List of ambassadors of Spain to Afghanistan

Ambassador of Spain to Afghanistan
Coat of arms of Spain
Incumbent Luis Francisco Martínez Montes since 11 June 2024
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretariat of State for Foreign Affairs
Style	The Most Excellent
Residence	Doha, Qatar (since 2021)
Nominator	The Foreign Minister
Appointer	The Monarch
Term length	At the government's pleasure
Inaugural holder	Juan Manuel Aristegui y Vidaurre
Formation	1968
Website	Mission of Spain to Afghanistan

The ambassador of Spain to Afghanistan is the official representative of the Kingdom of Spain to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan and Spain established diplomatic relations in 1950. That same year, Spain appointed Juan Manuel Aristegui y Vidaurre as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. ^[1] After the appointment in 1958 of Emilio García Gómez, ambassador to Iraq, the non-resident embassy followed him in his other assigments —Lebanon and Turkey—, serving as envoy and ambasador to Afghanistan for almost 12 years. In 1968, the Diplomatic Representation was elevated to the rank of Embassy. ^[2] From 1974 to 1979, the ambassador to Turkey was dually accredited to Afghanistan.

Both countries broke off diplomatic relations after the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. They were reestablished in 2002, with the appointment of Antonio Segura Morís as ambassador, resident in Islamabad. ^[3] Between 2004 and 2006, two other ambassadors served in the area, one for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) ^[4] and another as ambassador-at-large for the Reconstruction and Political Stability of Afghanistan. ^[5]

In December 2015, the Spanish embassy was the target of a Taliban terrorist attack that left nine people dead, including four Afghan and two Spanish police officers. ^[6]

During the 2021 Taliban offensive, ambassador Gabriel Ferrán Carrión  [ es ], son of former diplomat Gabriel Ferrán de Alfaro, stayed in the Afghan capital despite having been dismissed ten days before the fall of the Afghan government; he decided to stay until the evacuation was completed and no Spaniards remained in the country. ^[7] For his actions, he was later rewarded with the Cross of the Order of Police Merit, with White Decoration. ^[8] Following the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in 2021, the Foreign Ministry closed the Embassy of Spain in Kabul and transferred operations to Doha, Qatar (ambassador's residence), and Islamabad, Pakistan (visas and consular affairs). ^[9]

List of envoys and ambassadors

Ambassador		Term	Nominated by	Appointed by	Accredited to
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
-	Juan Manuel Aristegui y Vidaurre	21 May 1950 [1] – 10 January 1953 (2 years, 234 days)	Alberto Martín-Artajo	Francisco Franco	Mohammad Zahir Shah
-	Pedro E. Schwartz y Díaz-Flores [a]	23 January 1953 [10] – 1 November 1956 (3 years, 283 days)
-	José Ricardo Gómez-Acebo y Vázquez [a]	20 January 1957 [11] – 25 June 1958 (1 year, 156 days)
-	Emilio García Gómez [b] Count of Alixares	25 June 1958 [12] – 13 January 1968 (9 years, 202 days)	Fernando María Castiella
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
1	Emilio García Gómez [b] Count of Alixares	13 January 1968 [2] – 17 November 1969 (1 year, 308 days)	Fernando María Castiella	Francisco Franco	Mohammad Zahir Shah
2	Luis García de Llera y Rodríguez  [ es ] [c]	4 April 1970 [13] – 24 March 1973 (2 years, 354 days)	Gregorio López-Bravo
3	Carmelo Matesanz Rojo [d]	4 April 1974 [14] – 25 October 1975 (1 year, 204 days)	Pedro Cortina Mauri		Mohammad Daoud Khan
4	Aurelio Valls Carreras [d]	25 October 1975 [15] – 28 December 1979 (4 years, 64 days)	León Herrera Esteban (acting)
No diplomatic relations with the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan nor the Islamic State of Afghanistan
5	Antonio Segura Morís [e]	27 July 2002 [3] – 1 February 2005 (2 years, 189 days)	Ana Palacio	Juan Carlos I	Hamid Karzai
-	Ángel Losada Fernández  [ es ] [f]	27 August 2004 [4] – 17 December 2005 (1 year, 108 days)	Miguel Ángel Moratinos		-
	José Luis Solano Gadea [g]	26 August 2005 [5] – 29 July 2006 (337 days)
6	José Turpín  [ es ]	4 March 2006 [16] – 9 October 2010 (4 years, 219 days)			Hamid Karzai
7	Juan José Rubio de Urquía  [ es ]	6 November 2010 [17] – 30 May 2015 (4 years, 205 days)	Trinidad Jiménez
8	Emilio Pérez de Ágreda Sáez	11 July 2015 [18] – 15 September 2018 (4 years, 219 days)	José Manuel García-Margallo	Felipe VI	Ashraf Ghani
9	Gabriel Ferrán Carrión  [ es ]	2 October 2018 [19] – 4 August 2021 (2 years, 306 days)	Josep Borrell
10	Ricardo Losa Giménez  [ es ] [h]	4 August 2021 [20] – present (4 years, 77 days)	José Manuel Albares		-

See also

• Afghanistan–Spain relations

Notes

1. Resident in Baghdad.
2. Resident in Baghdad unil 1960 and in Beirut from 1960 to 1962 and in Ankara between 1962 and 1969.
3. Resident in Ankara.
4. Resident in Tehran.
5. Resident in Islamabad.
6. Ambassador to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
7. Ambassador-at-large for the Reconstruction and Political Stability of Afghanistan.
8. Resident in Doha, Qatar.

