Morocco's consulate in Gran Canaria convicted of workplace bullying — and immunity offers no shield

It is a case that dragged on for years and has now produced a first clear ruling. Social Court No. 9 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has ordered the consulate of the Kingdom of Morocco to stop bullying a long-serving employee and to pay him 20,000 euros in compensation. The court found it proven that the man had suffered "degrading treatment" — with "constant shouting" and "threats of dismissal" in a climate of "harassment, fear and distress".

From clerk to full-time driver

The employee — anonymised in the court documents — has worked at the consulate since 2008. Until the arrival of the current consul, Fatiha El Kamouri, in September 2022, he was responsible for the cash desk, maintenance and updating the archives. Then everything changed: he was made the consul's personal driver, required, according to the claim, to be "fully available" around the clock. During the periods when he was not driving, he was not allowed to remain in the consulate with colleagues but was expected to wait in the car until needed. After he complained, he was moved to an office on an upper floor and effectively stripped of his duties — a post "empty of content".

55,000 euros refused — on principle

What stands out is how the man proceeded. The consulate had offered him 55,000 euros in severance to terminate his contract and end the proceedings. He turned it down. His aim was not the money but a judicial finding that he had suffered moral harm. A year and a half after refusing the settlement, he achieved exactly that. The court reduced the sum originally sought to 20,000 euros, because the claim had not quantified the specific damage — but considered the compensation appropriate given the long sick leave and the continued pressure after his return.

Not an isolated case

The case does not stand alone. Reporting by eldiario.es / Canarias Ahora, which has followed the conflict since 2023, paints a picture of a deeply soured workplace: of the six local employees working at the consulate when the consul took office, five were signed off sick with anxiety at various points. Back in December 2024, two further rulings had found the consulate in the wrong: in both cases, employees had been stripped of their functions. One member of staff with more than thirty years' experience was, according to the facts established by the court, placed at an "empty desk with no computer, an unplugged telephone and no office equipment whatsoever".

The crux: no immunity in employment law

Beyond the individual case, the matter touches on a fundamental principle. Consulates routinely invoke their diplomatic immunity in such proceedings. But Spanish case law is unambiguous here: in employment disputes with locally engaged staff, immunity does not apply. The consulate is then acting not as a sovereign state but as an ordinary employer — and is subject to Spanish labour law. Just how firmly this can be enforced was shown recently in a parallel case in Murcia: there, the courts had the Moroccan consulate's bank account seized to enforce a final judgment for sexual and workplace harassment, after the consulate had failed to pay for months.

Enforcement is an issue in Gran Canaria too: fourteen months after the rulings of late 2024, the consulate had, according to the employees, still not paid the sums awarded. The November 2025 ruling is also not yet final — it can be appealed to the Canary Islands High Court (TSJC). The consulate has so far not responded to media enquiries.