Luis Ayllón
The former general director for Africa Alicia Rico, who was dismissed from that position a couple of weeks ago, will be the new ambassador of Spain in Iraq, The Diplomat learned from reliable sources.
Iraq was one of the fifteen embassies that were part of the so-called “embabombo” diplomatic slang, and about which, at the beginning of March, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, announced that they would change ambassadors.
Several of these Embassies already have a new head, appointed by the Council of Ministers, such as those of Bolivia (Fernando García-Casas), Kazakhstan (Luis Martínez Montes) and Kuwait (Manuel Hernández Gamallo). In others, appointments will be made soon, such as that of Slovenia, which, as The Diplomat announced, will be occupied by Javier Herrera.
Albares is accelerating appointments to fill the majority of those embassies. Among them is Baghdad, currently occupied by Pedro Martínez Avial, and which will be headed by Alicia Rico Pérez del Pulgar, an experienced diplomat who has been general director for Africa for the last three years, and who previously was ambassador. in Ghana.
The sources consulted by The Diplomat indicated that Esther Monterrubio, current permanent representative of Spain to the United Nations Office and International Organizations in Vienna, is emerging as the new ambassador in Australia, where she will replace Alicia Moral.
The position left vacant by Monterrubio in Vienna can be filled by Elena Gómez de Castro, currently Permanent Representative of Spain to the Political and Security Committee of the European Union (COPS). In turn, Elena Gómez de Castro would be replaced by María Lledó, who is Secretary General for the European Union in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and who was directly involved in the preparation of the Spanish Presidency of the European Council in the second half of 2023.
The positions of permanent representative ambassadors were not included in the “embabombo” and it is not necessary to wait for the granting of a permit, so their coverage can occur in a short period of time.
Regarding other embassies that do appear in the group of those announced by Albares, there have been, for many weeks, many rumors, some of which have proven to be unfounded. This is what has happened, for example, with the Embassy in Norway.
However, it seems likely that Sonia Álvarez Cibanal, current head of the Department of Cooperation with Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean, will be appointed ambassador to El Salvador, replacing Carlos de la Morena.