References

1. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (May 21, 1950). "Decreto de 12 de mayo de 1950 por el que se nombra Enviado Extraordinario y Ministro Plenipotenciario de España cerca de S.M. El Rey de Afganistan, a don Juan Manuel Aristegui y Vidaurre" (PDF). Official State Gazette. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
2. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (January 13, 1968). "Decreto 3145/1967, de 28 de diciembre, por el que se eleva a Embajada la Representación Diplomática de España en el Reino de Afganistán" (PDF). Official State Gazette. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
3. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (July 27, 2002). "Real Decreto 783/2002, de 26 de julio, por el que se designa embajador de España en Afganistán a don Antonio Segura Morís". Official State Gazette. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
4. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (August 28, 2004). "Real Decreto 1847/2004, de 27 de agosto, por el que se designa Embajador en Misión Especial en la Estructura de Mando de la Fuerza Internacional de Asistencia para la Seguridad en Afganistán (ISAF) a don Ángel Losada Fernández". Official State Gazette. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
5. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (August 27, 2005). "Real Decreto 1024/2005, de 26 de agosto, por el que se designa Embajador en Misión Especial para la Reconstrucción y la Estabilidad Política de Afganistán a don José Luis Solano Gadea". Official State Gazette. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
6. "Kabul embassy attack: Taliban fighters killed". BBC News. December 12, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
7. Aragón, Heraldo de (August 20, 2021). "Gabriel Ferrán, el aplaudido diplomático de origen turolense que no ha querido abandonar el barco en Kabul". heraldo.es (in Spanish). Retrieved October 3, 2025.
8. EFE, Agencia (September 16, 2021). "La Policía condecora a los veinte agentes de la evacuación de Afganistán". COPE (in Spanish). Retrieved October 3, 2025.
9. Digital, Confidencial (June 9, 2025). "La embajada de España en Afganistán da señales de vida después de cuatro años de silencio". Confidencial Digital (in Spanish). Retrieved October 20, 2025.
10. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (January 23, 1953). "Decreto de 16 de enero de 1953 por el que se nombra Enviado Extraordinario y Ministro Plenipotenciario de España cerca de Su Majestad el Rey de Afganistán a don Pedro E. Schwartz y Díaz-Flores" (PDF). Official State Gazette. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
11. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (January 20, 1957). "Decreto de 11 de enero de 1957 por el que se nombra Enviado Extraordinario y Ministro Plenipotenciario de España cerca de Su Majestad el Rey de Afganistán a don José Ricardo Gómez-Acebo y Vázquez, Mi Embajador en Bagdad" (PDF). Official State Gazette. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
12. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (June 25, 1958). "Decreto de 20 de mayo de 1958 por el que se dispone el nombramiento de don Emilio García Gómez para el cargo de Enviado Extraordinario y Ministro Plenipotenciario de España cerca de Su Majestad el Rey de Afganistán" (PDF). Official State Gazette. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
13. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (April 4, 1970). "Decreto 843/1970, de 3 de abril, por el que se designa Embajador de España en Afganistán a don Luis García de Llera y Rodríguez, con residencia en Ankara" (PDF). Official State Gazette. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
14. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (April 4, 1974). "Decreto 934/1974, de 15 de marzo, por el que se designa Embajador de España en Afganistán a don Carmelo Matesanz Rojo, con residencia en Teherán" (PDF). Official State Gazette. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
15. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (October 25, 1975). "Decreto 2511/1975, de 26 de septiembre, por el que se designa Embajador de España en Kabul a don Aurelio Valls Carreras, con residencia en Teherán" (PDF). Official State Gazette. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
16. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (March 4, 2006). "Real Decreto 257/2006, de 3 de marzo, por el que se designa Embajador de España en la República de Afganistán a don José Turpín Molina". Official State Gazette. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
17. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (November 6, 2010). "Real Decreto 1455/2010, de 5 de noviembre, por el que se designa Embajador de España en la República Islámica de Afganistán a don Juan José Rubio de Urquía". Official State Gazette. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
18. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (July 11, 2015). "Real Decreto 647/2015, de 10 de julio, por el que se designa Embajador de España en la República Islámica de Afganistán a don Emilio Pérez de Ágreda Sáez". Official State Gazette. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
19. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (October 2, 2018). "Real Decreto 1183/2018, de 1 de octubre, por el que se designa Embajador de España en la República Islámica de Afganistán a don Gabriel Ferrán Carrión". Official State Gazette. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
20. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (August 4, 2021). "Real Decreto 708/2021, de 3 de agosto, por el que se designa Embajador de España en la República Islámica de Afganistán a don Ricardo Losa Giménez". Official State Gazette. Retrieved October 20, 2025.