Testimonials

Tomàs Riba  

Diplomat

2016-2020

“The study of some public examinations such as those of the Diplomatic ones is one of those experiences that definitely mark the life of a person. That is why the choice of the academy in which to prepare them is so important, because not only the outcome depends on it, but also whether the experience is more or less pleasant and enjoyable.

In my case, I remember the first day I arrived at the CEI, when I had only a slight idea of ​​what it was to be a diplomat and many questions that needed an answer. Luckily, the CEI team answered all my questions and I decided to undertake this adventure.

Once the decision is made, you experience another of the most important moments: the first oral exposition of topics. You are doubtful and nervous, with little command of the subjects and, again, a good dose of uncertainty. However, the affability and enormous wisdom of Ambassador Perpiñá-Robert are the necessary elements to instil security and confidence in the young candidates who have decided to study at the CEI.

From then on, the candidate begins to dominate each of the opposition exams thanks to the extensive training that the CEI offers. Thus, the preparation of the test, the interview and the singing is facilitated by the collaboration of numerous diplomats and other officials of the General State Administration with great knowledge about all areas of law, economics, cooperation for the development, history and international relations.

Likewise, the CEI counts on Kathryn O’Connor and Fernand Menier for the preparation of the languages exercise, two people with great experience, professionalism and passion for their work who offer comprehensive training to achieve a broad command of English and French.

Finally, I can say that the CEI is not only a place to prepare for the exams, but a great home in which personal relationships are created and developed that remain many years later. In this sense, I have to thank the Secretariat team and, especially, Eli Rubio, for having listened to all our problems and concerns throughout these years, for having resolved so many doubts and for having been so and so patient.

Based on all this, I encourage all those who are thinking of taking an examination to join the Diplomatic Corps to choose the CEI as a guarantee of success and as an unforgettable experience.”

Guillem Manso 

Diplomat

2017-2020
“Preparing the opposition to join the diplomatic corps is scary, even looking back after having overcome it. Although the illusion of the first weeks of study is never lost, the uncertainty that one feels from the beginning grows larger, as the Investment made – and therefore potentially “lost” – is gaining weight. No one can assure you that you will end up passing or promise that it will take a year or five. The CEI either.

However, the CEI can provide answers to other types of questions that may cause less anxiety, but more useful in your preparation: What is a good essay?, Is it possible to prepare an interview in which you can end up asking anything?, What kind of answers are appropriate in the language exam? For the oral presentation, it is better to bring a few topics each week, but prepare them in depth, or challenge yourself to give many quick laps to the agenda?

These are very difficult questions that every opponent faces at one time or another, and the answer to them is not unequivocal. For this reason, what I value most about the CEI compared to other preparation academies is its diversity: the opposition is an individual effort, but to be successful it is essential to build a solid network of support, it takes a village to raise a child. The CEI will give you access to very different tutors (mostly diplomats of different ages and backgrounds, but also State Attorneys, for example), whose strategy to pass will not always coincide, and although that will sometimes be frustrating, as a candidate you will soon realize that you must find your own unique way of dealing with the opposition, based on your strengths and weaknesses. All CEI staff and collaborators, starting with Ambassador Perpiñá-Robert, will appreciate your dedication and will be a fundamental support in times of greatest frustration and uncertainty.

And they will be the first to call you as soon as you pass, of course. They are a team and I assure you that they will feel your success as their own!”

Andrés de Zulueta 

Diplomat

2016-2020

“I am very grateful to the CEI for the support provided during my preparation to join the Diplomatic Corps: I started the process in the face-to-face mode in Barcelona and finished it in the online mode, with many face-to-face sessions, from Madrid. I recommend preparing the CEI in the modality that best suits the candidate, since the CEI monitoring is continuous and personalized, adapting to the different needs required by the different stages of the opposition, from the first moments full of enthusiasm and learning to the final moments when the goal is close, but everything becomes more repetitive.

For more than 25 years, the CEI has been the only public centre to prepare the public exam to the diplomatic corps. It is located in an idyllic setting in the Finca Pere Pons, where all kinds of conferences of great interest on international relations are organized.

