Eduardo González
The outgoing Spanish Ambassador to Tunisia, Francisco Javier Puig, was received by the Tunisian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohamed Ali Nafti, on the occasion of the end of his mission in the North African country.
Mohamed Ali Nafti received Ambassador Francisco Javier Puig at the Ministry headquarters on Tuesday, December 16, “who paid him a farewell visit on the occasion of the end of his mission in our country,” according to a press release from the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“This meeting provided an opportunity to acknowledge the strength and long history of the friendly and cooperative relations between Tunisia and Spain, and to explore ways to further strengthen and develop them, particularly on the occasion of this year’s thirtieth anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighborliness in 1995,” the statement continued.
During the meeting, “the minister praised the ambassador’s dedication and the efforts he made during his mission in Tunisia to strengthen the bonds of friendship between Tunisia and Spain and develop the existing cooperation and partnership between the two countries in various fields.”
For his part, the Spanish ambassador expressed “his sincere thanks and deep gratitude to the Tunisian authorities for the support received, which allowed him to carry out his mission under optimal conditions and contribute to raising bilateral relations to new heights,” the press release concluded.
On December 2, the Council of Ministers appointed Francisco Javier Puig as Ambassador on Special Mission to Afghanistan. Puig has been Spain’s ambassador to Tunisia since November 2022, where he will be replaced by Isidro González Afonso.
Previously, between 2017 and his appointment to Tunisia, he held the position of Deputy Director General for the Maghreb at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has also served at the Spanish embassies in Tunisia as counselor (2003-2006), in Morocco as embassy secretary (2006-2010), and in Guatemala (2010-2012) and Vietnam (2014-2017) as deputy head of mission. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters, he was deputy director for the Maghreb between 2012 and 2014.
The new ambassador, Isidro González Afonso, has served at the Spanish Representation to the OSCE in Vienna, the Spanish Embassy in Cyprus, the Consulate General in Jerusalem, and the Embassy in Rabat. From 2019 to the end of 2021, he was deputy secretary general of the Union for the Mediterranean. Until now, he was Spain’s ambassador to Sudan, Eritrea, and South Sudan.