Karima Benyaich (Tetouan, 1961) has been the ambassador of Morocco in Spain since 2018 and the first woman to hold this position. And it’s not by chance. In addition to her competence as a career diplomat, she has the full trust of her ‘brother’, King Mohammed VI. And it’s not a coincidence either.
Karima is the daughter of Fadel Benyaich, personal physician of King Hassan II, and the Granada native Carmen Millán. Therefore, she has dual nationality, Moroccan and Spanish, just like her brother Fadel Mohamed, who was ambassador in Spain until she replaced him in 2018, which proves King Mohammed VI’s trust in both of them, with whom he shared his childhood due to a tragic circumstance.
The lives of the two siblings took an unexpected turn during the failed coup d’état of Sjkirat in 1971. The king survived the attack, but his doctor, Fadel Benyaich, was shot down in the skirmish. At that moment, Hassan II decided to take care of Carmen and her children, who were educated in the environment of the Royal Palace, exactly at the Royal School, just like his sons and daughters, of whom Karima is a very close friend, especially of Princess Lalla Hasna.
The Moroccan ambassador trained in Canada, where she obtained a law degree and a master’s in Economic Sciences from the University of Montreal. She developed her thesis on the “Impact of the integration of Spain and Portugal into the European Community on the Moroccan economy”.
In addition to French, she speaks perfect Arabic, Spanish, English, and Portuguese.
Before her arrival in Madrid, she developed much of her diplomatic career in the field of relations between Morocco and the Iberian space. In 2008 she was appointed ambassador in Portugal, a position she held for a decade. During those years, she also held responsibilities in organizations linked to Euro-Mediterranean dialogue and international cooperation.
She also represented Morocco in the Averroes Committee, which was created in 1996, just at the end of Felipe González’s term. The then President of the Spanish Government placed great importance on the functioning of this body, which aimed to strengthen relations between both countries. Karima served as the authorized voice of the Moroccan Royal House in the meetings.
She has been at the head of the Moroccan Embassy in Madrid for 6 years, which represents a true record in one of the most relevant diplomatic representations of the Alaouite kingdom abroad. Her mandate has coincided with some of the most intense stages of the bilateral relationship, including the diplomatic crisis of 2021 and the subsequent normalization of ties between both countries.
