The Diplomat in Spain

Héctor Gómez./ Photo: YouTube

The Diplomat. 19/06/2017

One of the surprises of the new Federal Executive of the PSOE of Pedro Sánchez has been the election of the young Canary Islands MP Héctor Gómez to lead the Secretariat of International Relations, the socialist body for dialogue with the Embassies accredited in Madrid and where foreign visits or movements of the socialist leader abroad are prepared.

Gómez is 35 years old, he has been representative in the Parliament of the Canary Islands since 2015 and he aspires to lead PSOE in the archipelago within weeks, since there is a management committee there. So far, he had not had any experience in the areas of diplomacy or foreign policy. However, his Twitter account includes a pacifist message: “In the art of Peace there are no battles”.

He has a degree in Work Sciences, a diploma in Law and a university diploma in Tourism, where he has developed his career. He worked for the NHS Hospital of Surrey (England) and he then was councillor of Local Development and Youth (2003-2007) in the Town Council of Guía de Isora.

Afterwards, he assumed, until 2011, the area of Municipal Development of the aforementioned municipality, which included the councillorships of Tourism, Employment and Local Development. Since June 2015, he has been autonomous representative by the district of Tenerife and second secretary of the Presidency of the Parliament of the Canaries.

In the past, the Secretariat of International Relations fell on people inside PSOE with organic weight and international projection. In this sense, Gómez’s predecessors have been Elena Valenciano and the deceased Carme Chacón, hence the surprise with which Gómez’s election has been received, because other names were considered for this position such as Josep Borrell or the former deputy from Valencia Andrés Perelló, who will finally lead the area of Justice and New Rights.

In the area of International Relations coordinated by Gómez will be Iratxe García, in charge of EU Affairs, and Belén Fernández, in charge of Development Cooperation.