Felipe VI has decided to relieve the head of the King’s Household and his most direct collaborator, Jaime Alfonsín Alfonso, a 67-year-old State lawyer, and appoint in his place Camilo Villarino Marzo, a 59-year-old diplomat, current Chief of Staff of the high representative of the EU for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, as reported by La Zarzuela in a statement. The relay will take place throughout the month of February, the note adds. The head of the King’s House has the rank of minister and his appointment, according to article 65.2 of the Constitution, is at the discretion of the head of state.
The replacement of Alfonsín, who had privately expressed his desire to leave office after almost three decades in La Zarzuela, had been expected for a long time, but very few knew the name of his replacement, which has surprised relevant members of the Government. Sources from the Royal Family acknowledge that the replacement has been delayed for months until the opportune moment is found, once the Government has been formed and the new legislature has started, and that the King has discussed with Alfonsín the name of his replacement.
The replacement occurs just five months after a decade has passed since Felipe VI inherited the throne, in June 2014. The judicial investigations into the economic scandals of the emeritus king, which in recent years have weighed down the image, have been left behind. of the Monarchy, and although the horizon is not completely clear for the institution, nor has the political panorama calmed down, the King has considered the time has come to open a new stage, add the sources consulted. Felipe VI, at 55 years old, has looked for a person closer to his generation and a servant of the State, who has worked for both PP and PSOE governments and, therefore, has a “bipartisan profile”, as highlighted in La Operetta. The new head of the King’s House also has extensive international experience that is considered very useful for his future position and is a convinced Europeanist, like the Monarch himself. Those who know Camilo Villarino assure that he is a “serious, rigorous, loyal and discreet” person, all qualities highly valued in La Zarzuela, although they add that he cannot be expected to introduce great innovations or revolutionary changes in the Casa del King.
Villarino, a native of Zaragoza, married and with three daughters, entered the diplomatic career in 1989. In June 2017, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alfonso Dastis, of the PP, appointed him head of his Cabinet, a position in which It was maintained by his successor, the socialist Josep Borrell, and by his successor, Arancha González Laya. As the latter’s most direct assistant, the Zaragoza judge who was investigating the entry into Spain of the Polisario leader, Brahim Gali, in April 2021, to be treated for a serious Covid condition, cited him as a defendant, but the case It ended up being archived as the existence of a crime was not appreciated. The Government even requested the slap de Villarino to appoint him ambassador in Moscow, but the new Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, withdrew the request and the diplomat joined the European External Action Service (EEAS) in March 2022, where six months later he became head of the Borrell’s Cabinet. Graduated in Law from the University of Zaragoza and graduated from the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium), he has a high-level course at the European College of Security and Defense. He has been assigned to the Spanish Embassy in Zagreb (1994-1997), the Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU (1997-2002), the Embassy in Washington (2008-2013), as an advisor for transatlantic relations and security matters. and defense; and the Embassy in Rabat, where he was minister counselor and deputy head of mission (2013-2017).
Furthermore, he knows the Armed Forces well – he is a volunteer reservist and is assigned, as a captain, to the headquarters of the Military Emergency Unit (UME) -, which will be very useful for him to direct an institution that has a Military Quarter and a uniformed unit, the Royal Guard. He worked under the orders of the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, during the month and a half that, between 2019 and 2020, she temporarily held the Foreign Affairs portfolio.
In the official statement, it is highlighted that Jaime Alfonsín has spent almost 30 years at the service of Felipe VI. He was appointed head of the King’s House after the proclamation of the head of State, in June 2014, so he has spent almost a decade at the head of the La Zarzuela apparatus and has been the only person who has held this position with the current Monarch. However, his relationship goes back a long way, since Felipe VI appointed him head of his Secretariat in 1995, when he was Prince of Asturias.
What affects the most is what happens closest. So you don’t miss anything, subscribe.
“His Majesty,” adds the statement, “wishes to continue counting on your valuable and loyal advice, for which he will appoint you as a private advisor and, in this capacity, he will continue to provide you with the advice you require and will carry out the functions entrusted to him.” Alfonsín’s predecessor, even with Juan Carlos I as King, had been the diplomat Rafael Spottorno Díaz-Caro.
State Attorney, Alfonsín arrived at the La Zarzuela palace after a long career in public administration and private companies. He was assigned to the Treasury delegations of Teruel and Cuenca and later to the Supreme Court and the legal service of the European Commission. He returned to the central Administration as general director of Cooperation in the Ministry of Territorial Administration, and at the same time taught Commercial Law at the Catholic Institute of Business Administration (ICADE). As a lawyer, he worked in the office of Uría y Menéndez.
to continue reading
_