Natalia Sancha is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Elcano Royal Institute and a Senior Journalist and Editor at the International desk of El País.
She has served as Political Adviser to the European Union Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process (EUSR MEPP) and as an adviser on Middle Eastern affairs to the former High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
Previously, she was a correspondent in Syria and Lebanon, based in Beirut for fifteen years. From there, she reported for various outlets on the wave of popular uprisings that swept across the Middle East and covered first-hand on the subsequent conflicts in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Yemen, as well as the rise and decline of the self-proclaimed Islamic State and its impact on the ensuing migration flows towards Europe. She has interviewed numerous political and military leaders, as well as relevant civil society figures from across the Arab world. She has twice been shortlisted for the Cirilo Rodríguez International Journalism Award. She has been a finalist on two occasions for the Cirilo Rodríguez Award for Journalism.
She has also collaborated with research institutions and think tnaks such as the Real Instituto Elcano, CIDOB (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs), Fundación Alternativas and IEMed (European Institute of the Mediterranean), and has contributed to specialised publications including Afkar/Ideas, esglobal and Política Exterior. She regularly contributes as an analyst to national and international media outlets.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), an MA in International Relations from Sciences Po Paris, and an MA in Contemporary Arab Studies from Georgetown University (GU), where she studied as a Fulbright Scholar.
Areas of Expertise
Her work focuses on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with particular emphasis on conflicts and post-conflict processes—especially in Syria, Lebanon and the Arab-Israeli conflict—jihadist movements and other non-state armed actors, foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) campaigns, as well as gender-related policies and dynamics in the region.
Selected publications
Books
- Editor and author of Balas para todas. Seis mujeres periodistas en Oriente Medio y El Magreb. Larrad Ediciones, Spain (November 2021).
- Co-author of Siria. La primavera marchita. A Contraluz Collection, Spain (March 2015).
- Co-author of Syrian Refugees: Passing Through. Photographic book produced within the framework of a European Union project. Istanbul, Türkiye (March 2016).
- Amirah Fernández, H. and Sancha, N. The Middle East: Transformation and Continuity of Power in a Turbulent Region, Chapter VI in Strategic Panorama 2005–2006. Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies, Ministry of Defence, Madrid (March 2006).
Recent Publications
- “Lebanon: The Opportunity Everyone Is Letting Slip Away”. Analysis published in El País (June 2026).
- “A Pax Israeliana for the Middle East”. Analysis published in El País (March 2026).
- Interview with Mohammed Shiaa al-Sudani, Prime Minister of Iraq. El País (March 2026).
- Continuity or Rupture in al-Sharaa’s Syria? Between the Assad Legacy and Jolani’s Shadow. ARI, Elcano Royal Institute (November 2025).
- “Israeli Disinformation and Europe’s Growing Divide”. Opinion article published by CIDOB – Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (October 2025).
- Interview with Nawaf Salam, Prime Minister of Lebanon. El País (May 2025).
Other contact information: Natalia Sancha on LinkedIn.