The Diplomat
The Council of Ministers yesterday appointed Fidel Sendagorta as Spain’s new ambassador to Japan, replacing Jorge Toledo.
Sendagorta, whose appointment was announced months ago by The Diplomat, is a veteran diplomat who, until the end of September last year, held the post of Director General of Foreign and Security Policy, one of the key posts in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He entered the diplomatic career in 1984 and his first posting abroad was precisely the Embassy in Tokyo, where he stayed until 1988.
In addition, throughout his career he has been posted in Japan, Cuba and Morocco, as well as in the Permanent Representation to the European Union. Between 2010 and 2014 he was Spanish Ambassador to Egypt.
In the central services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs he has held various responsibilities, as advisor in the Cabinet of the Secretary of State for International Cooperation and Latin America from 1991 to 1993, deputy director general of the Cabinet of the Minister from 1993 to 1996, deputy director general of the Analysis and Forecasting Cabinet from 2002 to 2007 and ambassador on special mission for the Mediterranean from 2007 to 2008.
From 2008 to 2010, he was Director General for the Mediterranean, Maghreb and Middle East; and from June 2015 to July 2018, Director General for North America, Asia and the Pacific.
He was also secretary general of the Spain-US Council Foundation and in 2018-19, visiting fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. He has been a lecturer at the Diplomatic School in Madrid and a member of the Scientific Council of the Elcano Royal Institute.
