Elizabeth Keegan receives British Empire Medal in Lloret de Mar

The presentation took place in Lloret de Mar on Friday 18 September, when British Consul General Lloyd Milen presented Elizabeth Keegan with the distinction awarded to her by His Majesty King Charles III in the 2025 New Year Honours.

The award recognises Elizabeth Keegan’s services to British nationals in Girona, a citation that reflects a role which has extended well beyond her responsibilities in tourism. For many years, she has acted as an important link between British citizens in the area, local authorities and the British Consulate, particularly when residents or visitors have found themselves dealing with difficult or unfamiliar circumstances.

The UK Government’s official New Year Honours list describes Elizabeth Keegan as “Director, Lloret Tourist Board, Spain” and confirms that she received the BEM “for services to British Nationals in Girona, Spain”.

A decade of support for the British community

Elizabeth Keegan has been at the helm of Lloret Turisme since November 2015. Lloret Turisme’s current organisational information confirms her position as its general manager, while professional profiles describe her career as spanning destination management, marketing and communications.

Her connection with Lloret de Mar is particularly strong. Born in the town in 1983 to British parents, she grew up in Lloret and has spent her professional life working to develop the destination and its international profile. Local reporting has previously highlighted the unusual position she occupies as both a British citizen and a lifelong member of the Lloret community.

That dual connection has also proved valuable when dealing with issues affecting British citizens.

During the UK’s departure from the European Union, Keegan helped communicate information to British residents about changes affecting areas including healthcare, pensions and driving licences. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she also provided support to older and vulnerable members of the British community.

Her work has not been limited to routine information and advice. Local reporting has described her involvement in particularly difficult situations affecting British visitors and residents, including cases involving serious illness, death and other emergencies.

The recognition therefore comes from a long-standing relationship with the British community rather than simply from her position within the tourism industry.

Lloyd Milen presents the award to Elizabeth Keegan

Lloyd Milen, British Consul General in Barcelona, presented the medal to Keegan. Milen has held responsibility for the UK’s consular region covering Catalonia and other areas of north-eastern Spain for many years, and the British Consulate General confirms him as the current British Consul General in Barcelona.

Speaking about Keegan’s contribution, Milen said:

“Elizabeth Keegan has shown an extraordinary commitment to the British community in Catalonia over many years. Whether supporting vulnerable residents during the pandemic or helping British citizens understand the changes resulting from the UK’s departure from the European Union, she has generously given her time, energy and expertise. This award is a well-deserved recognition of a career defined by service to others.”

The relationship between Keegan and the British Consulate is not new. When her BEM was first announced in December 2024, Milen publicly welcomed the recognition, describing her care, compassion and hard work in Lloret de Mar and beyond as deserving of the award.

From Lloret to Buckingham Palace and back home

The BEM was announced in the UK’s New Year Honours 2025. Several months later, Keegan travelled to London to attend the Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace on 7 May 2025, an event attended by people recognised for their service and contribution to their communities.

At the time, Keegan spoke about the personal significance of the honour, explaining that helping British citizens through difficult and sometimes critical situations on the Costa Brava had been particularly meaningful because she had been able to do so both as a local and as a British citizen.

The formal presentation of the medal has now taken place in the town where Keegan was born, raised and has built her career.

For Keegan, the significance of the award appears to lie less in the decoration itself than in what it represents.

“Receiving this distinction is a tremendous honour and a recognition that I see through the lens of public service. Managing a tourist destination also means knowing how to respond in the most challenging circumstances, when people need support, guidance and empathy. There are times when administrative responsibilities take a back seat, and what truly matters is humanity.”

More than tourism

Keegan’s principal role remains the management and development of Lloret de Mar as a tourism destination. Under her leadership, Lloret Turisme has continued to work on international promotion while increasingly focusing on areas such as sustainability, diversification, digital transformation and the relationship between tourism and the local community.

Her work has also extended into the meetings and events sector through the Lloret Convention Bureau and into wider European tourism initiatives. She has been a member and treasurer of the European Route of Historic Gardens, a Council of Europe cultural route, since 2021.

In recent years, her role has increasingly reflected the broader responsibilities of modern destination management. In a 2025 article for the Fundació Jordi Comas, Keegan wrote about the evolution of tourism organisations from traditional destination marketing bodies towards organisations involved in wider questions including sustainability, mobility, economic development and territorial planning.

That broader approach helps explain why her work with British residents has sat alongside her tourism responsibilities for so long. In a destination such as Lloret de Mar, where visitors, foreign residents, local businesses and public authorities interact every day, tourism management inevitably sometimes involves much more than promoting beaches and hotels.

The BEM formally recognises that less visible side of the job: the time spent helping people when they are worried, vulnerable or simply unsure where to turn.

For Elizabeth Keegan, the medal now carries a particularly local significance. It was awarded by the British King for services to British nationals in Girona, presented by the British Consul General, and received in the Costa Brava town that has been her home throughout her life.