Luis Ayllón
The diplomat José Pascual Marco, currently Director General for Integration and Coordination of General Affairs of the European Union, will be the next ambassador in London, once the United Kingdom grants the approval requested by the Spanish authorities.
The name of José Pascual Marco was the one that was circulating in the corridors of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, especially since last Wednesday, the head of the department, José Manuel Albares, announced, after meeting in London with his British colleague, Dominic Raab, that the person chosen to take charge of the Embassy in London was an expert on Brexit.
Yesterday, the confirmation was published by El Confidencial, thus clearing up the existing uncertainty. This will put an end to a period of almost six months without Spain having an ambassador in the UK, after the previous incumbent, Carlos Bastarreche, voluntarily resigned from the post at the beginning of February and after having extended his stay for two months, at the request of the Government, despite having reached retirement age, 70 years old.
The lack of decision by the previous Foreign Affairs Minister, Arancha González Laya, when it came to choosing between the proposals made to her to fill a vacancy that was known to occur at the end of November, meant that Bastarreche’s stay was extended during the time that the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union was being consummated. His departure in February, however, left the Embassy in the hands of a Chargé d’Affaires -José María Fernández de Turiso– who, although he performed his task correctly, did not have the same diplomatic strength as an ambassador, in months when many Spaniards living in or wishing to travel to the UK were faced with a new situation due to Brexit.
Now, Albares, with the agreement of the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has decided to send a diplomat with extensive experience in European affairs and not a politician, as was once speculated. Marco has been at the forefront in recent years, since he arrived at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2017 under the newly appointed Foreign Minister with the PP, Alfonso Dastis, of matters relating to the Brexit negotiation and, specifically, the repercussions for the colony of Gibraltar in its relationship with Spain.
Both Josep Borrell and Arancha González Laya kept José Pascual Marco, who has been posted to Brussels on several occasions, in his post. Between 2010 and 2015 he was Spain’s deputy permanent representative to the EU, when Dastis, with whom he maintains a very good relationship, was at the head of the embassy in the EU capital. He has also been Spain’s ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo and ‘number two’ at the embassy in Washington, among other posts.
