The diplomat Camilo Villarino assumes the leadership of the King's House

The diplomat Camilo Villarino Marzo, 59, is already the new head of the King's House.

The Official State Gazette (BOE) publishes this Monday, dated last Friday, the decrees of appointment of Villarino and dismissal of his predecessor, Jaime Alfonsín, freely disposed of by Felipe VI in accordance with article 65.2 of the Constitution.

The change of head of the King's House, the body that supports the head of state, was announced last month, but has not materialized until now.

La Zarzuela has given the replacement a very discreet profile, to the point that an inauguration ceremony for the new head of the King's House, who has the rank of minister, has not been held.

Zarzuela sources have clarified that Villarino has joined his office directly without being sworn in, after it was published that the media had not been summoned to take over.

Villarino's first public act will be the visit that Felipe VI will make tomorrow, Tuesday, to the headquarters of the Supreme Command of the Allied Forces in Europe, in Mons (Belgium);

although this afternoon the King will receive the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, in audience.

On Sunday, the Head of State will preside at the National Museum of Art of Catalonia, in Barcelona, ​​at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) dinner, which he will inaugurate the following day.

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.

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 Villarino as a defendant due to his position as Minister González's most direct assistant. Laya, but the case ended up being archived when the existence of a crime was not appreciated.

The Government even asked Villarino's

approval

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 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 at the Embassy in Rabat, where he was minister counselor and deputy head of mission (2013-2017).

In addition, he is an Army reserve officer with a captain's job, assigned to the Military Emergency Unit (UME).

For his part, Jaime Alfonsín Alfonso, 67 years old, has spent almost three decades 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 been at the head of the La Zarzuela apparatus for almost 10 years 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.

In the preamble to his dismissal decree, the King praises Alfonsín, of whom he says: “He has provided outstanding services to the Crown, the Royal Family and me personally for almost three decades, with great loyalty, success and enormous dedication, demonstrating at all times an unwavering adherence to the institution, as well as a deep love for Spain."

“As a token of my gratitude and affection, in order to continue counting on your valuable and loyal advice after so many years of generous service, first as head of my Secretariat as Prince of Asturias and later as head of my House, [...] I come to order that, from now on, he performs the functions entrusted to him as a private counselor,” he concludes.

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