The Diplomat
Rafael Garranzo is the new Spanish ambassador to Chile, following the agreement adopted on Tuesday by the Council of Ministers.
The Embassy in Santiago de Chile had been vacant since 30 July, when the then ambassador, Enrique Ojeda, was appointed director of Casa América, in what was one of the first decisions of the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, to put an end to the situation experienced by this institution, without a director since the end of 2020.
Garranzo was relieved of his post as director general of Foreign Policy for Ibero-America by Albares himself, when he formed his new team. He had been appointed to the post in September 2018 by the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell.
The new ambassador to Chile holds a degree in Political Science and Sociology and entered the diplomatic career in 1985. He was already posted to Chile in 1998, as cultural counsellor, and has spent most of his work in matters related to the American continent.
He was Ambassador to Nicaragua and was stationed in Guatemala. He has also been director of cooperation with Latin America and the Caribbean at the AECID, has been posted in Washington and has been deputy director general for North America.
The embassy in Chile was one of the embassies without an embassy post, following the appointments made by Albares. In the same situation is the recently vacant embassy in Colombia, following the appointment of Ambassador Marcos Gómez to take charge of the embassy in Moscow. In the corridors of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Diplomat was able to ascertain that the most popular name for Bogotá is that of Joaquín Arístegui, former director general of Global Spain and former director general of Sports.
The diplomatic representation in Switzerland has also been without an ambassador since Victorio Redondo was appointed ambassador in Paris. In recent days, the former under-secretary for Foreign Affairs, Celsa Nuño, has been strongly tipped to fill the post.
Also still without an ambassador are the embassies in Albania, whose head, Marcos Alonso, was appointed Spain’s permanent representative to the EU; and Sudan, which was occupied by Alberto Ucelay, now Director General for the Maghreb, the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
