Juan González-Barba was born in Seville in 1966. He has a law degree from the University of Seville and joined the Spanish foreign service in 1991. He has been posted at the Embassies in South Africa, Greece, Israel and at the Permanent Representation to the EU.  He has been Director General for the Middle East and North Africa and Secretary of State for the EU at the central services of the Spanish MFA. He has been Ambassador to Sudan, Turkey and Croatia and non resident Ambassador to South Sudan, Eritrea, Georgia and Azerbaijan. He has published many articles on Spanish newspapers and magazines on topics of international and global affairs and is the author of three novels and an essay on Europe.