Ambassador Appointments and the Embabombo Process: Spain’s Diplomatic Moves Explained

No significant cabinet activity has occurred since the new session began, with Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares appointing new ambassadors in quick succession. Since November 22, about two and a half months ago, he has designated 27 mission heads, most of them to postings abroad. A list at the end of the article provides the names. Diplomats fear that these choices come primarily from the minister’s circle and worry that many future postings may not come without competition, a process referred to informally as embabombo.

Diplomats interviewed, including ambassadors, consuls, and deputy directors, are not even sure the traditional call for candidates will be issued this year. If it happens, it is expected to be limited and with fewer options than in the past.

“We are told it will go ahead, but the minister is pruning the lineup by already having more embassies filled by now. People expected a large embabombo during the electoral pause, yet it is likely to be smaller,” said one diplomat.

“There is dissatisfaction and uncertainty, and many want to leave the ministry, but as of now the list of embassies to fill has not appeared. With the many appointments already made, many will remain in place. They also see younger appointees being chosen and worry that there will be nothing left for those who are not part of the minister’s inner circle,” argued another official.

Another observer noted that there are few postings available and that Albares is generating unease by sending young ambassadors he knows from Moncloa, but added a caveat: many are seeking foreign postings because they were delayed due to Spain’s presidency of the Council of the European Union or due to the electoral cycle. This explains the first batch of eleven appointments from the initial November council, which followed the previous embabombo announced in late 2022.

“Everyone is asking why the embabombo is taking so long,” added a fourth career diplomat, who nevertheless considers the current pace of Albares’ nominations normal. “The fear is that this year none will be issued, or that posts at lower ranks will be used to fill gaps, with at least one high-profile post to gloss over the rest.”

Embassies are classified into three tiers: A (including Washington, London, and Paris), B (Rabat or Tel Aviv), and C (Quito or Tehran).

The anticipated embabombo

The government can designate any adult Spaniard as ambassador at its discretion. In reality, most of the current 130 ambassadors come from roughly a thousand career diplomats who passed the civil service exam. The minister selects many of them, and Albares has approved several controversial selections recently, such as the former Socialist minister Héctor Gómez for the United Nations in New York or Miquel Iceta for UNESCO. The Diplomatic Association has protested these political appointments, as it typically does.

For those not chosen by the minister for proximity or trust, the mission head competition, or embabombo, provides an alternative. Among the candidates submitted, the diplomatic corps board presents a trio to the minister from which he picks the most suitable. If a posting is finally filled, this year’s embabombo is expected to be highly competitive. Its outcome is likely to align with the timing of the lower-tier competition, the bombo, which covers second-in-command embassies, consuls general, consuls, secretaries, or advisers. Some diplomats with sufficient seniority may pursue both tracks: a mission head in embabombo and a senior post in bombo.

In the draft bombo for this year, not yet published in the official state gazette but accessed by this newspaper, there are nearly 120 posts available in missions ranging from Paris, Amsterdam, or New York to Abuja or Dakar. Seven of these posts are reserved for ambassadors or ministers, all in A-type embassies; the rest are opened to lower-ranking ranks such as counsellor or secretary.

List of ambassadors designated by Albares

From November 28 to February 16:

1. Bangladesh to Gabriel María Sistiaga Ochoa de Chincheturu.
2. Botswana to Alberto Pablo de la Calle García.
3. Democratic Republic of Congo to Maria del Carmen Díez Orejas.
4. Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to Guillermo Antoniolópez Mac-Lellan.
5. Guinea to Angel Antonio Carrascal Gutierrez.
6. Guinea Ecuatorial to Francisco Javier Conde y Martínez de Irujo.
7. Mali to Antonio Guillén Hidalgo.
8. Mozambique to Teresa Orjales Vidal.
9. Niger to Gloria Mínguez Ropiñón.
10. Serbia to Juan Jose Sanz Aparicio.
11. Vietnam to Carmen Cano de Lasala.
12. Special Mission Ambassador for Digital Transformation and Hybrid Threats to Jose Miguel Corvinos Lafuente.
13. Permanent Delegate to UNESCO to Miquel Iceta i Llorens.
14. Permanent Mission of Spain to the United Nations in New York to Hector Jose Gomez Hernandez.
15. Kingdom of Lesotho to Raimundo Robredo Rubio.
16. Central African Republic to Ignacio Rafael Garcia Lumbreras.
17. Republic of Malawi to Natividad Isabel Peña Bonilla.
18. Republic of Zambia to Natividad Isabel Peña Bonilla.
19. United States to Angeles Moreno Bau.
20. People’s Republic of China to Marta Betanzos Roig.
21. Ambassador on Special Mission for the Sahel and Africa Plan to Antonio Sánchez-Benedito Gaspar.
22. Kingdom of Morocco to Enrique Ojeda Vila.
23. Republic of Ecuador to Enrique Erik Yturriga Saldanha.
24. Republic of Haiti to Marco Antonio Peñín Toledo.
25. Federal Republic of Germany to Pascual Ignacio Navarro Ríos.
26. Republic of Djibouti to Guillermo Antonio López Mac-Lellan.
27. Portuguese Republic to Juan Fernandez Trigo.

Note: the embassies and names above reflect the latest disclosures available to this publication as of the stated dates.