Luis Ayllón
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, has decided to appoint the diplomat Alfonso Lucini as Spain’s new consul general in Jerusalem, a post that is considered an unofficial “ambassador” to the Palestinian Authority, The Diplomat has learned from reliable sources.
The post had been vacant since González Laya dismissed the previous incumbent, Ignacio García Valdecasas, on 10 May, citing “loss of confidence”.
The dismissal was decided after an internal investigation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cleared accusations of mistreatment made against García-Valdecasas by some of his subordinates in the consulate, accusations that the consul has consistently denied. In addition, García Valdecasas has been subjected to disciplinary proceedings, which have yet to be resolved.
At the time, when there was great tension between Israelis and Palestinians, the Consulate was headed by deputy consuls Sofía Ruiz del Árbol and Paloma Serra. In order to fill the post, a ‘bombito’, i.e. a specific competition to fill the post, was called, to which numerous candidates applied. The post, in any case, is one of the so-called “asterisk” posts, so the decision is taken directly by the minister, without considering the opinion of the Board of the Diplomatic Career.
Alfonso Lucini is a veteran diplomat who knows the area well. In fact, he was currently Ambassador-at-Large for Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Affairs, a post to which he was appointed in October 2018. In addition, he was ‘number two’ at the Spanish Embassy in Damascus and, between 1996 and 1998, he was assistant to the then EU Special Envoy for the Middle East, Miguel Ángel Moratinos.
He has also been ambassador to Italy and Greece, as well as Spain’s permanent representative to the EU’s Political and Security Committee (PSC), after having been director general for Foreign Policy, Europe and Security.
