The Spanish government has officially withdrawn its ambassador to Israel, the official government journal of Spain announced on Wednesday.
The decree to dismiss Ana María Salomón Pérez from her position as position as Ambassador of Spain to the State of Israel was made by the Council of Ministers on Tuesday. It was then signed by King Felipe VI and Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares.
Pérez was already recalled from Tel Aviv on September 9, 2025, for consultations, just hours after Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar accused the Spanish government of “antisemitism,” following its measures against Israel-bound ships and aircraft over the war in Gaza.
Pérez has not returned since, and the embassy has been under the charge d’affaires. However, this marks the official termination of her ambassadorship.
The decision to dismiss Pérez is of a political and symbolic motivation and is unrelated to her skill, which the ministers commended.
The year before, in May 2024, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recalled Israel’s ambassadors to Ireland, Spain, and Norway in protest over the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state by those countries.
“This would be a terrorist state. It will try to repeat the massacre of October 7 again and again; we will not consent to this,” said Netanyahu at the time. Both Israel’s embassy in Spain and Spain’s embassy in Israel will now be led by chargés d’affaires.
Crisis room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs still open 24 hours
Spain’s Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, however, announced on Wednesday that its Israeli embassy will remain open to assist with “all evacuation operations of citizens by all possible means.”
“The Crisis Room of the Foreign Affairs Ministry is still operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” he said, adding that, since February 28, more than 6,000 calls have been answered in the crisis room alone, in addition to all those being received at Spanish embassies and consulates in the region.
Due to the deteriorating situation, Spain has decided to temporarily close and fully evacuate the Spanish embassy in Tehran.
Of the 31,000 Spanish citizens who were in the region at the start of the conflict, Spain has already evacuated 5,685, and that number will reach 6,000 with flights arriving today from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
“The goal is to repatriate every Spanish citizen who wishes to return. We will not leave any Spaniard behind,” Albares said.