Eduardo González
The Council of Ministers yesterday approved the appointment of eleven new ambassadors who had already been granted the placet and who had been chosen before the elections of last July 23, as The Diplomat had advanced.
Specifically, the new ambassadors are Juan José Sanz, to Serbia; Carmen Cano, to Vietnam; Gabriel Sistiaga, to Bangladesh; Guillermo López Mac-Lellan, to Ethiopia; Teresa Orjales, to Mozambique; Javier Conde y Martínez de Irujo, to 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 addition, Alberto de la Calle, ambassador to Namibia since July 2022, will also be ambassador to Botswana (with residence in Windhoek).
Another diplomat -Álvaro Albacete– for whom Libya’s approval had also been requested before 23-J is not among those named yesterday, as he has been named director of the Cabinet of the new Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun.
The new ambassador to Serbia, Juan José Sanz, entered the Diplomatic Career in 1995. He has been posted in the Spanish embassies in Harare, Stockholm and Prague and in the consulates in Agadir (consul) and Frankfurt (consul general) and, since August 2020, he has performed the role of special delegate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Campo de Gibraltar, which is why he has closely followed the negotiations that are being carried out on the future of the colony after the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union.
Javier Conde y Martínez de Irujo, the new ambassador to Equatorial Guinea, entered the diplomatic career in 2002. Until now and since 2021, he was the deputy director general for Justice and Home Affairs at the Secretariat of State for the EU. Previously, he was counselor at the Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU between 2016 and 2021, as well as director general (2013-2016) and deputy (2012-2013) of the Cabinet of the Minister of the Interior. He was also posted to the Permanent Representation of Spain to the OECD (2006-2009) and to the Spanish embassies in Paraguay and Ecuador.
The new ambassador to Vietnam, Carmen Cano, entered the diplomatic career in 1992. Much of her career abroad has been spent in China, where she worked at the Spanish Embassy as political counselor from 2006 to 2010. In 2011 she was one of the first Spanish diplomats to become part of the European External Action Service, holding the post of Deputy Head of Delegation at the Delegation of the European Union in Beijing. In 2016 she was appointed head of the European Union Office in Hong Kong and Macao, with the rank of ambassador. In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs she has been head of area for disarmament and non-proliferation and, from 2020 to the present, deputy director general for South and East Asia. She has been decorated with the ribbon of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, the Order of Civil Merit and the French National Order of Merit.
Gabriel Sistiaga, new ambassador to Bangladesh, entered the diplomatic career in 2001. He has been posted in the Directorate General of Protocol, Chancellery and Orders of the Ministry (2001-2003) and in the King’s Household (2003-2015). Abroad, he was Second-in-Command at the Spanish Embassies in Algiers and Beirut and, since August 2020, he was Deputy Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe.
Carmen Díez Orejas, new ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo, entered the diplomatic career in 1991. Among other positions, she was consul general in Rabat, ambassador in Guatemala, Belize, Namibia and Botswana, president of the qualifying board for the selection process to the Diplomatic Career, consul general in Strasbourg and director of the Casa Asia Madrid Center. She has been decorated as Officer of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, with the Lady of the Order of Civil Merit and with the Order of the Quetzal of the Republic of Guatemala.
For his part, Guillermo López Mac-Lellan, new Ambassador to Ethiopia, has been assigned to the Spanish diplomatic representations in Senegal and to the United Nations and International Organizations based in Geneva. He was deputy director general for Sub-Saharan Africa between 2008 and 2010, in charge, among other aspects, of the elaboration of the II Africa Plan and the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council in 2010. He was also counselor in the representation of Spain to the European Union, Spanish Ambassador to Equatorial Guinea and, since December 2020, Ambassador-at-Large for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law.
Ángel Carrascal is the new Ambassador to Guinea-Conakry. He entered the Diplomatic Career in 2009 and in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has held, among others, the positions of director of the Cabinet of the Secretary of State for Foreign and Global Affairs and deputy director general of Strategic Communication, Public Diplomacy and Networks. Abroad, he has served in the Spanish Embassies in Senegal, Ireland and Japan.
The new ambassador to Mali, Antonio Guillén, entered the diplomatic career in 2008. In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs he held the posts of Deputy Assistant Director of Personnel and Deputy Director General of General Staff and abroad he served in the Spanish Embassies in Afghanistan, Lebanon and Thailand.
Teresa Orjales, the new ambassador to Mozambique, entered the diplomatic career in 1991. In 2011 she was appointed director of the Cabinet of the President of the Congress of Deputies and in 2017 she was appointed ambassador of Spain to Estonia. In 2021 she held the post of ambassador-at-large for Summits and Bilateral Forums. Since January 2022 she was deputy director general for EU countries in the Directorate General for Western, Central and Southeast Europe.
Likewise, the new ambassador to Niger, Gloria Mínguez, entered the diplomatic career in June 1995 and since 1996 has been posted to the Spanish embassies in Mauritania, Israel, Bolivia and Colombia. She is currently an advisory member of the General Directorate of Spanish in the World at the Secretariat of State for Ibero-America and the Caribbean and Spanish in the World.
Alberto de la Calle, current ambassador to Namibia and new ambassador by multiple accreditation to Botswana, entered the diplomatic career in 1998. He has served as Second-in-Command at the Spanish Embassies in Kenya (where he was also Deputy Permanent Representative to UNEP and UN-Habitat), United Arab Emirates and Ecuador. He has also been political advisor and liaison for the Spanish Presidency of the EU in 2010 in the Office of the EU Special Representative in Kosovo, and counselor at the Permanent Mission of Spain to the UN in New York. He has also held various positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
