Spain was left completely without an ambassador in London after Brexit due to a lack of foresight

Spain is still without an ambassador to the United Kingdom until a new date. The diplomat who held the position so far, Carlos Bastaric, He had reached the maximum age for practicing the job at the end of November, when he was 70. Initially, and in the absence of an alternative, the State Department and Bastarreche agreed to extend their stay by a few more months to navigate the troubled waters of the Brexit Agreement, but on Monday the diplomat put an end to his work at the embassy, ​​El Confidencial learned. Until the government appoints Pedro Sanchez as his successor, he will remain at the head of the commission Jose Maria Fernandez Lopez de TorresoThe current Minister Counselor at Headquarters in London.

The diplomatic sources that I consulted talk about “Improvisation” by the Sanchez government When choosing a replacement. They pointed out that “everyone inside the ministry knows when Bastaric’s birthday was and when it was Britain’s exit from the European Union.” In addition, the pandemic made it difficult for some ministry appointments led by Arancha Gonzalez Laya, as the various restrictions meant that some diplomats were barely able to exercise their office.

The London Embassy was left without its most visible boss just one month after the UK-EU divorce, an unknown territory that required Continuous diplomatic contacts To deal with the bilateral problems that arise between London and Madrid. Among diplomats, they consider the appointment being considered by the government to be political enough to await Brexit.

Potential successors

Now the tour is open to one of the most greedy positions the government has ever distributed. Rallies within the Foreign Office indicate that the chosen woman could be a woman, thus becoming the first in the history of the London embassy. Among the various names it appears Irene LozanoPresident of the Supreme Council for Sports; Ziana MendesMinister of State for Trade; Angelis MorenoMinister of State for International Cooperation or Consuelo Femina, Spain’s ambassador to Malta.

Inside the embassy, ​​several employees welcomed Bastrich’s departure, which, according to sources consulted, had created a climate of tension among workers. One of the most surprising aspects of the ambassador’s stay in London is that, at the age of 67, I had to teach English lessons According to sources close to it, it is “low level.”

Carlos Bastaric Thus he ends his career as a diplomat, after he held important positions for Spain abroad. Between 2002 and 2010 he was Permanent Representative to the European Union, and later Ambassador to Paris (2010-2014), until he arrived in London in 2017 after a short stay in a private company as Director of Corporate Relations for Airbus in Spain.