The Diplomat
In addition to taking the reins of Spanish foreign policy, José Manuel Albares will have to face, as of Monday, the renewal of a large part of the Foreign Ministry’s management team. Yesterday, the State Secretary for Global Spain, Manuel Muñiz, who arrived at the Ministry under Arancha González Laya, sent a letter to the outgoing minister, handing in his resignation.
The State Secretary for Global Spain, headed by Muñiz, who is closely linked to González Laya, and whose main task has been to implement the Foreign Action Strategy, was the most likely to undergo a change in the head of the ministry, but it may not be the only one.
What is certain is that Albares will have to choose several directors general in order to fill the vacancies that will arise as a result of the appointment of their current incumbents to take charge of an embassy or consulate.
Thus, the most immediate may be the appointment of his director of Cabinet, because Camilo Villarino, who has held the post without interruption since June 2017 when the minister was Alfonso Dastis, is waiting for Russia to give him the placet to be appointed ambassador to Moscow. In any case, all ministers’ cabinet directors leave when this one does.
He will also soon have to appoint someone to take charge of the Directorate General of Protocol.
The current Ambassador Introducer, Caridad Batalla, is due to take up her post as Consul General in New York on 1 August. Until now, the names that had been most frequently mentioned for this post were those of Ramiro Fernández Bachiller, currently the Ministry’s inspector general, and Teresa Orjales, ambassador to Estonia.
Also awaiting their respective approvals to become ambassadors are the director general for North America, Eastern Europe, Asia and the Pacific, Ana Salomon, who will be posted to Israel; the director general for Africa, Raimundo Robredo, who will go to Thailand; and the directors of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID) for Africa and Asia, Cristina Díaz -who will be ambassador to Kenya- and for Latin America and the Caribbean, Carmen Castiella -who will be ambassador to Paraguay.
There are also several sub-directorates general that will become vacant, also because their holders will be appointed ambassadors.
Another unresolved issue, which the previous minister, Arancha González Laya, did not manage to resolve, is the question of who will be in charge of the directorates of various Casas of the Casas Network. Casa América, for example, has been without a director since the end of last year, due to the lack of agreement with the Community of Madrid and the Madrid City Council over the candidate from the Foreign Office, Borja Cabezón. At Casa Mediterráneo, Héctor Salvador has been acting director for a year. In addition, the director of Casa Árabe, Pedro Martínez-Avial, has just been appointed ambassador to Iraq, leaving the post vacant, for which the name of the former ambassador to Baghdad, Juan José Escobar, is being bandied about.
Finally, in addition to the five embassies, for which González Laya did not choose anyone, there is now the one in Paris, which was occupied by Albares himself. For both France and the United Kingdom, where Spain has not had an ambassador for more than five months, Albares will have to discuss the matter with the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, as these are two important points for Spanish foreign policy. The people who will take charge of the embassies in Greece, Jordan, Lebanon and Gabon have yet to be chosen.
