An afternoon with the Spanish ambassador

Though many of us may not know it yet, a new Ambassador of Spain to the Philippines has taken residence in the country and has immersed himself fully in the job, barely four months of arriving in Philippine shores.

His Excellency Jorge Domecq, the new Spanish Ambassador, comes with impressive credentials: a law degree from the University of Sevilla, diplomatic school in Madrid, Diplomatic Adviser and Cultural/Minister Counselor for Spain in various postings like Morocco and Italy and stints at the NATO and United Nations for security, agricultural development, global affairs and human rights. Oddly enough, this is his first posting in Asia, and having the Philippines as his entry into the Asian circuit is welcome to him.

I had a pleasant experience interviewing Ambassador Domecq for our Business & Leisure segment on Diplomats’ Row which we are bringing back to Philippine television after a few years’ hiatus. If the surname sounds very familiar to Filipinos, it is because the Ambassador comes from the famous Domecq family of wine masters. Domecq is actually a French surname, he explains, his forefathers coming from an area in Southern France across the Pyrenees. In 1730, the family came down to the South of Spain to export sherry and brandy to London, and has built a big, solid name in the business across the globe. Everyone who knows his spirits here know of Pedro Domecq. However, the family has since sold out to an international firm, but the Ambassador proudly says that his father who died in the late nineties was one of the best known wine masters. Incidentally, the Ambassador is the youngest of twelve siblings, all professionals. It must have been a household so alive with diverse ideas, such that they had a chemical engineer, a doctor, a broker, a navy captain, a flight stewardess, etc. in the family of wine makers, with not one duplicating another’s line. Ambassador Domecq, already a full-fledged lawyer, recognized early on that his passion lies in diplomacy and became the only diplomat in the family.

Ambassador Domecq, is here with his wife, also a lawyer whom he met at law school; his two daughters stayed behind in Madrid pursuing their college degrees. He seems to have settled comfortably in his job, albeit with a dizzying pace. By the end of the month, he will be a guest of Sen. Ed Angara in Baler, Aurora to celebrate the Spanish-Filipino Friendship Day. Come July, he will be in Cebu for a full month’s celebration of Spanish-Philippine ties, featuring gastronomic feasts, concerts, business conferences, etc. In fact, he has mapped out a complete cultural program for the year. The full slate includes a photo exhibit of Spain in the last sixty years, featuring the works of 15 of the best photographers in Manila at the Metropolitan Museum. There will also be an exhibition of the works of Picazzo which will be “analyzed” by 16 well known Filipino and 16 equally well-known Spanish artists at the Ayala Museum. And this year in July, the Spanish Embassy, in commemoration of our national hero, will publish an edited version of Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, which of course were originally written in Spanish by Dr. Jose Rizal.

It’s just as well that his first Asian posting is in Manila. He delights at the many familiar sights and sounds that remind him of home, of familiar words and names, of siestas and paellas and the elegance of Manton de Manila. Strengthening the ties that go back a long, long way, Ambassador Domecq cites the valuable role of Instituto Cervantes, the Spanish language learning institute in keeping the relationship vibrant and alive. An agreement Spain signed with the Philippines in February 2010 allows Spain to prepare our Filipino teachers in secondary schools to teach Spanish as a second language through the Instituto Cervantes and the Embassy’s education division. Spanish is now a global language, and though Spanish was for many decades taught as an elective in college in the Philippines, it has since faded out of the local academic slate in recent years. Up to 1934 in fact, it was the language used for teaching in Philippine universities.

Perhaps our young students would not see the significance of this, but certainly our young professionals should recognize the advantages of having a global language like Spanish as a second or third language. Imagine being able to communicate with a community of over 550 million Spanish-speaking people, because that is what recent global data reveals. That many people have embraced Spanish either as a first or a second language, even in America.   Anyone who works in a call center for instance has a built-in advantage over, say, another Asian or even an American applicant who has mastery of only one language. And when else should we start them with a second language than in secondary school?

And the best news yet that I gathered during the interview, at least as far as the cultural ties are concerned—Ambassador Domecq revealed that the Embassy’s Ministry of Culture continues to give grants every year for deserving Filipino students. Actually, they have been doing this for several years now, but he spoke of his plans to embark on a road show this year in several selected Philippine universities to give assistance for graduate and post-graduate courses to Filipino students in Spain. Wonderful news indeed for our students.

That about covers one part of the interview. The other part delved on our trade relations with Spain, but that merits a part 2 in this column. Did you know that one of the first official acts of Ambassador Domecq was to initiate a business forum, the First Spanish-Philippine Business Forum where he brought along prominent Spanish businessmen eager to strike up business relations with Filipino businessmen? That effort sparked quite an interest on both sides, but that is getting ahead of the story. We also asked the affable Ambassador what first-time Filipino travelers to Spain should look out for. More on that next week.

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Filipino.

For comments: (e-mail) [email protected]