January, 16th, 2018

DEAR BROTHER

Next March, 10th, 2018 all Installed Masters of the Grand Lodge of Spain are summoned to elect the
next Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Spain for the period 2018 - 2022. As a Candidate for Grand
Master, I would like to ask you for your support in order to give continuity to the project that we
started eight years ago and to secure the three great pillars upon which we are together building the
future of the Spanish Freemasonry.

FIRST PILLAR: TO PRESERVE THE SPIRIT OF INITIATION

The first and most basic of these pillars, the main aim of my work as a Grand Master has always been
the internal harmony of the Grand Lodge of Spain. Freemasonry is above all a Spiritual repository which
will only endure and be properly transmitted if we are able to preserve harmony above the stress which
appears in every human group.

Many of you will remember that my first action as a Grand Master was to strengthen our relationship
with other Masonic bodies, which is the natural way of masonic development for Master Masons in the
different rites practised in the Grand Lodge of Spain. The restoration of the broken relationships with
the Supreme Council of the 33rd and Last Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite for Spain,
cornerstone of the history of Spanish Freemasonry, was particularly relevant.

The settlement of our accounts has been another of my main objectives. When I became the Grand
Master, Spanish Freemasonry was a heavily indebted association. That was a situation which
endangered our financial viability in the long term. Today, not only we do not have outstanding debts,
but we have also increased our Building Fund, which now amounts to almost 340.000 euro. We are a
financially healthy Grand Lodge, freer than ever to focus on the Spirit of Initiation; to foster the
acquisition of new Temples, appropriate and representative of the Order; to do and speak without
bonds or servitude; to shine as the moral lighthouse that we are, and to undertake new challenges.

The future stability of the Grand Lodge of Spain is the best guarantee of peaceful and fraternal work.
Therefore, I have also fostered the opening for the participation in our governing bodies, the
modernization of our administrative structure, the separation of powers in the Grand Lodge of Spain
and the limitation of the power conferred to the Grand Master.

We have democratised our internal life, removing the authority of the Grand Conclave to propose
candidates for Grand Master, Grand Orator and Grand Treasurer, so that now any Installed Master in full
rights of membership of the Grand Lodge of Spain can put himself forward for those Offices without
any obstacle or limitation. We have laid the foundations of a Supreme Court of Masonic Justice that is
really independent, where all its members must be elected by the Brethren. We are just half way. My
intention, in order to advance in this new frame of government, is to promote the modification of the
Constitution in order to restrict the term of office of elective Offices: Grand Master, Grand Orator and
Grand Treasurer.

The main aim of all these changes is that the Initiation character of our Institution always prevails over
its administrative elements. Therefore, I have special determination to strengthen our Lodges, as it is in
them where the actual sovereignty of our Order lies, as well as the capacity to transmit Light to new
members. I have always encouraged the Brethren who asked me to raise the Columns of a Lodge
wherever we were not present, willing to see the day when there is at least one Lodge in every
provincial capital of Spain. On the other hand, I have discouraged the granting of Warrants to those
who have not been able to gather at least 15 Master Masons, in order to not to contribute to fatal
statistics, as one out of every three Lodges founded in our four decades of recent history have lowered
columns. As above, so below. Splitting a Lodge in two unfeasible Lodges is not the Masonic way of
meeting harmony again.

Under my Grand Mastership not only we have founded new Lodges but, even more important, far less
Lodges have lowered columns. Each and every of us, in our degree and condition, have become
responsible for the future of Spanish Freemasonry and the results are: in this period the membership of
the Grand Lodge of Spain has risen by 24%. It is undeniable that the growing size of Lodges is a virtuous
circle which enriches their Spiritual life and encourages new Initiations, as the growth of our institution
has concentrated in those Lodges with more than 30 Brethren. So, I intend to reduce to a minimum of
50% the capitations of those Lodges that reach a certain size, so fostering this model of Lodges who act
as an activator of our growing in numbers. One of the main Spiritual treasures of the Grand Lodge of
Spain is its open character as regards the practice of different masonic rites by the Lodges. International
Masonic regularity does not practice just one, but many rites, and certainly there are not many countries
where a Brother can know and enjoy, by means of fraternal visits to other Lodges, this diversity in the
Masonic working. In order to preserve this asset, we are taking important steps to that every rite can
be practised in all its purity. After the normalization of the rituals of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish
Rite and the Emulation Rite, it is our intention to publish the rituals of the other rites practised in
Spanish Freemasonry.

