Kristján Andri Stefánsson, Iceland's first ambassador to Spain

Eduardo González Kristján Andri Stefánsson will present his Letters of Credence to King Felipe VI this Friday, September 12th, at the Royal Palace in Madrid, making him Iceland's first ambassador to Spain in more than 75 years of diplomatic relations. Born on June 23, 1967, in Reykjavík, he previously served as ambassador to the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and San Marino, and as Head of the Icelandic Mission to the EU. Kristján Andri Stefánsson speaks four languages in addition to Icelandic: Danish, English, Spanish, and French. The new ambassador presented the formal copies of his Letters of Credence to the Director General of Protocol, Adrián Martín Couce, on August 26th at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His professional resume includes, among others, positions as Legal Advisor to the Prime Minister (1995-2004), Director of Economic Affairs and Foreign Trade and Legal Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (2004-2005), Ambassador to Belgium (2005), Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe (2016-2018), Ambassador to France, Andorra, Algeria, Italy, Lebanon, Monaco, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, and Tunisia, and Permanent Representative to the OECD and UNESCO (2016-2020). Spain and Iceland formally established diplomatic relations in November 1949, but until then, there had not been a female ambassador from Iceland in Madrid. Iceland's representation in Spain was carried out from the Embassy in Paris. In fact, as previously mentioned, Kristján Andri Stefánsson was previously a non-resident ambassador to Spain from the Embassy in France. On June 24, 2024, the Icelandic Parliament approved the opening of the Icelandic Embassy in Madrid in 2025. Likewise, in July 2024, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares met with his then-Icelandic counterpart, Thordis Kolbrun, during the NATO summit in Washington. According to her account on the social media platform X, he discussed the opening of the Icelandic Embassy in Madrid. On the same social media platform, the Icelandic minister stated that the opening of the Embassy would reflect the deepening of ties between the two countries, "based on our shared interests, values, and a long and unique history related to cod and wine, of course." On the Spanish side, the Spanish ambassador to Norway, Alejandra del Río, is represented in Iceland, although our country has had a "diplomatic antenna" deployed in Reykjavik since June 2019. Despite Iceland's new resident embassy in Madrid, the Spanish government has no intention, for the time being, of elevating the current "diplomatic antenna" to the status of an embassy, according to sources close to the matter told The Diplomat. Until now, Iceland was the only NATO member without an embassy in Spain. In a memorandum in 2024, the Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs had emphasized the need to have a resident embassy in Spain, "the fourth most populous country in the European Union and a heavyweight in all the work of the European Union," as well as a "key NATO member" that "has a strategic role to play due to its location in the Mediterranean and Africa" and its "historical relationship" with Latin America. It is estimated that around 3,500 Icelanders have permanent residence in Spain and that nearly 100,000 Icelandic tourists visit our country each year (25% of the Icelandic population). A significant group is represented by people who have passed middle age, who tend to extend their stay in Spain until winter. Currently, eight cities in Spain have direct flight connections to Iceland, making it the European country with the most flight connections to Iceland.

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