The Diplomat
The Council of Ministers yesterday appointed Juan José Escobar to the post of Ambassador-at-Large for the Expo Malaga 2027 Candiday.
The appointment coincided with the constitution of the National Commission for the candidacy of Malaga Expo 2027, which took place yesterday at the headquarters of the Ministry and was chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares. The Commission was created by the Council of Ministers on January 25.
Malaga’s candidacy was presented by the City Council with the support of the Andalusian Government and the Provincial Council. The vote for the venue of Expo 27, in which the 170 member states of the International Bureau of Exhibitions (Bureau International des Expositions, BIE), based in Paris, will participate, could be held in the last quarter of 2022.
The National Commission, directly attached to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, will be in charge of promoting the Malaga campaign, maintaining the necessary relations with the BIE, articulating the participation of all public administrations in the preparation of Expo Malaga 2027 and seeking the collaboration of the private sector, as well as other actors when deemed appropriate.
Juan José Escobar Stemmann, born in Malaga in 1961, has been a career diplomat since 1991. After serving as second-in-command of the Spanish Embassies in Bulgaria, Nicaragua and Jordan and serving as secretary of the Spanish Embassy in Morocco and consul of Spain in Buenos Aires, in 2011 he was appointed ambassador-at-large for Mediterranean Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Between 2013 and 2016 he was consul general of Spain in Jerusalem. In August 2016 he was appointed vice chairman of the U.S.-Spain Standing Military Committee at the Ministry of Defense and from April 2017 to July 2021 he was Spain’s ambassador to Iraq. Since September 2021 he held the post of vocal advisor in the Directorate General for Western, Central and Southeastern Europe. Escobar is a specialist in Arab and Islamic affairs and has published several collective books and numerous articles on Islamic activism, political reform in the Arab world and Euro-Mediterranean relations. In 2017 he was elected member of the Scientific Council of the Elcano Royal Institute.
