The Diplomat
The diplomat José Joaquín Puig de la Bellacasa, who was secretary general of the King’s Household and ambassador to several countries, died yesterday of coronavirus, at the age of 89.
Born in Bilbao in 1931, Puig de la Bellacasa entered the Diplomatic Career in 1959, and had an extensive professional career, which led him in his early years to be counsellor in London, when Manuel Fraga was ambassador to the United Kingdom, and Fernando Morán, consul in the British capital.
In 1974 he became personal secretary to the then Prince Don Juan Carlos, at whose side he experienced his accession to the throne and the transition to democracy. Together with Don Juan Carlos he wrote the speech of his proclamation as King on 22 November 1975, underlining the basic idea of his reign, which was the re-establishment of democracy in Spain.
Due to disagreements with the then Secretary General of the King’s Household, Alfonso Armada, he left the Zarzuela Palace in 1976 and two years later was appointed Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs. He remained in that post until 1980, when he became Spain’s ambassador to the Holy See, a post in which he was responsible for preparing the first visit to Spain of a Pope, that of John Paul II, in 1982.
From 1983 to 1990 he was ambassador in London, where he organised the visits to Spain of the Prince and Princess of Wales and Margaret Thatcher, and hosted the visit of the King and Queen of Spain to the United Kingdom.
In 1990 he returned to the Zarzuela Palace as Secretary General of the King’s Household, although he remained in the post for only a short time.
In 1991 he was appointed Ambassador to Portugal, where he remained until 1995. He was also a member of the Council of State between 1997 and 2005.
