On 8 September, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez voiced his and his country’s deep frustration with Israel’s ongoing war of extermination in the Gaza Strip.
Sánchez said Madrid does not possess nuclear weapons, aircraft carriers, or vast oil reserves—so Spain cannot single-handedly halt Israel’s assault on Gaza. But that, he stressed, is no reason to stop trying: some causes are worth struggling for even if victory cannot be secured by one nation alone.
Israel reacted furiously, deliberately twisting his words and accusing him of threatening the “annihilation of the Jewish state.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed, “Apparently the Spanish Inquisition, the expulsion of Spain’s Jews, and the Nazi Holocaust weren’t enough for Sánchez,” according to his allegations. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar likewise attacked Spain, alleging a lack of historical awareness regarding what he called Spain’s “crimes against the Jewish people.”
This war of words underscores how disruptive Sánchez and his government have become for the occupation state—perhaps the highest-ranking European leader to challenge Israel with such clarity and force. Sánchez is not an activist or celebrity on the margins; he is the prime minister of a major European country. Under his leadership, Spain was highlighted last year as the best performer among 37 rich economies—measured across GDP, stock-market performance, core inflation, unemployment, and budget deficits—according to The Economist.
In other words, a prominent and electorally successful European leader is pressing Europe toward a more just stance on Palestinian rights. That reach, and his role in constraining the rise of far-right extremism in Europe, helps explain Tel Aviv’s anger and intense focus on Sánchez’s pro-Palestine positions.
Pedro Sánchez: A Political Profile
From the outset, Sánchez rose through Spain’s left. He joined the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) in 1993, served as a policy adviser in the European Parliament and at the United Nations during the Kosovo war, and became a Madrid city councillor in 2004.
By 2009 he had entered Spain’s national parliament for Madrid. In 2011, amid political ascent, he balanced public life with academic rigour, earning a doctorate in economics.
In 2014 Sánchez achieved a surprise victory: after PSOE leader Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba stepped down following poor European election results, Sánchez—then “almost unknown” to the Spanish public, as El País put it—won the leadership contest. That win established two hallmarks of his career: ambition and the ability to come from behind to seize unexpected openings.
As party leader, Sánchez aimed to align PSOE’s leadership with the left-leaning convictions of its grassroots while avoiding empty populism. His diagnosis was prescient: across Europe, many left-wing parties governed timidly once in power, alienating working-class bases that drifted toward the right.
Yet in October 2016, after failing to form a government and insisting on blocking conservative leader Mariano Rajoy from doing so, Sánchez was ousted from the PSOE leadership amid deep internal divisions. He kept his parliamentary seat and forcefully opposed conservative austerity policies—cuts to public spending, the welfare state, and social support.
At the same time, Sánchez embarked on an unusual political “road trip,” driving across Spain to listen to the unheard: ordinary voters, the marginalised, and those craving change. Covering 40,000 kilometres, he met voters in streets and cafés. According to The Guardian, this grassroots tour among the disaffected helped him sweep back to the party leadership just seven months after his removal—an emphatic comeback.
The decisive breakthrough came in June 2018, when Sánchez became prime minister at the head of a minority government after successfully passing a historic no-confidence motion against Rajoy—Spain’s first in the post-Franco era—supported by the left-wing Podemos, Basque nationalists, and Catalan independents.
Defying sceptics, he has remained in office to this day. As BBC reporting noted in 2020, early measures—raising the minimum wage, appointing a cabinet dominated by women, and welcoming a migrant ship rejected by Italy—energised his left-leaning base. Remarkably, he increased PSOE’s popularity after taking power, with a Madrid sociologist observing that Sánchez presented himself as “serious and qualified.”
Spain’s recent economic resilience has reinforced that perception. Last year, The Economist asked, “What can Spain teach the rest of Europe?”, describing Spain as the envy of its rich-world peers. Tourism, increased migration, and EU recovery funds all helped—but results would not have materialised without effective policy. Madrid crafted a comparatively welcoming environment for migrants—enabling easier integration and higher skills inflows—and fostered a tourism surge by creating an enabling climate. EU grants, by themselves, do not create growth—Italy, though receiving more funds, underperformed Spain.
On migration, Sánchez was boldly counter-cyclical: as the Western right surged on anti-migrant sentiment, he argued that migration is a blessing and an opportunity for Spain’s economy—citing figures that migrants accounted for 25% of per-capita GDP, 10% of social-security revenues, and just 1% of public spending.
Foreign Policy: Principles Over Bloc Politics
Sánchez describes his foreign policy as grounded in principles and ethics, with a global perspective that extends beyond Western bloc logic. After Donald Trump returned to the U.S. presidency, Sánchez openly criticised Washington’s role under his leadership, lamenting that the very state that once engineered the post-war order was now weakening it.
This tenacity toward Washington helps explain his firmness toward Israel, America’s closest regional ally. He is one of the few European leaders to confront Trump unambiguously. As The Economist put it, Trump “hates” him for urging the EU to resist U.S. tariffs and for criticising U.S. tech billionaires as threats to democracy. Most tellingly, at a NATO summit in June, Sánchez flatly rejected Trump’s demand that members spend 5% of GDP on defence, committing Spain to 2.1% and arguing that the 5% target clashes with Spain’s priorities.
Sánchez and Palestine: Extending a Spanish Legacy
Some frame Sánchez’s stance on Palestine as purely ideological. While the left-wing tradition matters, Spain’s cross-partisan historical legacy also shapes this outlook.
