Spain Expands Embargo on Israel, Barring Tankers and Closing Airspace

The Spanish government announced a series of new actions expanding its previous arms embargo on Israel in response to the latest rounds of fighting in Gaza. Israel’s Foreign Minister responded angrily, prompting Spain to further announce it has recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced a total of nine steps in a video statement saying they were being taken in response to the ongoing fighting in Gaza. “The Spanish government believes that protecting your country is one thing, and bombing hospitals and starving innocent children to death is quite another.”

Among the specific steps the government said it would take are prohibiting the transit through Spanish ports for all ships carrying fuel to the Israeli armed forces. It also said that it would deny entry into Spanish airspace to all state aircraft transporting defense materials to Israel and take other steps limiting travel and Israeli officials' travel into Spain. According to the reports, the efforts will have to be approved by the Spanish parliament.

Spain claims to have a “de facto” arms embargo in place on Israel, announced in October 2023 and enforced since May 2024. The Prime Minister said they would formalize this with the approval of a Royal Decree Law that consolidates the arms embargo. Separately, they also announced a further increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Activists had been pressuring Spain, including a series of actions in 2024 targeting cargo ships making port calls in Spain. Maersk Line, Ltd., which operates ships with a contract to the U.S. government, diverted some of its ships to Morocco while denying the activist claims that it was carrying illegal materials to Israel.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar released an angry response to Spain’s actions, linking them to antisemitism. He called the actions “a hostile anti-Israel line, with wild rhetoric dripping with hatred.” He traced Spain’s actions against the Jewish people back to the Inquisition and other “ethnic cleansing” in the 1500s.

Turkey, last month, took a similar action, expanding its trade embargo on Israel. It closed its ports to all ships linked to Israel and barred Turkish ships from sailing to Israel.