Spain has begun replacing its ambassador to India, Juan Antonio March Pujol, after the Foreign Ministry referred allegations about his conduct to the country's Anti Corruption Prosecutor's Office in May. His likely successor is Alfredo Martinez Serrano, currently Spain's ambassador to Canada, with a formal handover expected within weeks once the Indian government signs off, as is standard for any change of ambassador.
The allegations center on cultural events organized during the Spain India Dual Year, a program meant to mark closer ties between the two countries. March is alleged to have sought corporate sponsorships and government support for concerts without notifying the ministry, and to have commissioned performances from artists with no formal Spanish connection while presenting the events as Spanish cultural diplomacy.
The specifics are concrete. Embassy cultural funds allegedly covered 18,000 euros for a performance by Huiling Zhu, a Chinese mezzo soprano, work the ambassador reportedly defended by pointing to her Spanish repertoire even though she is not Spanish herself. Separately, March is alleged to have reached a personal agreement with BLS, the company that handles outsourced visa processing for Spanish embassies including the one in New Delhi, for a 5,000 euro contribution toward a cultural event in Rajasthan, with some of the arrangements reportedly structured so they would not appear in the embassy's own accounts.
Spanish tenor Joan Lainez and the local company STEM Dance Kampani were also among the acts involved in the events under scrutiny. A separate detail under review is that the ambassador's daughter held a diplomatic passport and lived at the embassy residence while reportedly conducting business activities alongside her father.
None of this has been established as proven wrongdoing. Spanish reporting on the case has been careful to describe the claims as allegations under review by prosecutors, not findings. What is not in dispute is the timeline: March took up the post in September 2024, succeeding Jose Maria Ridao, who had asked to leave the role in December 2023, and Spain is now moving to replace him less than two years in, before any prosecutor's conclusion has been reached.