Unlike many European states, Spain did not fight in World War II and did not internalise a special responsibility to found Israel as a response to the Holocaust, as Luz Gómez, professor of Arab and Islamic Studies at the Autonomous University of Madrid, has noted to the BBC. Spain’s relative tilt toward Axis powers and subsequent isolation made ties with North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean more valuable—relationships Madrid was reluctant to jeopardise even after democratisation in 1975.
Thus Spain cultivated close ties with the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO): opening a PLO office in Madrid in 1979 and hosting Yasser Arafat, warmly received by Adolfo Suárez, the first democratic prime minister—making Spain the first Western country to host the Palestinian leader. When Spain recognised Israel in 1986—a precondition for joining the European Economic Community—it did so after extensive consultations with Arab states, accompanied by a personal explanatory letter from Felipe González to the Arab League’s secretary-general.
While economic and military links with Israel later deepened, Madrid still upheld elements of its Palestinian policy. In November 2012, Spain voted to grant Palestine non-member observer state status at the UN under a conservative Rajoy government.
Sánchez inherited and amplified this legacy. A recent Elcano Royal Institute poll found 82% of Spaniards describe Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide”—97% among left-wing voters, 85% among centrists, and 62% among right-wing voters—indicating a broad, cross-party repudiation of Israel’s conduct. He has largely aligned with this rising public sentiment, unlike many Western politicians who ignore shifting popular views.
A Pew Research Centre survey in June (covering 24 countries, including Spain) found majorities in 20 countries hold negative views of Israel and Netanyahu; in Spain, Australia, Greece, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Turkey, roughly three-quarters or more of adults expressed unfavourable opinions.
It is therefore unsurprising that Sánchez was the first European leader to plainly label events in Gaza as “genocide”. Spain formally recognised the State of Palestine in May 2024, called forthe immediate suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, joined South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, and Spanish courts announced human-rights investigations on Gaza, intending to aid submissions to the International Criminal Court.
Madrid also cancelled the final stage of the Vuelta a España cycling race after protesters entered the route to oppose Israel’s assault and an Israeli team’s participation—an action Sánchez publicly praised as the Spanish people “moving for just causes, like Palestine.” He urged Israel’s exclusion from international sport, as happened to Russia over Ukraine.
Concrete Measures: Sanctions and Restrictions
Spain moved from rhetoric to policy:
- Arms embargo formalised against Israel, including scrapping a €700 million launcher deal of Israeli design.
- The Defence Ministry cancelled a purchase of 168 launchers and 1,680 anti-tank missiles from Rafael worth €287.5 million, per El País.
- The Interior Ministry cancelled a €6.8 million ammunition contract with an Israeli company.
- Spain closed its ports and airspace to ships and aircraft carrying weapons to Israel.
- A travel ban on all directly implicated in genocide, human-rights abuses, and war crimes in Gaza—explicitly including ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.
- Ban on settlement products, tightened consular services for Spaniards residing in illegal settlements, and enhanced cooperation with the State of Palestine.
- Increased EU Border Assistance Mission staffing at Rafah, an additional €10 million to UNRWA, and expanded humanitarian aid to Gaza to €150 million.
Domestic Politics: The Limits of a “Middle Power”
Sánchez has become the clearest Western voice against Israel’s war, backing his speeches with sweeping measures within Spain’s capacity as a middle power. His framing is moral and legal: the war on Gaza is “genocide against a defenceless people” and a violation of humanitarian law.
Domestic constraints also matter. PSOE governs with indispensable support from Sumar—a progressive alliance including the Spanish Communist Party—which made recognising Palestine a condition for joining the government in 2023. Former allies in Podemos, alongside Basque and Catalan parties, criticise Sánchez for not going far enough and broadly support Palestinian resistance and wider anti-colonial struggles. Sumar long labelled Gaza a “genocide” and pressed the government to adopt the term publicly (which Sánchez has now done).
Conversely, the right-wing Partido Popular under Alberto Núñez Feijóo and the far-right Vox led by Santiago Abascal escalate attacks on Sánchez, alleging mishandling of anti-Israel protests and “embarrassing” Spain internationally. Caught between a mobilised left demanding more action for Palestine and a right aligned with Israel, Sánchez must navigate domestic polarities carefully.
External Pressure: Washington, Defence Links, and Intelligence Ties
International constraints are decisive. A recent U.S. State Department comment to Reuters criticised Spain, calling it “very troubling” that a NATO member would restrict U.S. operations and “abandon Israel,” alleging such a stance encourages terrorists.
The United States operates two major bases in Spain: the Rota naval base—America’s largest in Spain and a key European hub—and the Morón air base. Analysts in Madrid argue the government may struggle to fulfil all pledges to cut military cooperation with Israel. According to El Mundo, despite government statements that no weapons were purchased from Israel after the Gaza war began, Spain has since acquired over €1 billion in defence and security items from Israeli companies across 46 contracts since October 2023, based on a Centre Delàs analysis of public procurement data (with the government noting some contracts are inactive or cancelled).
Spain and Israel also have a 2011 intelligence agreement on protecting classified information. The CNI (Spain’s National Intelligence Centre) and Mossad maintain robust ties, including information exchange and technological cooperation—most infamously around the Pegasus spyware scandal, used against Spanish politicians including Sánchez and numerous Catalan pro-independence figures.
Spain’s defence industry is interlinked with Israel’s, making full “decoupling” difficult even with cancellations. This does not mean Madrid is unserious about accountability; it highlights the capacity limits of a geographically distant, single European state acting alone.
Spain is a significant European economy, yet still a constrained international actor. As Sánchez himself put it: some causes must be fought for—even when victory lies beyond one country’s reach.
