The Spanish PM’s defiant foreign policy line may seem outspoken. The truth is that he is a sound strategist at home and abroad
S
pain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, called his 2019 political memoir A Manual for Resistance: a fitting title for a centre-left leader known for his survival skills and willingness to hold the line under pressure. So it was hardly surprising that he stood firm on Wednesday when Donald Trump threatened Spain with a trade embargo over his opposition to the US-Israeli bombing of Iran.
“We are not going to be accomplices to something that is bad for the world – and contrary to our values and interests – simply out of fear of reprisals,” Sánchez insisted. Having already stated that the strikes were “a violation of international law”, he summarised his government’s position simply as “no to war”.
His defiance of US-Israeli aggression did not stop at words. On Monday, it had emerged that his administration was refusing the US use of the air bases at Rota and Morón – prompting the withdrawal of 15 US aircraft from Spain. The only precedent for a Spanish government blocking US use of these jointly run installations was with respect to Ronald Reagan’s 1986 strikes against Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya.
