Bulgaria opens a consulate in Barcelona

The Council of Ministers adopted a decision to open a Bulgarian consulate in Barcelona to serve the Autonomous Communities of Catalonia and Aragon in Spain.

According to data from the National Statistics Institute of the Kingdom of Spain, as of 2018, there are 125,244 Bulgarians registered as permanent residents in the country. Of these, 11,239 people, or 9%, live in Catalonia. This makes the region the third largest recipient of Bulgarians in the Kingdom after Madrid and the Autonomous Region of Valencia, the government's press office said on May 8.

The Consulate will provide easier and quicker access to consular services such as filing applications for the issue of Bulgarian identity documents, performance of notarial certification of powers of attorneys and declarations, as well as obtaining civil status documents.

The Bulgarians in Catalonia and Aragon now have to travel to Valencia or Madrid for consular services.

The opening of a consulate of the Republic of Bulgaria in Barcelona is the result of an internal analysis of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the efforts of the government to improve the service of Bulgarian citizens abroad, the Council of Ministers said.

The government has also decided to establish diplomatic relations with the Pacific island state of Vanuatu. So far there will not be a Bulgarian embassy or accredited ambassador.

The establishment of diplomatic relations with Vanuatu was negotiated at a meeting between Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva and Foreign Minister of Vanuatu Ralph Regenvanu in 2018 in the capital of Togo Lome.

Vanuatu is located on the New Hebrides archipelago in the South Pacific and has a territory of 12,189 sq. km. One-sixth of its population, 288,000 people, live in Port Vila's capital.

Vanuatu is the fifth island state in Oceania, with which Bulgaria establishes diplomatic relations - after Nauru, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Fiji.