Leading Spanish film event the San Sebastian International Film Festival has named Mikel Etxagibel as its general manager.

Etxagibel will work alongside incoming festival director Mikel Olaciregui, who replaces Diego Galan this month. Etxagibel, 48, comes to the festival from the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, where he had been assistant director of development and communications since 1997.

Prior to that, he worked as chief of programming and international relations at Basque TV network Euskal Telebista, where Olaciregui also worked before he was recruited to the festival in 1993.

The festival's forthcoming 49th edition, planned for next September, is not expected to bring significant changes to its organisation despite the shift in personnel. Olaciregui, a former sub-director of the festival who worked closely with Galan, insists that he will follow closely in Galan's footsteps.

Last year's edition of the festival was held September 21-30. The main winner was Arturo Ripstein's The Ruination Of Men (La Perdicion De Los Hombres), which took the prize for best film.