The Diplomat
The Council of Ministers yesterday appointed Marcos Gómez and Jorge Hevia as Spanish ambassadors to Russia and Saudi Arabia, respectively, as The Diplomat had advanced.
On the one hand, Marcos Gómez has been chosen by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, to head the Embassy in Moscow, after the Government decided to withdraw the request for that post made by the previous head of the Ministry, Arancha González Laya, for her former Chief of Staff, Camilo Villarino, currently under investigation in the case opened by a judge in Zaragoza in relation to the entry into Spain of the leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali.
Born in Artà (Illes Balears, 1965), graduated in Law from the Complutense University of Madrid, graduated in French Law from the University of Paris XI and sworn translator and interpreter of Russian and English, Gómez entered the Diplomatic Career in 1990 with the number one of his promotion.
He began his professional career in the Human Rights Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and, since then, has held positions in the Directorates General of Europe and Consular Affairs, as well as in the Cabinet of the Minister. He was also an advisor in the International Department of the Presidency of the Government and, between 2018 and 2020, he was Director General of the United Nations, International Organizations and Human Rights.
Abroad, he served in the Spanish embassies in Russia and Argentina and in the Mission to the United Nations in Geneva. He was also deputy consul in London and consul general in Canton (China), Spanish ambassador to New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and the Cook Islands (2007-2011) and, since 2020, ambassador to Colombia.
Jorge Hevia, the new ambassador to Saudi Arabia, was born in Colunga (Asturias, 1959). He holds a degree in Law from the Autonomous University of Madrid and a degree and doctorate in Law from the University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, and entered the diplomatic career in 1986.
He has been Spanish Ambassador to El Salvador and Spanish Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington. He has also been posted to the Spanish Embassies in Santo Domingo, Holy See and Italy. He was diplomatic advisor to the Presidency of the Congress of Deputies, Director General of the Cabinet of the Minister of Defense, Director General of Institutional Relations in the Ministry of Defense, Deputy Director General of Mercosur Countries and Chile and Technical Advisor in the Cabinet of the Minister.
He was currently deputy political director in the General Directorate of Foreign and Security Policy, in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since November 2020, he has chaired the Spanish Association of Diplomats (ADE), which groups 70% of the members of the Spanish Diplomatic Career.
