Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez has earned the esteem of much international left-leaning opinion thanks to his stance on Palestine, which is among the least bad among all Western governments. But his powerful rhetoric contrasts with his insufficient concrete measures to really act against the genocide in Gaza and other crimes committed by Israel.

This week’s assault on the Global Sumud Flotilla was a case in point. During the final days of the flotilla’s journey, as its fate drew ever-wider media attention in Spain, Sánchez emphasized the peaceful and humanitarian nature of the mission — insisting that it did not pose a “threat” to Israel. He even sent a military ship to “assist” the flotilla, following in the footsteps of Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni — herself forced to act by massive mobilizations, including strikes, in Italy. However, as the boats approached Gazan waters, the Spanish premier’s apparent firmness turned into weakness.

When the flotilla was just hours away from reaching the (illegally) declared maritime exclusion zone decreed by Israel, the Spanish government clarified that the military ship would not approach — and asked the flotilla to stop, emulating the far-right Meloni. This buried any hope that the Spanish government would intervene to defend the more than sixty Spanish citizens participating in the flotilla from Israeli attack.

This contradiction between words and deeds is, however, also in sharp contrast with Spain’s massive mobilization in defense of the flotilla activists and the Palestinian people, which is now reaching new heights.

From the moment of the assault, there has been a wave of popular protests in Spain, with a turnout probably only surpassed by Italy, where support for Palestine and the flotilla is largely channeling opposition to Meloni. Journalists from major Spanish media outlets were traveling on the boats, which guaranteed high-intensity media coverage that fueled the mobilization.

On the night of the attack on the flotilla, a spontaneous rally took place in front of the Israeli consulate in Barcelona, a city that has played a central role in the movement supporting the mission. Most of the boats set sail from the Catalan capital, which is also the home of former mayor Ada Colau, one of the most well-known among the activists illegally detained by Israel. The flotilla’s farewell event on August 31 already brought thousands of people to the port of Barcelona.

Last Thursday, tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Spain. The largest demonstration was in Barcelona, with between 15,000 and 40,000 participants. Protesters cut off Paral·lel, one of the city’s main avenues, and blocked one of the port’s terminals. At the end of the demonstration, a protest camp was set up in the port, with the goal of demanding an end to arms trading with Israel.

On Friday, an education strike brought universities in various towns and cities to a standstill, with a particularly strong impact in Catalonia. The student demonstration in Barcelona ended right at the encampment, which has become the epicenter of the protests. A national demonstration is scheduled for today, which is expected to be the biggest march for Palestine since the start of the genocide.

Sánchez’s Shifts on Israel

While the Spanish popular mobilization for Palestine intensifies, Sánchez has toned down his rhetoric around Israel and scaled back the measures he had announced to pressure Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Following the assault on the boats and the illegal detention of their occupants, the government’s reaction has been lukewarm. Neither the prime minister nor any other spokesperson has pointed out the illegal nature of the assault, which took place in international waters against peaceful vessels, in violation of international maritime law.

The Spanish government’s only diplomatic reaction has been to summon the Israeli chargé d’affaires — the top diplomatic authority in Spain, since Netanyahu recalled his ambassador in 2023 — to communicate that the detainees “do not pose any threat to Israel,” as the foreign minister put it. Nothing more. Meanwhile, Colombian president Gustavo Petro announced the expulsion of all Israeli diplomats from his country and denounced the free trade agreement in force between the two states. The Sánchez government says it is studying “all possible measures” regarding Israel for the attack on the flotilla but has not carried out any.

Sánchez’s timidity has been criticized by his government partners, the left-wing Sumar coalition, which since the start of the genocide has pushed him to adopt more decisive stances against Israel, along with other parliamentary allies on whom the government depends, such as Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya and EH Bildu (the Basque, pro-independence left).

In fact, Sánchez’s harsh rhetoric regarding the Israeli government and the pressure measures taken so far against Israel are not so much a reflection of his personal position as they are a response to pressure from these other parties and the social movement for Palestine, which has led large mobilizations in Spain since October 2023.

With the flotilla, a dynamic common in Spanish politics since the start of the invasion of Gaza has repeated itself: Sánchez takes an action that falls short of the social movement’s demands but manages to communicate it as a major breakthrough — which then shines on the international stage due to the contrast with the inaction or direct complicity of other Western countries with Netanyahu’s government.

This happened recently with the arms embargo on Israel, a long-standing demand of the Spanish pro-Palestine movement in line with BDS (the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement). On September 8, Sánchez announced the embargo, which was not approved by the Council of Ministers until two weeks later. The decree generally bans the import and export of arms to Israel but does not completely break military ties: it allows for contracts with the Israeli military industry and does not establish an inspection mechanism for Israeli ships that dock in Spanish ports, which will prevent detecting whether they are transporting weapons.

The complicity, direct or indirect, of major Western powers with Israel has made Sánchez appear on the international stage as a figure deeply committed to the Palestinian people. However, this is better understood as the achievement of a skillful politician who has known how to respond to pressure from his left-wing partners and the social movement for Palestine by adopting some of their demands and presenting them as his own decisions.

Popular mobilization and the influence of certain left-wing political forces in the institutional arena are the key to Spain’s relatively progressive position regarding the genocide in Gaza, not Sánchez’s individual stance. That is why only a wave of massive and sustained protests will succeed in getting Spain to completely break the ties that still bind it to Israel. That means a total boycott, which would also serve as an example to other countries.

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