The Diplomat
The poet, translator, essayist and diplomat from Extremadura, Luis María Marina Bravo, has been appointed director of International Relations at the Instituto Cervantes, a position that has been vacant since September 2022 and that has required two calls to fill it.
Marina Bravo was appointed to the position by the director of the Instituto Cervantes, Luis García Montero, on July 11, according to what the Official State Gazette (BOE) published this past Thursday. Born in 1978 in Cáceres and with a Law degree from the University of Extremadura and a Diploma in Leadership for Public Management from the IESE Business School in Madrid, Luis María Marina entered the diplomatic career in 2002.
As a diplomat, he has held various positions in the Spanish Agency for Development Cooperation (AECID), the Presidency of the Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Likewise, he was Political Counselor at the Spanish Embassy in Mexico (2006-2010) and at the Spanish Embassy in Portugal (2010-2015). He has published numerous books, including the collections of poems Lo que los dioses aman (in México), Continuo Mudar, Materia de las nubes or Nueve poemas a Sofía, the essay De la epopeya a la melancolía. Estudios de poesía portuguesa del siglo XX or the book of chronicles Limo y luz. Estampas luminosas de la ciudad de México.
The position had been vacant since September 2022, when the then director of International Relations at Cervantes, Miguel Utray, left his position (which he had held since February of the same year) to assume the role of ambassador of Spain in the Philippines. On October 5, 2022, just one day after the last annual meeting of the Institute’s Board of Trustees – chaired by the King and Queen in the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, in Madrid -, the first resolution was published to convene the position. However, on February 14, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared this call void due to “the withdrawal of the candidacy of the only candidate who met the requirements.”
The position was reconvened six months later, on April 14. The selection process was carried out in accordance with the principles of competition and publicity and the position is covered under a labor regime, linked by a senior management contract and has a gross annual salary of 68,793.27 euros. To hold the position, it was necessary to have Spanish nationality and have seven years of work experience in public diplomacy.
