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 Travel & Outdoors | June 2008 
British Consulate in Guadalajara Closes
 PVNN
The British honorary consul in Guadalajara, Simon Cohen, recently retired after more than 20 years of service, which means British citizens in Guadalajara and the Lake Chapala area will now have to rely on the British Embassy in Mexico City for consular services.
According to a recent article in the Guadalajara Reporter:
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| | Simon Cohen has represented Great Britain in Guadalajara for more than 20 years. He will not be replaced, confirms the British Embassy in Mexico City. (Guadalajara Reporter) | | |
For the first time in more than 70 years, Great Britain has no consular representation in Guadalajara, after the British Embassy in Mexico City closed the city’s honorary consulate.
Simon Cohen, British honorary consul in Guadalajara for more than 20 years, has retired and will not be replaced, Richard Lee Smith, head of press at British Embassy in Mexico City, confirmed this week.
Simon Cohen has represented Great Britain in Guadalajara for more than 20 years. He will not be replaced, confirms the British Embassy in Mexico City. Smith said the needs of British citizens in the Guadalajara and Lake Chapala area can be adequately covered from Mexico City.
The only British consulates remaining in Mexico are in Cancun, Tijuana and Acapulco.
Smith said "a variety of factors" influenced the decision, including "the number of British citizens present in Guadalajara" and "the current use and potential to use consular services." He said the decision was "not 100 percent financial."
According to figures released by Mexico’s National Immigration Institute, there are 741 British citizens living in Jalisco on FM2 or FM3 visas. British tourism to Pacific resort areas such as Puerto Vallarta has increased substantially in recent years, with one charter airline now offering direct flights from the United Kingdom.
Smith said it was felt British citizens in Guadalajara would be "best served" from Mexico City.
"Closing an honorary consulate is not a decision we take lightly in any way," Smith said.
Smith said the decision was made by "the Foreign Office network as a whole in conjunction with the embassy in Mexico City."
Neither this newspaper nor British groups in the area were contacted ahead the decision or even notified when it took effect last month.
"We are disappointed that the embassy has decided not to have a replacement for Simon Cohen, and having to learn of the situation third hand is disquieting," said Ceri Dando, who administers the British Club in Ajijic.
Dando, however, said he wasn’t too dismayed about the loss of the few consular services available in the area as "the embassy’s contacts at Mexico City have always been helpful."
The most popular service offered by Cohen in Guadalajara was to obtain new passports. Cohen would receive applications at his office and forward them by courier to Mexico City. In many cases, he checked them first to make sure they were filled in correctly.
Smith said "nothing has really changed in that British citizens can send their applications to the embassy by courier themselves."
The embassy will return the new passports by courier, if requested, he added.
The news that Guadalajara has lost all British consular representation hasn’t gone down well with some residents.
"It’s bad for the image of Britain not to have a consul in a city as large as Guadalajara," said retired Scottish banker Ian Gordon.
Smith dismissed the charge that the embassy is losing interest in Guadalajara.
"Our commitment to Guadalajara as Mexico’s second biggest city is as strong as ever," he said.
He pointed out that Great Britain is one of the few European countries to maintain a trade office in Guadalajara (at the Fiesta Americana Hotel) and said commerce between the region and Britain is busier than ever.
Cohen has been a stalwart member of Guadalajara’s sizable diplomatic corps for more than two decades. He received the likes of Prince Charles, cabinet members, national soccer teams and literary lights on visits to the city. Awarded the MBE (Member of the British Empire) medal for his services to the country, Cohen was always the first to fly the flag. His patriotism was unwavering, although he has lived in Mexico since his early teens.
"I am sad but very proud of what I have done," Cohen told the Reporter this week.
Cohen said that although his official duties have ended, he will always be available on a personal basis to give advice to British citizens. "But on an official level I must refer everyone to the embassy," he said.
Cohen said he will now be able to give more attention to health and work matters.
"I shall be sorry we don’t have a representative. I was always comfortable knowing Simon was there if we needed him," said Guadalajara resident Gail Songini.
Smith said he was not in a position to say whether a British consular representative might be appointed in the future in either Guadalajara or Puerto Vallarta. "There’s always an ongoing review," he stated.
But the press officer did say that "the regional remit" of a future consul in Puerto Vallarta might go beyond that area.
With all consular and visa services now concentrated in Mexico City, British citizens with Internet access might be advised to bookmark the embassy website: EmbajadaBritanica.com.mx. Smith says the embassy would appreciate hearing ideas about what additional information to put on the website.
Smith also stressed that embassy staff are "willing to receive phone calls on all consular and passport matters."
The address of the British Embassy in Mexico City is Rio Lerma 71, Col. Cuauhtemoc 06500, Mexico DF; telephone: (55)5242 8500, fax: (55)5242-8517. |  |
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