[rustbucket]

I ran across the following in The Weekly Mississippian of September 25, 1865. They had reprinted it from the Charleston Mercury.

Our readers will be pleased to see, that the Captain-General of Cuba, acting on the authority of the Queen of Spain, has declared that "all vessels, occupied in legitimate commerce, proceeding from the Southern Confederate States of America, shall be entered and cleared under the Confederate States flag, and shall be duly protected by the authorities of the Island; and further, that foreign Consuls be notified that no interference on their part can be tolerated." It will also be gratifying to learn that the Spanish Consul at Charleston, Senor Moncada, will, in a day or two, will clear a vessel from this port as from the Confederate States.

This is practical recognition of the independence of the Confederate States. The course of Spain is strictly in accordance with usage, which is to recognize al de facto governments. She is acting towards us by the laws of plain common sense and international law, free from the unfriendly bias and misjudging ignorance which induce other nations standing in awe of Yankee menace, and in deference to insolent braggadocia, to ignore our existence.

While consuls don't have the full diplomatic immunity of ambassadors, they are diplomatic representatives of their repective governments. The US Constitution, for example, requires that consuls from the US be nominated by the President and approved with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Confederate Constitution has similar words. I don't know whether the Spanish consul was simply a holdover from before the war or someone officially recognized by the Confederate President or government. Consular duties are usually described by treaty between the respective governments.

[rustbucket]

Wrong year. 1861 was when that was published.

[Non-Sequitur]

I don't know whether the Spanish consul was simply a holdover from before the war or someone officially recognized by the Confederate President or government.

Hard to say based on this account. It could be a holdover, it could be that the paper exaggerated the position. A lot wold depend on when in 1861 the article appeared in the Charleston paper.

Consular duties are usually described by treaty between the respective governments.

This could indicate that the gentleman in question was a holdover since there were no treaties signed between Spain and the confederate government.

The Confederate Constitution has similar words.

The confederate constitution contains a lot of words, not all of which were followed.