The CEI offers an exhaustive preparation of each exercise of the opposition and a syllabus prepared by professors from the different universities of Barcelona. And above all, it has a true team of preparers made up of diplomats from antiquities and very diverse profiles, other officials such as a State lawyer and a State economist, and an English teacher and a French teacher. This allows the candidate to obtain the visions and expectations of the different members of the opposition tribunal throughout their preparation.

Finally, I would like to especially thank His Excellency Ambassador Perpiñá-Robert and Elisabeth Rubio for their affectionate and unconditional support throughout the entire process, and express my admiration for having managed to make CEI, as well as a training centre of excellence as they demonstrate its results, a very special place from which I take great memories, and, above all, friendships for life.”

Juan Torres

Diplomat

2015-2019

“My experience at the Center for International Studies in Barcelona could not have been more rewarding. From the first moment you land in the CEI, they explain in a clear and simple way the enormous work task involved in preparing the opposition to access the diplomatic corps, helping you to carry out a progressive planning of the study.

To do this, the CEI offers you an updated agenda of topics written by university specialists, complementing with diplomatic trainers, both young, recently admitted to the career; as veterans that are capable of contributing a mature and deep vision of international relations.

Lastly, I would like to especially thank the Hon. Ambassador Mr. Fernando Perpiñá-Robert, as tutor, his know-how during my preparation and the fact of always having a kind word in those moments when the preparation of the opposition can be done uphill. That is why, without a doubt, I would recommend the CEI as a center of excellence to successfully overcome the difficult challenge of becoming diplomat.

Carlos Valero   

Legal Counsel, International Legal Counsel. Ministry of Foreign Affaris, European Union and Cooperation. 

2014-2017

“I sincerely thank the entire CEI International Affairs team for the support given during these years of opposition, I came here somewhat disoriented, worried about the task that awaited me, and from CEI they offered me all the possible facilities to successfully fulfill my mission. Always with the best possible treatment, but at the same time with the necessary degree of demand, the preparation of the oppositions at CEI allows the opponent to progress gradually until reaching success.

Approving depends on oneself and requires a lot of effort and discipline, but the tools that CEI puts at your disposal help you to achieve this without having to worry about superfluous aspects, focusing on what is really important.In addition, its location in Barcelona and its nature as a center linked to the Ministry are key factors for the CEI to be place to doubt a unique and unbeatable place to prepare the opposition”. 

Marc Sánchez  
Advisor in Department of European Affairs and G20. Cabinet of the Presidency of the Government

‘The CEI is a team. When you arrive, with enthusiasm but disoriented, the staff welcomes you with open arms and gets down to supporting you, forming you and even you approve modelándote for the opposition work. That team consists of people of great personal and professional quality, the comprehensive time with the vicissitudes of the opposition and demanding to give your best performance. Approve the opposition depends on you, your effort and your resistance.

But expect the CEI is to ensure a solid infrastructure to achieve this goal. Expert on the system of the opposition, Ambassador Perpiñá-Robert is one of the most prestigious diplomatic career and advice mark turning points. Beside him, young diplomats and college coaches complete a unique training framework in Spain .’

Ainara Gómez

Diplomat. Deputy Director of the Cabinet in the Union for the Mediterranean. Ministry of Foreign Affaris, European Union and Cooperation. 

2009-2014

‘Unlike most candidates, when I enrolled on the preparation course at the CEI, I already had ten years of experience working as a jurist in international organisations and government institutions in Spain, but I had always wanted to be a diplomat. I quit my job and, thanks to the CEI, ultimately succeeded in joining the diplomatic corps.

The preparation is unsurpassable, in terms of both the academic rigor and thoroughness of the preparation for the different exercises of the competitive examination and the personalised attention, constant support and facilities offered. I have no reservations in strongly recommending the CEI in Barcelona to prepare for a career in the diplomatic corps.”

Luis Manuel Cuesta Civís
Spanish Ambassador to the United Republic of Tanzania. Ministry of Foreign Affaris, European Union and Cooperation. 
1992-1993
‘When I first came to CEI International Affairs in September 1991, the first Gulf War had just ended; the Berlin Wall had fallen less than two years earlier and, in December of that same year, the Soviet Union was dissolved.

Our country was preparing for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona and the Expo in Seville, and Madrid was prepared to host the first Middle East Peace Conference. Spain was undergoing rapid changes in the context of a world that was changing at breakneck speed. CEI International Affairs helped me to quickly and coherently understand and assimilate all of these changes.’

