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The Embassy of Spain in Berlin

The Ambassador

Amb. Ricardo Martínez

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Ricardo Martínez was born on 17 June 1958 and is the ambassador of Spain in Germany to replace María Victoria Morera.

He attended the German School Sevilla, and then proceeding to obtain a law degree from the University of Seville, specializing in public law. He is a specialist in international law, in particular international humanitarian law and human rights and is an expert in development cooperation.

In 1987, he was Head of Economic Relations with Africa and the Middle East in the Department of Economic Relations in the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Madrid. His role as ambassador in Germany is not his first destination in the country, as he was stationed at the Embassy in Bonn from 1987 to 1990 and then he was stationed in the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany, which allowed him to closely follow the process of the reunification of Germany.

He has also been assigned to the General Directorate of International Economic Relations, the Diplomatic Information Office (OID) and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation. Between 2008 and 2012 he held the position of general director of Casa África. Abroad, he has been assigned to the Permanent Representation of Spain before the International Organisations based in Geneva and at the Embassy of Spain in Panama. He has held the post of Consul General in Edinburgh since August 2017.

His languages include Spanish, German, English, French and Portuguese.

History

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The relations between the two countries have traditionally been good and are fostered by the positive attitude of each country’s population towards the other. Indeed, there is a close political exchange between the two governments, as Federal Chancellor Merkel last visited Spain (Santiago de Compostela) on the 25th of August 2014, at the invitation of Prime Minister Rajoy. She hosted a return visit by Prime Minister Rajoy to Meseberg on the 31st of August 2015. With regard to the economic ties, Germany is Spain’s second largest trading partner, after France, and actually ranks first among suppliers of the country’s imports, and Germany is a major direct investor in Spanish industry.

Cultural relations are very positive, as Germans’ interest in the Spanish language and Spanish culture (literature, films) has grown considerably over the last number of decades. The economic crisis has meant that there is an increasing interest in both Germany as a state and also the German language, amongst the Spanish population. Germany has two Goethe Institutes in Spain, in Madrid and Barcelona with branch offices in Granada and San Sebastián. Through cultural events, language courses and their library and information work, they help to give a multifaceted picture of modern Germany. Since November 2011, the German Academic Exchange Service has run a new information centre in Madrid and has eight academic teachers working at Spanish universities.