Luis Ayllón
The diplomat Miguel Utray will be Spain’s new ambassador to the Philippines, once the authorities there grant the plácet requested by the Spanish government, The Diplomat has learned from reliable sources.
Utray, who is currently in charge of International Relations at the Cervantes Institute, will replace Jorge Moragas, the former director of Mariano Rajoy’s Cabinet in the Presidency of the Government, who will be the next ambassador to Tanzania, as reported by The Diplomat.
The granting of Utray’s visa could be delayed for some time, as the Philippines is currently in the process of changing its president after Ferdinand Marcos won the last elections. He is scheduled to take office on the 30th.
Miguel Utray entered the diplomatic service in 1990 and since then has been posted to various countries, such as Honduras and Turkey, as well as Australia, where he was consul general in Melbourne, and the United Kingdom, as consul general in Edinburgh. His last posting abroad was to Mexico, where he was cultural and scientific counsellor at the Spanish Embassy between 2017 and 2020.
Between 2009 and 2012, he was head of Protocol in the Presidency of the Government, under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. He has also worked at the Diplomatic Information Office and at the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policy (FIIAPP).
For his part, José Luis Pardo has been chosen by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, to head the Embassy in Malaysia, replacing José Manuel Corvinos.
José Luis Pardo is currently Ambassador-at-Large for Migration Affairs, after having been Ambassador to Niger between 2014 and 2017. A diplomat since 1993, he has also been deputy head of the Spanish embassies in Libya and Jordan, and counsellor at the embassy in Germany, as well as deputy director general for Foreign and Commercial Relations of the European Union.
