British Council sale of Madrid building sparks staff backlash

The British Council’s historic Palacete building at 31 Paseo del General Martínez Campos in Madrid’s upscale Chamberí district has been home to the organization in Spain for approximately 70 years, serving as a hub for cultural and educational exchange.

About 5,000 students each year pass through its 35 classrooms to learn English, take exams, and build cultural ties with the United Kingdom, totaling hundreds of thousands of Madrileños over the decades, while also acting as a center for the expatriate community.

That longstanding presence now faces an uncertain future. News of the planned sale of the high-end property has drawn staff into the streets in protest, with no confirmation of where the 320 employees will be relocated and growing anger over potential job losses. The British Council is also reportedly proposing to sell another building in Barcelona.

The Madrid sale is part of broader unrest across Europe among British Council staff, who are pushing back against radical cuts and restructuring that senior management warns could cause the world’s leading soft-power agency to disappear “within a decade” if not implemented.

This week, staff in Italy staged a national strike and protest against plans to end English-language teaching after 80 years in the country, resulting in the loss of 108 of 130 jobs.

The moves stem from an urgent need to repay a £197 million debt from a Covid-era emergency loan provided by the Conservative government on commercial terms, with interest due in September.

Beyond anger at the UK government’s failure to protect an organization founded nearly a century ago to counter fascism and communism, staff have expressed deep concerns about the organization’s leadership and how measures are being carried out.

A letter of no confidence in the senior leadership team, addressed to the board of trustees in London and obtained by The Guardian, has been signed by 298 of Spain’s 560 staff. It states the sale “reflects a pattern of shortsighted decisions, weak leadership and poorly communicated changes made without sufficient regard for staff or organisational stability.”

The letter adds that there is great anger over the direction of the British Council in recent years, “which has included round after round of restructuring, investments with little return, short-termism, lack of accountability and centralised decision making.”

Another letter of no confidence has come from staff in Italy, with additional letters from France and more expected to follow. Concerns also extend to potential future sale of the British Council’s Paris building and reduced services in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Croatia, and Austria.

Stuart Anderson, a union representative for the Workers’ Commission (CCOO), questioned the organization’s management strategy, citing “very centralised decision-making and, you might dare say, it’s a colonial attitude: ‘London knows best’ with little consideration of local markets or on-the-ground expertise built up over decades in those markets.”

Staff are also calling on the UK government to halt what they describe as a “death spiral.” The union said it “would hope that a government trying to reset the relationship between the UK and the EU would not damage the soft power organisations that have been there for well close to 100 years.”

Anderson, who has worked for the organization for nearly 20 years and chairs the British Council European Works Council, added: “It’s a great concern in the UK that people don’t actually, or don’t necessarily, understand what the British Council means to millions of people around the world. The analogy is the BBC World Service. The organisation has a really, respected brand globally, and is being run into the ground.”

Few question the organization’s value, and it enjoys support from many quarters including the arts, universities, military, and politicians.

Neil Kinnock, former Labour leader and former British Council chair, said: “The British Council does not want to make these cuts. They are being forced into it by the conditions required by the Treasury.”

Kinnock noted that the Council was established to combat fascism and communism “and combat it with understanding of Britain and its values – soft power as it’s called now. And they’ve done it brilliantly for 92 years.” His son, Stephen Kinnock, a Member of Parliament and former British Council country director in Russia, was forced out by the Russian government.

Kinnock said there was widespread support “from those who have seen it in operation.”

He added: “In a world in turmoil where the far right is on the march and we don’t pretend to be a leading military or even political power now, especially in the wake of Brexit, the soft power deployed by the British Council is absolutely invaluable.”

“I sympathise very much with the staff, so does the leadership,” Kinnock said, noting the Council had “camped out” in the Foreign Office for the last three or four years and fought “a hell of a fight.”

Kinnock said: “What the government should do is either find a way of cancelling the debt, or even rescheduling the debt. Because it’s to absolutely nobody’s advantage to lose the British Council.”

If the organization were to disappear, “we’d lose recognition, reputation and countless contacts across the world including current and future decision-makers in every sphere,” he said.

The British Council, which operates in more than 100 countries, will continue working in Spain, where it has been active for 85 years, and the property sale does not represent a withdrawal from Madrid or Barcelona, it is understood.

A British Council spokesperson said the organization “remained committed to building connections, trust and understanding between people in the UK and countries across Europe.”

It continues to face financial challenges and is “taking all necessary steps to significantly cut costs and grow our revenue,” including proposed sales of some buildings to protect as many jobs as possible, maintain its “vital” work, and secure its long-term future across Europe and globally.

“We understand that the proposed changes may be worrying for colleagues, students, and partners and we are committed to managing this process with transparency and care,” the spokesperson said.