British Council Staff Protest Sale of Historic Madrid Building Amid Debt‑Driven Cuts

The Palacete at 31 Paseo del General Martínez Campos has housed the British Council in Spain for roughly seventy years. Its 35 classrooms serve about five thousand students each year who take English classes and exams there. The building sits in Madrid’s upscale Chamberí district and has long been a hub for cultural exchange and the expatriate community.

Around 5,000 students attend English classes and exams in the Madrid building annually, using its 35 classrooms. A letter of no confidence signed by 298 of the 560 British Council staff in Spain accuses senior leadership of shortsighted decisions and weak communication. Stuart Anderson, a Workers’ Commission representative, said the council’s global impact is poorly understood in the UK and compared it to the BBC World Service.

The protest reflects broader staff unrest across Europe over debt‑driven cuts that could see further building sales in Barcelona, Paris and elsewhere. Employees fear job losses and relocation uncertainty as the organisation seeks to repay a £197 million Covid‑era loan by September. Critics argue the centralised decision‑making approach overlooks local expertise and risks eroding the council’s soft‑power reputation built over nearly a century.