Luis Ayllón
Spain’s ambassadors to Russia, Fernando Valderrama, and to Iran, Luis Felipe Fernández de la Peña, remain in their posts, despite the fact that last week they turned 70, the maximum retirement age for diplomats, as civil servants of the state that they are.
The continuation of diplomats in their posts is not a legal anomaly, because they are appointments approved by the Council of Ministers and can continue until their resignation is published in the Official State Gazette. However, it is usual for diplomats at the head of an embassy to be dismissed when they reach retirement age, unless there is an express decision to continue in the post for some time.
This was the case at the end of last November with the then ambassador to London, Carlos Bastarreche, who, at the request of the Spanish government, remained in his post as Brexit began. However, Bastarreche voluntarily asked to leave his post in early February.
In the cases of the ambassadors in Tehran and Moscow – two experienced diplomats in two important destinations in international politics at the moment – there has, as far as The Diplomat has learned, been no communication to those concerned that their stay is being extended for any specific period of time, but neither has the Council of Ministers so far agreed to their dismissal.
In any case, the government has not yet asked either Iran or Russia for permission for their possible replacements, which means that if the ambassadors were to be removed, the “number twos”, as Chargés d’Affaires, would have to remain at the head of the diplomatic representations.
In other words, these two embassies would be added to the situation that three other embassies have already been in: India, for the past seven months; the United Kingdom, for almost four months; and Bosnia-Herzegovina, for another two months.
The government has not yet appointed an ambassador for any of them, even though it has known for some time that their incumbents were reaching retirement age, something that is causing considerable perplexity and, in some cases, unease, if not discomfort, among diplomats.
Diplomatic circles are unreservedly blaming the delay in making a decision on the part of Foreign Affairs Minister Arancha González Laya. There are no external reasons for this, only rumours that González Laya wants to examine in detail the candidates that have been presented to her and that the minister is trying to fit the pieces together so that as many women as possible can be appointed to cover these embassies, a number that could be between 15 and 20, in order to fulfil the objectives of the so-called ‘feminist foreign policy’.
At the end of November last year, the Ministry announced what is known in diplomatic jargon as ’embabombo’, a competition to replace 32 ambassadors, a call to which some 140 diplomats aspired to one of the posts. Before the Christmas holidays, González Laya had already had on his desk the shortlists presented by the team of senior officials in his department in charge of making a selection of the proposals based on the merits and seniority of the applicants.
However, González Laya has not taken any decision and has not responded to the indications made by his team and the diplomatic associations, reminding him that both those who are chosen and those who are not, need to know the decision in good time, as transfers have family implications (finding schools for children, etc.) and logistical ones, especially in these times of pandemic when travel is more complicated.
In fact, several of the outgoing ambassadors have suffered the consequences of the blockade, as they have not been able to apply for a new posting in the general competition for posts abroad, because a Ministry rule prevents them from applying until the approval of their successor in the embassy has been requested.
There are no signs at the moment that the minister is going to unblock the matter immediately, because she is now much more concerned about the diplomatic crisis with Morocco or the pressure from trade unions to vaccinate staff abroad, in addition to the fact that she has accompanied the King to the inauguration of the new president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso.
The truth is that, even if González Laya were to adopt a resolution in the next few days, the government would not be able to proceed with the appointment of new ambassadors for at least one or two months, which is the time it usually takes for recipient countries to grant their approval.
Beyond domestic issues, the delay in appointing ambassadors does not help Spain’s image abroad in countries where the representations have been vacant for so many months. Among other things, it can give the impression to those countries that they are not considered important to Spain.
The most relevant case is the United Kingdom, where Spain has been without an ambassador since February, at a time when the new British relationship with Spain and the rest of Europe is being adapted after Brexit. Although it has a Chargé d’Affaires, the level of interlocution with the country’s authorities is never the same as that of an ambassador, and some believe that this has affected, for example, the fact that London still has Spain on its amber list due to the pandemic. This obliges those who travel to our country to be quarantined on their return to the UK, which is a clear brake on the arrival of British tourists to Spain and, consequently, a clear blow to the Spanish tourism sector.
The post of ambassador to London is one of the most coveted among diplomats, and the prime minister usually intervenes in the choice of ambassador, but some sources say that González Laya has already discarded four of the five proposed candidates.
The case of India, without an ambassador since the end of October, is also striking, despite the fact that it is a large country in which many Spanish companies have important interests. There is no objective reason to justify the delay in appointing a new ambassador. India’s serious COVID crisis has consequently caught Spain without an ambassador.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s embassy has also been vacant for two months, with nothing to justify it.
The situation could be repeated in two other important destinations in the international arena and in relations with Spain for different reasons, Iran and Russia, unless the government expressly decides to extend the mandate of the current ambassadors for a period of time until it chooses the people who will replace them.