Likewise, to promote Masonic training is crucial for the future of our institution. The Grand Lodge of
Spain cannot replace the individual Lodges, who are the principal actor in this task, but it can
accompany them by means of seminars on rituals, the creation of a School of Offices where the
Brethren can learn the peculiarities of the different offices in the Lodge, or fostering continuous virtual
training for Master Masons, Fellowcrafts and Entered Apprentices.

SECOND PILLAR: STRENGTHENING OF FRATERNAL RELATIONS.

The second pillar upon which our project lays is the strengthening of fraternal relations with regular
Grand Lodges worldwide. In the last years we have significantly increased our acknowledgements, and
as of today the Grand Lodge of Spain acknowledges and is acknowledged by 186 Grand Lodges and
Orients worldwide, so guaranteeing a fraternal welcome to any Master Mason of Spanish Freemasonry
in every country where Regular Freemasonry is present.

The Grand Lodge of Spain actually presides the Inter-American Masonic Confederation, which gathers
Grand Lodges and Orients with more than 320.000 Freemasons under their jurisdictions. Also, the Grand
Lodge of Spain is one of the 16 members of the Permanent Committee of the World Conference of
Regular Grand Lodges. Throughout these last years we have become an actor in international forums
where the future of the Order is debated, and we have propelled the expansion of Freemasonry,
particularly in countries of Eastern Europe where it was not present. In the same way that Turkish
Freemasons still remember the fundamental role that the Grand Orient of Spain played in the
foundation of their Grand Lodge at the beginning of the 20th century, the Brethren of many countries in
our environment will remember in the years to come the role that the Grand Lodge of Spain is playing in
the transmission of the Masonic Light and traditions.

In quantitative terms, Spanish Freemasonry hardly represents 3.000 out of the several millions of
Freemasons spread all over the world, but in qualitative terms it is a Freemasonry respected worldwide
because of the unique hardness of its history, its rebirth as a phoenix and its wholehearted support to
the birth of new Grand Lodges wherever Freemasonry was persecuted in the past. In the crossroads
that Freemasonry faces in the 21st century, we must remember what we stand for; that this Light which
has not stopped shining for a moment is sometimes reviled for the deeply democratic principles and
values that it represents.

THIRD PILLAR: DIALOGUE WITH THE SPANISH SOCIETY

The Third Pillar of our project consists of the normalization of our relationship with society. In the 21st
century all institutions, be it public or private, must carry out an effort to be transparent and to explain
what they are, what do they do and what value do they add to society. Freemasonry is successfully
facing the challenge of opening permanent dialogue with society, preserving the privacy, peacefulness
and silence which reigns in our spiritual life.

This dialogue process is even more necessary and urgent in those countries like ours, where
Freemasonry was persecuted and stigmatised by political totalitarianism or religious fundamentalism,
which distorted with black legends our aims of fraternal equality, tolerance among human beings and
promotion of freethinking.

The Grand Lodge of Spain must be a forum of debate about the problems of Spanish society. Our
temples must be open to any cultural or social activity useful for us and our fellow creatures. Therefore
we have open our Lodges in open houses, when they are visited by thousands of people, or as dialogue
places with personalities from the world of culture, politics or economics. We have also institutionalised
the celebration of Masonic conferences in Universities and towns all over Spain, and also, we have
driven a campaign about the honourableness of our tricentennial aims, which is being adopted by
town-halls, councils and autonomous parliaments.

As of today, we have achieved what was unthinkable just a few years ago. The study of Freemasonry is
already an academic reality, which can be validated with ECTS credits in different Spanish Universities.
We must set new goals, aspire to a situation such as in Brazil, where there is a Masonic University which
promotes the study of our deeply democratic values.

We Freemasons should not be mere spectators of what happens in our society. It is our duty to go
outside and spread our Masonic principles. Projects such as the Masonic Barometer allow for
projecting the opinion of Freemasons of the Grand Lodge of Spain about the problems of our country,
and El Oriente shows every week the reality of Spanish Freemasonry, our results and concerns, to more
than 12.000 people of the scope of culture, journalism, business or government; and for the first time
we have a constant presence in the social networks.

