In a rare and unexpected development, Spain has opposed the US-Israel war on Iran. The Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared "No a la guerra" (No to war!) as his country's stand and refused to permit the use of its two military bases for war operations. Spain hosts approximately 6,000 US troops at the Rota naval base and Morón air base. Sánchez’s invocation of the historic "No a la guerra" — a slogan that mobilised Spain against the US war on Iraq and toppled a pro-war administration in 2003 — has thrust Madrid into a diplomatic standoff with Washington.
The socialist administration emphatically refused any flight operations that could aid a war on Iran, citing the lack of international legal authorisation for the US to undertake such a war. The Prime Minister and cabinet colleagues emphasised that any operations from these bases fall under Spanish sovereignty and can support only missions that comply with the UN Charter, international law and bilateral US-Spain defence agreements.
US President Donald Trump accused Madrid of "betraying allies" after initial reports suggested a lack of overflight permissions for American jets. He threatened to cut all trade ties with Spain immediately. "We are going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don’t want anything to do with Spain," said the President. Trump also said the US doesn’t need the Spanish government’s permission to operate from the NATO bases.
Sánchez hit back at Donald Trump in a fiery address: "Spain will not be dragged into an illegal war without a UN mandate. Our bases are for defence, not aggression." The denial was categorical: no refuelling, no logistics and no intelligence sharing. He also said, “We are not going to be complicit in something that is bad for the world and contrary to our values and interests, simply out of fear of reprisals from someone.”
Recollecting the Iraq war and its subsequent destruction, the Prime Minister said, “The world has been here before. Twenty-three years ago, another US administration led us into an unjust war. The Iraq war led to a dramatic increase in terrorism and a serious migration and economic crisis.”
A NATO ally opposing the US war on a non-Western country in current times sounds implausible. So, why the opposition? There appear to be at least three reasons, beyond any personal commitment of Prime Minister Sánchez to peace.
The first reason is that the socialist Prime Minister heads a fragile coalition of socialists, greens and regional nationalists, many of whom oppose US interventions. This stand could not only galvanise the leftist vote base but also bond the coalition partners in the runnin-up time to the general elections, which will be held in August 2027.
The second is the public sentiment, which is largely anti-war. A flash poll by Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas showed 68 per cent of Spaniards opposing involvement, with urban youth — scarred by endless Middle East quagmires — leading the charge. Madrid's Puerta del Sol square swelled with demonstrators waving Palestinian and anti-NATO banners, chanting "Bush, Aznar, Trump: the same war machine." Organisers from the revived "No to War" platform, which was dormant in recent years, vowed nationwide actions if escalation continues.
The 2003 Iraq invasion, which saw then Prime Minister José María Aznar align with George W. Bush, ignited Spain's largest-ever protests — over three million people took to the streets — and later handed victory to Sánchez's Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE)) in the subsequent local elections the same year and the general elections in the next year. The Spanish public is historically anti-war and carries this sentiment more strongly than in other European countries. Hence, opposing the US-Israel war could help the leftist coalition in the upcoming general elections.
The third reason is that Spain believes that the US needs them more than vice versa. Spain has about €30 billion in annual exports to the US, ranging from olive oil to Airbus parts. However, the US has the upper hand in bilateral trade. In 2025, US exports to Spain were $26.1 billion and imports were $21.3 billion, with the US enjoying a $4.8 billion trade surplus. The Spanish government has also garnered strong backing from the European Union on this dispute. Responding to the US threats, European Commission Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné said, “Any threat against a member state is by definition a threat against the EU.” The French President spoke to the Spanish Prime Minister to express solidarity in response to the recent threats of economic coercion, reported Euronews.
However, critics at home, led by opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo of the conservative Popular Party, opposed the move. Feijóo, whose PP backed the Iraq war, accused Sánchez of trying to win a few votes at home. “We cannot put at risk our security, stability and position in the world,” he averred. Right-wing media outlets like Libertad Digital and El Mundo accused Sánchez of electoral opportunism and weaponising memories of 2003 for political gain. Libertad Digital said the Prime Minister’s anti-war stand could simultaneously appease his coalition partners and distract people from the scandals his government is facing.