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.
"According to well-recognized principles, both of public and private law, these agents of foreign governments having been recognized as such by the agent of the several Confederate States prior to the revocation of the powers delegated to that agent, remained so recognized after the revocation, It was and is undoubtedly within the power of this Government, as it is within the power of all governments, to decline permitting the above-mentioned agents to remain within our limits, but for obvious reasons the exercise of such a power has been deemed unwise and impolitic. The one agent who is excepted from these remarks is Ernst Raven esq., who was appointed consul for the State of Texas by his highness the Duke of SaxeCoburg and Gotha, and wire applied to this Government for an exequatur on the 30th of July, 1861."It is proper to add that a short time ago it came accidentally to the knowledge of the Department that a certain Baron de Saint Andre had assumed the functions of consul or consular agent for the French Government at the port of Charleston since the establishment of the Confederate Government and without applying for an exequatur to this Department. But just at a time this information was received intelligence was also received that Baron Saint Andre had left Charleston with his family for the United States with the probable intention of returning in the autumn. In the event of such return, proper action will be promptly taken by the Department to repress the offensive assumption of consular functions by a foreign agent without the sanction of this Government.