BARCELONA, Spain(National Times)- Spain\u2019s Pedro S\u00e1nchez has once again emerged as Europe\u2019s most consistently vocal critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, drawing his ire for refusing to allow the American military to stage operations for its attacks on Iran from Spanish military bases. Trump lashed out at the Spanish prime minister on Tuesday, saying he would \u201c cut off all trade with Spain ” in retaliation for the affront. The spat intensified the next day when Spain\u2019s foreign minister contradicted a claim by the White House press secretary that Spain had heard Trump\u2019s message \u201cloud and clear\u201d and was cooperating with the U.S. military. While denouncing the repressive regime in Tehran, S\u00e1nchez said he would not back a war that he said was an unjustified assault. \u201cWe are not going to be complicit in something that is bad for the world and is also contrary to our values and interests, just out of fear of reprisals from someone,\u201d S\u00e1nchez said, using the slogan \u201cNo to the war\u201d in a speech this week. The tussle over the Spanish military bases is likely more a diplomatic question that one of military consequence. The U.S. has bases across Europe and the Middle East, and other European countries have agreed to cooperate. Madrid and Washington have had stable, friendly and mostly low-key relations for decades, starting in the 20th century when the U.S. began sharing military bases with Spain when the latter was still under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. S\u00e1nchez, 54, first took power in 2018 and is one of Europe\u2019s most prominent left-leaning leaders. He has stuck by the pillars of progressive politics, defending feminism, authorized immigration, human rights, the rules-based international order and the importance of climate change \u2014 all topics that have become punching bags of Trump\u2019s MAGA movement and far-right politicians in many European neighbors. Even before the Iran war, S\u00e1nchez has stood out as an ideological rival to Trump on a number of issues. S\u00e1nchez has been among the most vocal critics of Israel\u2019s military action in Gaza. He has consistently criticized the massive civilian causalities from Israel\u2019s campaign following Hamas\u2019 surprise attack on Israeli territory in 2023. \u201cThis is not self-defense, it\u2019s not even an attack \u2014 it\u2019s the extermination of a defenseless people,\u201d he said, while touring Europe and the Middle East to try to broker a peace deal. Among NATO members, Spain was the only country to refuse to agree to commit to increasing military spending to 5% of gross domestic product. S\u00e1nchez secured a last-minute exemption in a NATO meeting last year, saying that Spain will only spend up to 2.1%, which he called \u201csufficient and realistic.\u201d Trump responded by floating the idea that Spain should be kicked out of the military bloc. That has so far remained a veiled threat. While many European countries raised barriers at their borders and the Trump administration broadened an immigrant crackdown in the U.S., Spain is in the process of granting work and residency permits to half a million foreigners already in Spain. S\u00e1nchez has pointedly alluded to Trump as he extolled the benefits of migration for the country\u2019s strong economy. \u201cMAGA-style leaders may say that our country can\u2019t handle taking in so many migrants \u2014 that this is a suicidal move, the desperate act of a collapsing country,\u201d he wrote in a recent New York Times op-ed. \u201cBut don\u2019t let them fool you. Spain is booming.\u201d Under S\u00e1nchez, Spain has joined countries like Australia and France in trying to curb the use of social media among younger teens. That\u2019s in direct contrast to the Trump administration\u2019s embrace of Big Tech companies and what they consider the defense of the freedom of speech on social media. Elon Musk, X\u2019s owner, lashed out at the Spanish leader last month, calling S\u00e1nchez \u201cthe true fascist totalitarian\u201d after he announced a plan to prohibit under 16-year-olds from accessing social media accounts.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BARCELONA, Spain(National Times)- Spain\u2019s Pedro S\u00e1nchez has once again emerged as Europe\u2019s most consistently vocal critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, drawing his ire for refusing to allow the American military to stage operations for its attacks on Iran from Spanish military bases. Trump lashed out at the Spanish prime minister on Tuesday, saying he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n