The labor relationship between Embassies (or Consulates) and their local employees is an issue that frequently gives rise to a great deal of litigation, given that it is an area in which two very different types of rules come into conflict, the local labor rules and the international rules of the diplomatic sphere.
On the one hand, since the Embassy (or Consulate) enjoys a very peculiar, privileged regime, which gives it immunity before the Spanish courts, i.e., the Spanish courts should refrain from judging the Embassy and, if they do so, refrain from enforcing the judgment by means of attachment or other enforceable measure. This is established in the various international conventions on diplomatic and consular relations.
On the other hand, Spanish labor law, which the Embassy (or Consulate) must respect and comply with as established in the conventions mentioned above, and the claim of the Spanish courts to extend their protection to workers, despite the privileges mentioned above.
Proceedings before the Courts are not infrequent, in which the Embassy must appear to defend itself, preserve its privileges and enforce its privileges and immunities and, on the other hand, the worker must go to obtain a favorable sentence and the economic protection of the Spanish State.
