What are the most complex foreign policy issues for Spanish diplomacy to address? How have devilish dossiers such as those of Gibraltar or Western Sahara, or entry into the European Union or NATO, been negotiated throughout history? How do Spanish ambassadors in the world really work?
Sunday of Silos Manso García (Zaragoza, 1944) knows some of the answers, because he has asked many questions. He presents them in his new book, “Ambassadors of Spain. The Homeland speaks through us”: 23 interviews with some of the most important ambassadors of Spain from the dictatorship to the Transition and current democracy.
Among others, he has spoken with diplomats Marcelino Oreja Aguirre (who became Minister of Foreign Affairs 1976-1980); Antonio Garrigues Díaz-Cañabate (Minister of Justice 1975-1976); Alberto Aza and Rafael Spottorno (heads of the King’s Household 2002–2011 and 2011-2014, respectively); Jorge Dezcallar, director of the CNI (2001–2004); Ramón de Miguel y Egea, Secretary of State for European Affairs (1996-2002); o Inocencio Arias, representative of Spain to the UN (1997-2004).
Diplomatic retired, Manso García was ambassador in Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe. He is also a prolific writer: novels (“La onza de oro”, twice awarded), narrative (“Of the good, true and beautiful. Tales of today”) and essays (“Diplomacy of yesterday and today. Spain in the world 1939-2022”).
Manso García speaks with EL PERIÓDICO at the headquarters of Prensa Ibérica in Madrid, a media group where he worked for seven years.
In your book there are diplomats born in the forties, fifties. They served in the dictatorship, in the first years of democracy and already with democratic presidents like González or Aznar. What is the main difference between how diplomacy was done 40 or 50 years ago and how it is done now?
Now there are means of communication that did not exist then. Ministers travel more, companies travel more. The diplomat no longer has to deliver the news, which before without him did not arrive; Now you must know the country you are in, and it is not easy at all. See who rules in the place of destination, who influences those who rule, who conditions the country. And, with that information, advise your Government so that it does not screw up. From that point of view, they remain irreplaceable.
Let’s give some examples. It is half a century since the Green March in which Morocco conquered Western Sahara, then administered by Spain as its 53rd province. One of the ambassadors he interviews, Amaro González de Mesa, was the ambassador to Morocco at the time. He acknowledges that the Alawite kingdom “caught us by surprise,” among other things because the Ministry in Madrid ignored a letter that he sent warning of the preparation movements that were being carried out. Another career diplomat, Jorge Dezcallar, remembers that the ambassador was not notified that Spain was going to withdraw its troops from Kosovo. Don’t ministers generally listen to their ambassadors?
Ministers should listen to their ambassadors. They are the ones who know the situation well. Even when they say things they don’t like too much. I remember an ambassador who was removed from his position because he reported something that the minister did not like. That is why some, after sending information to the head of diplomacy, write a final sentence: “however, VE [Vuestra Excelencia] will resolve.”
The life of the ambassador sometimes becomes hectic. In his book he tells the story of Antonio Poch, ambassador in Lisbon in 1975, in the midst of the “Carnation Revolution” towards democracy in Portugal. On September 27 of that year, a mob entered and burned the Spanish Embassy in protest against some executions signed by the dictator Franco. He was criticized because he left the building. Why did he tell you he did it?
He behaved like a great ambassador in the sense that if he stayed, and was wounded or killed, what would Spain do? Fortunately he left.
There was information that the tanks in Badajoz had been put on alert…
The Portuguese reacted very well and realized their mistake [al no proteger el edificio]. They paid everything we asked for in compensation, without arguing. Two years later, King Juan Carlos I inaugurated the new embassy with the presence of the president of the new Republic of Portugal.
Another of the diplomats you interview, Inocencio Arias, says that Spain’s influence in the world has seen better times. Do you agree?
We have clearly had a much closer time with the United States. The Americans first granted King Juan Carlos I the opportunity to address the House of Representatives and the Senate in 1976. The second person to do so was José María Aznar [en 2004]. The relationship was very close. Then José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero came to power and withdrew troops from Iraq. As told in the book, what made the United States uncomfortable was not so much the withdrawal, but how it was done. Now the president of the United States is calling Spain’s attention [por no comprometerse a gastar el 5% del PIB en defensa como otros socios de la OTAN]which is very worrying.
Perhaps this loss of influence is also due to the lack of budget in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has not yet recovered from the cuts caused by the crisis. There is talk that two and a half million Spaniards abroad will be reached. There is no capacity to serve them in the consulates. I was consul general in Bombay, the economic capital of India. We have a consulate there, in addition to the diplomatic representation in New Delhi. I had a consular district of 600 million people. It’s almost laughable to say it.
It seems that current times are not very prone to diplomacy.
Just when times are tough there is more need for a person who has contacts in place, who can help you when you have a problem. I’ll give you an example. I studied at the French National School of Administration (ENA). A classmate became president of the country. Another to become prime minister… We had a problem in the Ministry that was not resolved. It so happened that a person I knew from ENA had a lot of contact with the French Foreign Minister. The matter was resolved within 24 hours.
October 31, 2025.- The retired diplomat and ambassador, Domingo de Silos Manso García, during an interview with Prensa Ibérica in Madrid for his new book Ambassadors of Spain. The country speaks through us / Xavier Amado
After these 23 interviews, in which all the key issues of Spain’s foreign policy are reviewed, which would you say is the most fundamental and the most complicated for Spanish diplomacy?
It’s a difficult question. The United States is fundamental, that is clear. It is the great power, although not as much as before. It has bases in Spain. There are 60 million Spanish speakers there. France is our neighbor to the north, with 700 kilometers of border. It is essential to get along with France. Portugal is not of the same importance, but we have made a lot of progress. And of course there is Morocco. Now he is more and more a friend of the United States, and Spain is less and less. They are more and more friends of Israel, we are less and less. The American ships going to Israel are not going to stop in Algeciras through the new TangerMed port.
And the matter of Gibraltarwith the negotiations and almost agreement to demolish the Fence? If we don’t know what is being negotiated. They don’t tell it. What has been created around Gibraltar is a refuge for companies that do not want to pay taxes and for smuggling. They reside in Gibraltar but go to live and play golf on the Costa del Sol. How much money is it costing Spain?
Who has been the best Foreign Minister for you and why? They are very different times. I studied Fernando María Castiella well [ministro de Exteriores de 1957 a 1969]. In 1962 he sent a letter to the European Economic Community (EEC) saying that we wanted to enter. The Preferential Trade Agreement is signed, eight years later! They were very different times. Gregorio López-Bravo replaced him, but he was there for a short time. [1969-1973]. Marcelino Oreja [1976-1980] He left his life in the Ministry, entered with the dictatorship and left democracy, with an enormous change that Spain made in those three or four years, which now it seems that we have forgotten. With José Pedro Pérez-Llorca [1980-1982] Spain enters NATO. One of my interviewees speaks very highly of Minister Francisco Fernández Ordóñez [1985-1992]. Another of the diplomats in the book, Juan Antonio Yáñez, spent nine years in Felipe González’s international cabinet: we finally entered Europe, the NATO referendum, the recognition of Israel…
Is the diplomatic career mostly right-wing?
A diplomat, if he is a good diplomat, acts as such, neither on the right nor on the left. The other is a politician dressed as a diplomat. You have a mission; your ideology is another matter.
