Antonio González-Zavala, new ambassador in the Special Mission for the Sahel

Eduardo González Yesterday, the Council of Ministers appointed Antonio González-Zavala to the position of ambassador in the Special Mission for the Sahel. He replaces Antonio Sánchez-Benedito, recently appointed ambassador of Spain to Iran. Born in Gijón in 1965, graduated in Law from the Complutense University of Madrid and member of the Diplomatic Service since 2002, González-Zavala held the position of ambassador of Spain in Guinea-Bissau since September 2021. In the central services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, his career has been linked to Development Cooperation policies. He was a member of the Governing Council of the European Agency for the Reconstruction of the Balkans, within the framework of the Spanish Agency for Development Cooperation (AECID), head of the Support Unit in the Directorate of Cooperation with Africa and Asia and director of the Department of Cooperation with the Arab World and Asia. Abroad, he served as second chief in the Spanish embassies in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Senegal and was political advisor in Mexico. He was also consul general of Spain in Lagos and in Quito, and consul (in commission) in Algiers and Jerusalem. He has been decorated with the NATO Medal for services in Afghanistan, Cross of Military Merit with white insignia, commendation of the order of Civil Merit and Officer's Cross and Commendation of the Order of Isabel la Católica. The Sahel is one of the main concerns of the Pedro Sánchez Government in terms of foreign and security policy. A recent report from the Department of National Security (DSN) of the Presidency of the Government warned that the situation in the Sahel, where coups d'état are taking place and terrorist groups are proliferating, poses a “real threat” to our country and, In fact, Spain has insisted before NATO on the need to reinforce the Southern Flank, especially the Sahel. Spain chaired the General Assembly of the Sahel Alliance between June 2020 and July 2023, when it passed the baton to Germany. On the other hand, the Council of Ministers appointed Manuel Hernández Gamallo to the position of ambassador of Spain in Kuwait, replacing Miguel José Moro. Since August 2023, he held the second position at the Embassy in Saudi Arabia. Graduated in Law from the University of Navarra in 1987 and member of the Diplomatic Service since 1994, he has been stationed in the Spanish Embassies in Algeria, Czech Republic, Brussels-NATO, Ukraine, Lithuania, Russia and Denmark. At the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs he has been deputy director general of Migration Affairs (2015-2020), deputy deputy director general of General Affairs at the Secretary of State for the European Union, technical advisor of Foreign Relations Preferred Countries, head of area at the General Directorate of Security, Disarmament and International Terrorism Affairs and head of the Immigration Affairs service in the General Directorate of Consular Affairs. Finally, Marta Betanzos has been appointed ambassador of Spain in Mongolia with residence in Beijing.

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