The Diplomat
The former Spanish ambassador to London Carlos Bastarreche will work for the Asociación Española de Banca (AEB) and the Confederación Española de Cajas de Ahorro (CECA) as an external advisor on European affairs.
At the beginning of February, Bastarreche left the diplomatic representation in the United Kingdom, where he had been for four years, because he had reached retirement age. Since then, the post has been vacant.
In a note announcing Bastarreche’s appointment, the AEB and CECA point out that the Spanish banking sector is set to play a key role in channelling European aid. For this reason, following the presentation of the ‘Plan de Recuperación España Puede’, the two organisations have jointly decided to have Carlos Bastarreche represent them in order to promote the collaboration of the banking sector in this initiative, which they consider key to the modernisation of the Spanish productive fabric.
Carlos Bastarreche has extensive experience in European issues, as he was Spain’s permanent representative ambassador to the EU from 2002 to 2010, after having been Secretary General for Foreign Policy and for the European Union, and subsequently Secretary General for European Affairs. In addition, he was previously Director General for Community Legal and Institutional Coordination and Deputy Permanent Representative of Spain to the European Communities.
After leaving Brussels in 2010, he was appointed ambassador to France, a post he held until 2014. He then returned to Spain, where he worked as head of institutional relations for Airbus until his appointment as ambassador in London.
