It’s been almost a year since US President Donald Trump announced that Benjamin León Jr. would be the new ambassador to Spain, but he has only just now been given the go-ahead to take up his post.
At the end of last week, the United States Senate unanimously approved Trump’s nominee as the new ambassador to Spain, after completing the ratification process that began back in January.
Spain has been without a US Ambassador since Julissa Reynoso left her position in July 2024.
READ ALSO: Why has the US not had an ambassador in Spain for over a year?
“Congratulations to Benjamin León Jr., who has been confirmed by the United States Senate as the next U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain and the Principality of Andorra, following his nomination by President Trump,” the U.S. embassy wrote on its Facebook page.
“We look forward to welcoming him to Madrid, where he will present his credentials to His Majesty King Felipe VI and work to promote U.S. interests and further strengthen the relationship between our countries,” it added.
The delay in León’s arrival in Spain was partly because he still had to take test with the Foreign Relations Committee and get his appointment validated, as well as the fact that Trump appointed hundreds of public officials at a similar time, all of which had to also be approved in the Senate.
Authorities made it clear that this delay was not due to the state of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
It’s not uncommon for a new US ambassador to take take up their position in Spain. Julissa Reynoso was ratified by the Senate in December 2021, a total of eleven months after former US President Joe Biden won the election.
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Cuban-American businessman León Jr. said, during his appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in mid-October, that he would work to “reverse” the “great mistake” made by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in refusing to allocate 5 percent of GDP to military spending, despite the fact that an agreement had reached at the NATO leaders’ summit in June.
They agreed that Spain would allocate 2.1 percent of GDP to defence instead.
“I will work diligently with the Spanish government to make them understand that this is a grave mistake (…), to reverse it and fulfil the commitment,” the future ambassador vowed.
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León was born in Oriente, Cuba, in 1944. His family emigrated to the United States 1961 after the Cuban Revolution and he arrived in Miami at the age of 16, followed by his parents and brother that same year.
“Benjamin is a highly successful entrepreneur, equestrian enthusiast and philanthropist. He came to the United States from communist Cuba at age 16, with only five dollars in his pocket, and built his company, Leon Medical Centers, into an incredible business,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time of appointing him, the social media platform he had set up after being booted off X.