This presence in society is made patently clear with solidarity projects more and more visible and open
to the participation of Lodges, as our cooperation with DEBRA Spain (Epidermolisis), Aldeas Infantiles
(Homes for Children) or the Summer Camp. In this sense, the APP of the Grand Lodge of the Spain,
called FRATER, will imply an important drive in the possibilities of each and every of us to know and to
sort out the most urgent necessities of the Brethren.

In reality, neither the internal harmony of the Grand Lodge of Spain, which has transformed us to one of
the few Grand Lodges in the world in permanent growth, nor the international projection of Spanish
Freemasonry, nor the growing and healthy dialogue with Spanish society are my merit. To manage
means to let do the team created throughout these years, which has become thrilled with this vision of
future where, what matters, it is to pass over to the following generation of masons an institution able
to project into the world our tercentenary light. I therefore ask you for your vote. For that light never to
stop shining.

Most Worshipful Bro. Óscar de Alfonso Ortega

Candidate for Grand Master
 PROPOSALS FOR THE FUTURE

1.- Opening to the society. The Grand Lodge of Spain must deepen in its role as a forum of debate about
the problems of Spanish society by means of conferences, round tables and debates with personalities
from the world of culture, politics or economics. Our temples must be open to any cultural or social
activity useful for us and our fellow creatures.
2.- Active participation. We must pass over to the society reflections derived from our Masonic
principles. We cannot be mere spectators of what happens. Our obligation, such as happened in the
past, is to set out the social problems to social agents. We must go outside and spread our Masonic
principles.
3.- Solidarity. Start-up of the Project “Creo en ti” (I believe in you) so that Masonic solidarity advances in
the active collaboration with the government as well as private firms in order to change the reality of
particular persons.
4.- Training in Masonic Offices. To create a School of Offices where the Brethren can learn the
peculiarities of the different offices in the Lodge according to the different rites. It will also be held
Seminars for Worshipful Masters, Wardens, Secretaries, Treasurers and Directors of Ceremonies.
5.- Ritual training. Publication of the Official Rituals of the Grand Lodge of Spain of all practised rites
and languages, so that they are practised in all their purity. With this aim it will be organised Training
Meetings of all rites, so that the Brethren can acquire a deep knowledge of the same.
6.- Virtual training. Start-up of the project The Masonic Key, so that Master Masons, Fellowcrafts and
Entered Apprentices have a continuous virtual training in every degree throughout the masonic life.
7.- Participation of the Brethren. To organize a Yearly Masonic Congress open to the participation of all
the Brethren regardless of their degree or antiquity in the Order, to consider the state of the institution
and to present ideas for is improvement. This is a great opportunity to let the Masonic people express
freely about subjects that concern us all.
8.- Modification of the Constitutions. To limit the Term of Office for the elective Offices of Grand
Master, Grand Orator and Grand Treasurer; to carry out a legal unification with the Gran Oriente
Español; to increase the participation of Master Masons in Provincial Grand Lodges; to remove the
authority of the Grand Conclave to propose candidates and to grant the right to vote in the Grand
Assembly only to the Installed Masters who have performed during at least one year as Worshipful
Master in a Lodge under jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Spain.
9.- Divulgation. Creation of a Spanish Masonic University with a regulated programme of study which
can serve as education for Masons and non-masons. We must be a source of inspiration in public
education, so that the next generations of citizens have the possibility and the education tools,
essentially Masonic, to create a better world.
10.- Increase in the number of Brethren. To promote the increase in the number of Brethren in the
Lodges by subsidising at least by 50% the capitations in bigger Lodges. It is also necessary to create a
Research Commission, under the auspices of the Grand Conclave, in order to analyse the causes of the
resignation of Brethren and to propose a plan of action in this regard.
 MASONIC CURRICULUM VITAE

CRAFT MASONRY

Lodge
Entered, Passed and Raised in Germanies Lodge no. 8, in Valencia.
Worshipful Master of Germanies Lodge no. 8.
Affiliated to Genesis Lodge no. 64, in Castellón, for four years.
Affiliated to De Moulham Lodge no. 1146, in Swanage, Dorset (United Grand Lodge of England).
Member of Marina Alta Installed Masters' Lodge no. 144, in Javea.

