List of ambassadors of Spain to Syria

The ambassador of Spain to Syria is the official representative of the Kingdom of Spain to the Syrian Arab Republic. The embassy is not operational and diplomatic and consular affairs are handled by a chargé d'affaires based in Beirut.

Ambassador of Spain to Syria
Coat of arms of Spain
Incumbent Francisco Javier Puga Llopis (chargé d'affaires a.i.) since August 2024
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretariat of State for Foreign Affairs
Style	The Most Excellent
Residence	Beirut (since 2012)
Nominator	The Foreign Minister
Appointer	The Monarch
Term length	At the government's pleasure
Inaugural holder	Ramón Sáenz de Heredia
Formation	1956
Website	Mission of Spain to Syria

Spain began to show interest in the Middle East —not counting Jerusalem— in the mid-19th century. Agreements with the Ottoman Empire allowed the establishment of consulates in several provinces of the empire, among them, the Consulate-General for Syria and Palestine, located in Beirut, with Antonio Bernal de O'Reilly as its first consul.^[1] Spain also had a Vice-Consulate in Damascus.^[2] Precisely, during this time the consul had to intervene due to the 1860 civil conflict in Mount Lebanon and Damascus; at this time, a Spanish convent in Damascus was looted and the religious were murdered, and Spain claimed a compensation.^[1]

Almost a century later, on 3 April 1948, Spain, under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, established diplomatic relations with the First Syrian Republic.^[3] In May 1949, Joaquín Castillo y Caballero, 6th Marquess of Castro de Torres, was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, resident in Beirut.^[4] In 1956, Ramón Sáenz de Heredia y de Manzanos, who had been minister to Siria since 1954,^[5] was granted the rank of ambassador, elevating the diplomatic relations to the highest level.^[6] Briefly, between 1958 and 1962, during the United Arab Republic, the embassy was merged with that in Cairo, and the diplomatic representation in Damascus was downgraded to Consulate-General.

As a result of the Syrian civil war, tensions began between the two governments. In February 2012, Spanish ambassador in Damascus was recalled^[7] and, the following month, the embassy was closed indefinitely.^[8] In May 2012, diplomatic relations were definetly halted after Spain expelled the Syrian ambassador and four other diplomats.^[9] Following the collapse of the regime of Bashar al-Assad, Spain appointed a special envoy to Syria to support the chargé d'affaires^[10] and raised the Spanish flag at the Embassy after 12 years.^[11]

List of ambassadors

Ambassador		Term	Nominated by	Appointed by	Accredited to
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
-	Joaquín Castillo Caballero[a] Marquess of Castro de Torres	1 May 1949[12] – 20 March 1953 (3 years, 323 days)	Alberto Martín-Artajo	Francisco Franco	Husni al-Za'im
-	Pelayo García-Olay Alvarez	30 March 1953[13] – 30 July 1954 (1 year, 122 days)			Fawzi Selu
-	Ramón Sáenz de Heredia	30 July 1954[5] – 4 March 1956 (1 year, 218 days)			Hashim al-Atassi
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
1	Ramón Sáenz de Heredia	4 March 1956[6] – 8 June 1956 (96 days)	Alberto Martín-Artaj	Francisco Franco	Shukri al-Quwatli
2	Juan José Pradera Ortega [es]	8 June 1956[14] – 22 February 1958 (1 year, 259 days)
Embassy in Damascus merged with the Embassy in Cairo. Diplomatic mission downgraded to Consulate-General.
3	Miguel María de Lojendio Irure [es]	16 March 1962[15] – 6 April 1964 (2 years, 21 days)	Fernando María Castiella	Francisco Franco	Nazim al-Qudsi
4	Juan José Rovira y Sánchez Herrero	17 April 1964[16] – 13 November 1969 (5 years, 210 days)			Amin al-Hafiz
5	Nuño Aguirre de Cárcer [es]	7 February 1970[17] – 21 August 1972 (2 years, 196 days)	Gregorio López-Bravo		Nureddin al-Atassi
6	Gabriel Mañueco de Lecea [es]	21 August 1972[18] – 20 April 1976 (3 years, 243 days)			Hafez al-Assad
7	José Joaquín Zavala y Alcíbar-Jáuregui	20 April 1976[19] – 8 June 1978 (2 years, 49 days)	The Count of Motrico	Juan Carlos I
8	Félix Guillermo Fernández-Shaw Baldasano [es]	28 August 1978[20] – 21 March 1983 (4 years, 205 days)	The Marquess of Oreja
9	Felipe de la Morena y Calvet	18 April 1983[21] – 26 February 1987 (3 years, 314 days)	Fernando Morán
10	Jesús Carlos Riosalido Gambotti	23 March 1987[22] – 1 August 1990 (3 years, 131 days)	Francisco Fernández Ordóñez
11	Gil Armangué Ríus	1 August 1990[23] – 20 August 1993 (3 years, 19 days)
12	Manuel Gómez de Valenzuela	31 August 1993[24] – 15 January 1998 (4 years, 137 days)	Javier Solana
13	Javier Navarro Izquierdo	15 January 1998[25] – 17 November 2001 (3 years, 306 days)	Abel Matutes
14	Manuel Cacho Quesada	8 December 2001[26] – 14 May 2005 (3 years, 157 days)	Josep Piqué		Bashar al-Assad
15	Juan Ramón Serrat [es]	25 June 2005[27] – 21 August 2010 (5 years, 57 days)	Miguel Ángel Moratinos
16	Julio Albi de la Cuesta [es]	21 August 2010[28] – 21 December 2012[b] (2 years, 122 days)
Chargé d'affaires, resident in Beirut.
-	Santiago Jiménez Martín	September 2012 – August 2015 (2 years, 334 days)	-
-	Juan Criado Clemente	August 2015 – August 2019 (4 years, 0 days)	-
-	José Antonio Ruiz de Casas	August 2019[29] – August 2021 (2 years, 0 days)	-
-	Mariana de Jesús Figueroa Sánchez	August 2021[30] – August 2024 (3 years, 0 days)	-
-	Francisco Javier Puga Llopis	August 2024[31] – 14 May 2005 (1 year, 103 days)	-

See also

• Spain–Syria relations

Notes

1. Resident in Beirut, Lebanon.
2. Recalled since February 2012.