Knighthood for ambassador, MBE for Minorca Vice Consul

The outgoing British ambassador to Spain Peter Torry was knighted in the New Year Honour's list and there was also an MBE for Deborah Hellyer, the hard-working British Vice Consul in Minorca. Sir Peter Torry, writing in the Bulletin's Christmas supplement spoke of his sadness at leaving the post of British Ambassador and his affection for the country and its people. It has since been announced that he will be moving to Germany as the new British ambassador, one of the top diplomatic overseas postings. During the more than four years as ambassador to Spain Sir Peter was involved in a number of high profile cases including talks over the future of Gibraltar, the breaking-down and subsequent repair of the nuclear submarine, Tireless at the Rock, the recruitment of Spanish nurses and doctors for the NHS and the summit meetings between Tony Blair and Jose Maria Aznar. The ambassador visited Majorca last year coinciding with the visit of the Royal Navy aircraft carrier Ark Royal. Sir Peter's successor has still not been announced. Deborah Hellyer was appointed Honarary British Vice Consul to Minorca in the early 1990s. She is not a career diplomat and is also a local businesswoman. She helped organise the highly successful events to mark 200 years of Spanish rule in Minorca last year. Britain sent a contingent of troops to the event who paraded through the streets of Mahon and Es Castell. Minorca also receives in excess of one million British tourists a year and her office is always busy especially during the summer months. There were two other awards for Foreign Office staff in Spain, one for the Honorary Vice Consul in Alicante and another for a member of staff at the British Embassy.