The Diplomat
Eleven Spanish diplomats have been waiting for several months for a new government to be formed so that they can be appointed ambassadors in as many countries.
Most of them already have the approval of the countries to which they would be posted, which had been requested by the government before the general elections were called on 23 July.
That call put the brakes on some of the appointments, and now none of them can be carried out either, due to the fact that the Executive is in office. In other words, they have to wait until Alberto Núñez Feijóo, in the first instance, or Pedro Sánchez, later, can form a new Cabinet.
Given that the investiture of the PP leader seems rather unlikely, it would be necessary to wait for Sánchez to succeed, something that could happen in November. If, on the other hand, a new general election were to be called, the delay in appointments would be extended by several more months, unless there were an agreement between the two major parties to proceed with the appointments.
So far, as The Diplomat reported months ago, the forecast is that Juan José Sanz will be the new ambassador to Serbia; Carmen Cano, to Vietnam; Gabriel Sistiaga, to Bangladesh; Álvaro Albacete, to Libya; Guillermo López Mac-Lellan, to Ethiopia; Teresa Orjales, in Mozambique; Javier Conde y Martínez de Irujo, in Equatorial Guinea; Carmen Díaz Orejas, in the Democratic Republic of Congo; Ángel Carrascal, in Guinea Conakry; Antonio Guillén, in Mali; and Gloria Mínguez, in Niger.
In the case of the embassy in Niger, there is the added problem that after the 26 July coup d’état, Spain does not recognise the military junta in power, making it difficult for the new ambassador to be accredited. Meanwhile, pending clarification of the situation in the country, the current ambassador,
