and weaknesses “which prevent an adequate assessment of risks and have a negative impact on management”, denounces the document.
In this sense, the Court of Auditors specifies that “it does not have a system of planning for purposes which meet legal requirements and which enable monitoring of effectiveness, and has also not received the guidance, assistance and monitoring on the issue by the ministry, although it is presented as an instrument of public diplomacy.
Likewise, it was noted that “the planning “The one it has does not meet the requirements of the system which should allow it to control the effectiveness of its activity” and “the degree of achievement of the objectives sought and their link with the purposes of the consortium” of the activities carried out is also not known.
On the other hand, in terms of personnel, Casa Arabe “does not have a formal instrument in which a list of jobs is established” and does not have procedures for the provision of vacancies and the selection of personnel, “being the origin of numerous deficiencies and irregularities by filling positions.
The events date back to the time when the director was Irene Lozano, very close to the president of the government.
Thus, the Court of Auditors makes a series of recommendations, both to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to the consortium in general. To the first, “as the main administration of financing” and as responsible for monitoring its effectiveness, it proposes the creation of “a feasibility study rigorous in which all the activities carried out and their current events are presented, even the very existence of the consortium given its true nature. repercussion in the function of participation in public diplomacy which motivated its creation.
“This study and those to which the consortium administrations could contribute”, that is to say the municipalities and autonomous communities“should be analyzed by the Board of Directors make the corresponding decisions.
Regarding the consortium, he asks it, among other things, to resolve “the weaknesses of the internal control detected, through the approval and implementation of manuals in the different areas of economic management, and the strengthening of the document management and archiving system” as well as the development of “a complete catalog of jobs with definition of functions, qualification and remuneration.
Likewise, with regard to financing problems, he suggests intensifying “the search for sponsorships and collaborations in the Arab world: diplomatic legations, companies and cultural entities and other types, which ultimately also benefit directly or indirectly from the consortium’s activities.
In another vein, the Court of Auditors evaluates “positively” in its report “the attitude maintained by the current management” of the consortium, led since last February by the diplomat Miguel Moro“in order to resolve some of the shortcomings reported which must necessarily be assumed and promoted by the administrations of the consortium and particularly by the supervisory Ministry which exercises its monitoring and control.
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