{
  "id": 329615,
  "title": "Spain moves to replace its India envoy over financial misconduct",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/08/spain-moves-to-replace-its-india-envoy-over-financial-misconduct",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-08T15:45:04.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Indian Express - India",
    "slug": "the-indian-express-india",
    "url": "https://indianexpress.com/article/india/spain-recalls-ambassador-india-juan-antonio-march-pujol-financial-irregularities-10824186/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Spain is set to replace its India envoy, Juan Antonio March Pujol, amid allegations of financial misconduct, according to sources in the Indian government and a Spanish media outlet. March, who presented his credentials to President Droupadi Murmu in July 2024, has left the country and will be succeeded by a senior career diplomat from the Spanish Foreign Ministry in the coming weeks. The allegations stem from reported irregularities involving financial sponsorship of cultural events during the 70th anniversary celebrations of India-Spain diplomatic relations in Rajasthan. These events included performances by an Indian dance company, Spanish and Chinese singers, allegedly organized by March without Madrid's approval. While the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) blocked the events, the Chinese singer reportedly received Euros 18,000 from the Spanish embassy in 2025 and another Euros 14,000 for 2026 performances. The Spanish envoy allegedly instructed his cultural attaché to avoid recording these activities in the internal accounting system and negotiated a 5,000-Euros contribution from an Indian company independently. The attaché claimed AECID had no record of the transactions, and procedures were not followed, raising concerns over the transparency and legality of the financial dealings.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}