Luis Ayllón
Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares has decided to extend beyond 2022 the stay in Algeria of Spain’s current ambassador to Algeria, Fernando Morán Calvo-Sotelo, The Diplomat has learned from reliable sources.
Fernando Morán was appointed to head the embassy in Algiers in September 2018, so, in principle, he could be among the ambassadors who would be relieved of their duties in 2022, after four years in the post.
However, the minister’s intention is that Morán, who has extensive experience and good relations with the Algerian authorities, will remain in the post for some more time, given the importance that relations with this Maghreb country have taken on, among other reasons, due to the problems posed to the supply of gas to Spain from there, as a result of the break in relations between Algeria and Morocco.
This same circumstance, together with the current situation in Spanish-Moroccan relations, could mean that the current ambassador to Rabat, Ricardo Díez-Hochleitner, will also remain in his post, despite the fact that he has been in the post for six and a half years, an unusually long time at the head of an embassy. Barring circumstances arising from changes of government, ambassadors usually remain in their posts for three to four years, depending on the level of the mission.
For the moment, neither of the two posts has been put out to tender in the so-called ‘Embabombo’, recently announced by the Under-Secretariat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and which affects some thirty embassies, although the same has happened with other important diplomatic representations, such as Washington, the United Nations, NATO, Mexico and Lisbon, for which the minister is expected to reserve the direct appointment.
In the case of Germany, as The Diplomat reported, Albares has already informed its head, Ricardo Martínez, that he will remain in the post beyond 2022, in order to prepare for Spain’s EU Presidency in the second half of 2023, given the importance of a good relationship with the new German government, which is considered key to the smooth running of that presidency.