Province
Elected Member of the Committee of Masonic Justice of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Valencia.
Elected Member of the Committee of Membership and Development of the Provincial Grand Lodge of
Valencia.
Provincial Senior Grand Deacon of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Valencia.
Assistant Grand Master of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Valencia.
Grand Master of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Valencia.

Grand Lodge
Elected Representative of the Province of Valencia before the Grand Conclave (2001/02 and 2006/10).
Chairman of the Constitutional Committee of the Grand Lodge of Spain (2003).
Member of the Grand Advisory Council of the Grand Lodge of Spain (2000/03 and 2006/10).
Assistant Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Spain.
Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Spain.

Inter-American Masonic Confederation

President of the Inter-American Masonic Confederation (2015 - 2018).
World Conference of Regular Grand Lodges
Member of the Committee of General Purposes of the World Conference.

Representative before Grand Lodges in Amity

Representative of the Grand Lodge of Spain before the Grand Lodge of Scotland.
Representative of the Grand Lodge of Spain before the Grand Orient of Brazil.

Honorary Appointments
Honorary Member of twenty-two Lodges in the Grand Lodge of Spain.
Medal of Masonic Service with White Distinction of the Grand Lodge of Spain.
Cross of the Masonic Order of the Founder with Red Distinction of the Grand Lodge of Spain.
Honorary Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of Scotland.
Honorary Member of the Grande Loge Nationale de France.
Honorary Member of the Grand Orient of Brazil.
Medal of Honour of the Symbolic Grand Lodge of Paraguay.
Medal of Honour of the Grand Lodge of Gabon.
Medal of Honour of the United Grand Lodge of Bulgaria.
Medal of Honour of the Grand Lodge of the Valley of Mexico.
Maximum decoration of the Grand Lodge of Norway.
Maximum decoration of the Grand Lodge of Denmark.
Maximum decoration of the United Grand Lodges of Germany.
Maximum decoration of the Grand Lodge Cosmos in Mexico.
Maximum decoration of the Masonic Confederation of Central America.
Maximum decoration of the Confederation of Regular Grand Lodges of the United Mexican States.
Honorary Grand Master of the National Grand Lodge of Romania.
Honorary Grand Master of the Legal Grand Lodge of Portugal.
Honorary Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the State of Mato Grosso.
Honorary Grand Master of the Masonic Grand Lodge of the State of Goias in Brazil.
Honorary Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Brasilia D.F.
 OTHER MASONIC BODIES

Supreme Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Spain

First Grand Principal of the Supreme Grand Chapter of Spain.

Supreme Council of the 33rd and Last Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Spain
Kadosh Knight (30th Degree).

Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons

Past Junior Grand Warden of the Order in England.

Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Royal Ark Mariners

Grand Rank of Royal Ark Mariners.

Grand Council of the Allied Masonic Degrees

Past Grand Senior Deacon of the Order in England.

Order of the Secret Monitor

Past Grand Officer of the Order in England.

The Worshipful Society of Free Masons, Rough Masons, Wallers, Slaters, Paviors, Plaisterers and
Bricklayers (The Operatives)
Deputy Master Mason of Torres de Serrano Assembly (District of Iberia).

Commemorative Order of Saint Thomas of Acon

Worthy Master of Humanitas Chapel no. 34, in Torrevieja (Alicante).
Grand Steward of the Order in England.

Grand Priory of the United Religious and Military Orders of the Temple, and of St. John of Jerusalem,
Palestine, Rhodes and Malta
Grand Master of the Grand Priory of Spain.

Grand Priory of the Rectified Scottish Rite of Spain

Knight Beneficent of the Holy City.

Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests and Order of Holy Wisdom
Knight Templar Priest in St. Magdalene Tabernacle no. 19 (England).
Founder Member of Camino Real Tabernacle no. 229 in Barcelona.
Founder Member of San Jaime Tabernacle no. 251 in Torrevieja.
Adonhiramite Rite
Honorary Member of the Excellent Council of the Adonhiramite Rite in Brazil.

Royal Order of Scotland

Member of the Royal Order of Scotland, with siege in Edinburg.

Order of Athelstan
Provincial Grand Master of Spain.