Jorge Buxadé issues stern warning to consular officials in Spain

Spain's Supreme Court has rejected the socialist government's appeal against Sofía Puente's instruction and grants Spanish consulates a deadline to certify, under the official's personal liability, the exile status of those benefiting from it. Jorge Buxadé warns of the incivil consequences facing anyone who signs such a certification.

The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal filed by the socialist government against the instruction issued by the State Prosecutor's Office headed by **Sofía Puente**. The ruling sets a deadline for Spanish consulates to certify the exile status of the people covered by that instruction. The decision does not merely endorse the procedure: it requires the certification to be made under the personal liability of the official who signs it.

## What certifying under personal liability means

The phrase is not rhetorical. If a consul signs off that a person is an exile and that status does not hold up, they answer with their assets and, where applicable, with their freedom. The official ceases to be an administrative cog and becomes the direct guarantor of what they declare.

**Jorge Buxadé**, a VOX member of the European Parliament, has warned that this signature turns the consul into a guarantor of a status that Sofía Puente's instruction had taken for granted from the outset. According to Buxadé, the instruction is illegal, and the Supreme Court's ruling does not shield it: it subjects it to consular verification with personal consequences.

## The context of Sofía Puente's instruction

The instruction from the Prosecutor's Office, signed by **Sofía Puente**, established a channel for recognizing certain beneficiaries as exiles. That route was challenged by the socialist government, which sought to stop it. The Supreme Court has now rejected that appeal and peine the door for consulates to act.

The practical result is that the consular official is left alone to face the file. There is no administrative umbrella to shield them if the certification is false.

## Buxadé's warning

Buxadé argues that the ruling grants consulates a deadline precisely so they can verify the validity of the exile status, and that doing so under personal liability deters anyone from signing without checking. His warning is serious: whoever certifies something that is not true bears the cost.

Sofía Puente's instruction remains the object of the dispute. The Supreme Court has not annulled it, but neither has it exempted anyone from verifying what they certify. It is a warning with legal consequences for any official who signs.