In a Europe that has become vassalized and submissive to the United States, to the detriment of its own interests, one country nevertheless manages to save the honor of the Old Continent: the Spain of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Attached to the ancestral values of the Iberian people, the head of the socialist government refuses to bow down and accept the law of the strongest, demanding respect for the fundamental principles of international law.
Faced with the tragedy experienced by the Palestinian people, martyred by Israel’s colonialist and supremacist policies, Pedro Sánchez – who recognized the State of Palestine in 2024 and called “to put an end to the genocide in Gaza” – has denounced Netanyahu’s policy of extermination. In the rest of Europe, by contrast, the leaders of the major European powers support Tel Aviv, criminalizing and repressing their peoples’ solidarity with the cause of humanity.
Likewise, unlike the other countries of the European Union, Spain firmly condemned the war of aggression waged by the United States and Israel against Iran, carried out without a mandate from the United Nations and in blatant violation of international legality. Pedro Sánchez denounced a unilateral action with dramatic and unpredictable consequences for the entire planet, and called for an end to hostilities and a return to diplomacy, reminding the world that violence can never be the solution.
At the same time, Spain formally prohibited the Trump administration from using the U.S. bases of Rota and Morón de la Frontera in Andalusia for operations conducted against the Iranian people. Deprived of these two strategic logistical platforms, Washington was forced to move its aircraft to other European bases. Meanwhile, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom,refusing to condemn the war of aggression, went so far, in an irresponsible gesture, as to offer their assistance to halt the Iranian response.
Trump did not take long to react, asking the Secretary of the Treasury to “break off all transactions with Spain” and to impose de facto economic sanctions. Far from being intimidated, Madrid responded with the dignity that characterizes great nations: “The United States must comply with international law and trade agreements. We have the necessary resources to contain the impact of a potential embargo.”
Committed to its sovereignty, Spain is also the only country in the European Union to have rejected Trump’s injunction, in June 2025, to raise its military budget to 5% of GDP, choosing instead to prioritize the interests of its people. In a Europe where submission has become the common rule, Pedro Sánchez shows the continent the path of honor and reminds it that international law is not negotiable.
Salim Lamrani holds a PhD in Iberian and Latin American Studies from Sorbonne University, and is Professor of Latin American History at the Université de La Réunion, specializing in relations between Cuba and the United States. His latest book in English is Cuba, the Media and the Challenge of Impartiality.
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