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.
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. Spain also had a Vice-Consulate in Damascus. 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.
Almost a century later, on 3 April 1948, Spain, under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, established diplomatic relations with the First Syrian Republic. In May 1949, Joaquín Castillo y Caballero, 6th Marquess of Castro de Torres, was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, resident in Beirut. In 1956, Ramón Sáenz de Heredia y de Manzanos, who had been minister to Siria since 1954, was granted the rank of ambassador, elevating the diplomatic relations to the highest level. 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 and, the following month, the embassy was closed indefinitely. In May 2012, diplomatic relations were definitely halted after Spain expelled the Syrian ambassador and four other diplomats. Following the collapse of the regime of Bashar al-Assad, Spain appointed a special envoy to Syria to support the chargé d'affaires and raised the Spanish flag at the Embassy after 12 years. In August 2026, the special envoy was formally appointed as ambassador.
List of ambassadors AmbassadorTermNominated byAppointed byAccredited toEnvoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary -Joaquín Castillo Caballero20 March 1953()Alberto Martín-ArtajoFrancisco FrancoHusni al-Za'im -Pelayo García-Olay Alvarez30 July 1954()Fawzi Selu -Ramón Sáenz de Heredia4 March 1956()Hashim al-AtassiAmbassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary1Ramón Sáenz de Heredia8 June 1956()Alberto Martín-ArtajFrancisco FrancoShukri al-Quwatli222 February 1958()36 April 1964()Fernando María CastiellaFrancisco FrancoNazim al-Qudsi4Juan José Rovira y Sánchez Herrero13 November 1969()Amin al-Hafiz521 August 1972()Gregorio López-BravoNureddin al-Atassi620 April 1976()Hafez al-Assad7José Joaquín Zavala y Alcíbar-Jáuregui8 June 1978()The Count of MotricoJuan Carlos I821 March 1983()The Marquess of Oreja9Felipe de la Morena y Calvet26 February 1987()Fernando Morán10Jesús Carlos Riosalido Gambotti1 August 1990()Francisco Fernández Ordóñez11Gil Armangué Ríus20 August 1993()12Manuel Gómez de Valenzuela15 January 1998()Javier Solana13Javier Navarro Izquierdo17 November 2001()Abel Matutes14Manuel Cacho Quesada14 May 2005()Josep PiquéBashar al-Assad1521 August 2010()Miguel Ángel Moratinos1621 December 2012()Chargé d'affaires, resident in Beirut. -Santiago Jiménez MartínSeptember August 2015() - -Juan Criado ClementeAugust August 2019() - -José Antonio Ruiz de CasasAugust 2021() - -Mariana de Jesús Figueroa SánchezAugust 2024() - -Francisco Javier Puga Llopis26 August 2026() -Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary17Antonio González-Zavala Peñapresent()José Manuel AlbaresFelipe VIAhmed al-Sharaa
See also Spain–Syria relations
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