Ester Borrás Andreu
Second Secretary of the Spanish Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. Ministry of Foreign Affaris, European Union and Cooperation. 
2000-2003
‘Thanks to CEI International Affairs, I was able to act on my interest in the field of international relations through diplomacy.

It showed me how the competitive examination to join the Spanish diplomatic corps works and allowed me to begin to prepare for it. I would never have chosen to quit my job at an advertising agency and throw myself, body and soul, into passing that examination if there hadn’t been a centre like CEI International Affairs in my home town of Barcelona.’

José Pintor Aguilar
Secretary of the Spanish Embassy in Managua. Ministry of Foreign Affaris, European Union and Cooperation. 
2000-2003
‘Shedding light on the tasks of a diplomat, as a realistic career option based on the acquisition of a series of skills and abilities, is essential to helping anyone preparing to sit the competitive examination to determine which competencies he or she has to develop and what evaluation criteria the selection board will use.

In this regard, CEI International Affairs plays an important role for candidates in maintaining an open means of permanent dialogue between the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and the city of Barcelona that helps to offset the lopsided influence that Madrid still tends to have in matters related to the diplomatic corps and, especially, in the system for preparing candidates to join it.’

Victoria Tur Gómez
Deputy Head of Mission at the Spanish Embassy in Jamaica. Ministry of Foreign Affaris, European Union and Cooperation. 
2003-2007
‘My memories of CEI International Affairs are filled with gratitude and affection. Not only did I feel supported from the moment I arrived until the end of my journey by the staff, all of whom were committed to helping us, but I was also deeply impressed by the human quality, the incredible devotion and the professionalism of people like Ambassador Núñez, whom I had the honour to have as a tutor, teacher and guide.”

Sergi Farré i Salvà
Deputy Head of Mission at the Spanish Embassy in Slovenia. Ministry of Foreign Affaris, European Union and Cooperation. 
‘CEI International Affairs has always been a pioneer in the promotion of an innovative and pluralistic vision of international relations, incorporating perspectives from the private sector, academia and civil society.

At the same time, the CEI carries out an important task in the field of public diplomacy, acting as a nexus between the Spanish foreign service and Spanish citizens, and playing a key role in disseminating information to citizens about the realities and challenges of diplomacy in the 21st century.’

Antonio Luis Ramos
Counsellor of the Spanish Embassy in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Ministry of Foreign Affaris, European Union and Cooperation. 
2001-2004
‘I received a lot of support from the teaching staff at CEI International Affairs, without which passing the competitive examination would have been much harder.

The philosophy of CEI International Affairs, which combines the rigor of a preparatory institute with the scholarly exuberance arising from its links to academia, is a very stimulating way to tackle the various exercises that make up the examination.’

Rafael Soriano Ortiz
Deputy Head of Mission at the Spanish Embassy in Dublin. Ministry of Foreign Affaris, European Union and Cooperation. 
1989-1991
‘I earned my degree in law from the University of Barcelona in 1988 and, by 1989, had already enrolled at CEI International Affairs to prepare for the competitive examination to join the Spanish diplomatic corps, which I passed in May 1991.

In a sense, just as CEI International Affairs is now celebrating 25 years of existence, I too will soon be fortunate enough to celebrate a 25-year-long career thanks to having studied at CEI International Affairs. And I use the word ‘thanks’ intentionally and sincerely. CEI International Affairs was created to promote access to the diplomatic corps, amongst others, by students at Catalan universities. I believe that over the years it has successfully contributed to the goal of incorporating a pluralistic vision into the Spanish foreign service.’

Oriol Escalas Nolla
Diplomat, current Head of Political Affairs at the Spanish Embassy in Ukraine. Ministry of Foreign Affaris, European Union and Cooperation. 
‘If I am a diplomat today, it is thanks to CEI International Affairs. The time I spent preparing for the competitive examination was highly stimulating and characterised by an intense absorption of knowledge; at the same time, it familiarised me with nuances that later proved extremely useful in my work.

I owe this to the combination of knowledge and experience conveyed by Ambassador Núñez and to the precision and enthusiasm of the more recent diplomats whom I had the great fortune to have as tutors.’

With the collaboration of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation.