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Pedro Sánchez is a fierce critic of Trump. (archive photo)
Diego Radamés/EUROPA PRESS/dpa
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is more outspoken against US President Donald Trump than any other European head of government. Sánchez is also using the conflict to show domestic political strength.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez used words of rare clarity in a televised speech on Wednesday morning. "It is naive to believe that blind and submissive obedience means leadership," he said. His country would "not participate in something that is bad for the world - and that also runs counter to our values and interests - just for fear of reprisals from someone".
Believing that the world can only solve its problems with bombs is a mistake, he said. "You can't respond to one illegality with another illegality, because that's how the great disasters of humanity begin." We must learn from the past. The Spanish position can be summed up in a few words: "No to war."
It is no coincidence that Sánchez chose such clear words. On Tuesday, Trump said at a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that Spain was behaving "terribly" and was "unfriendly" because Madrid had refused to allow the USA to use air bases in southern Spain to attack Iran. Trump also instructed his finance minister to suspend all trade relations with Spain.
Sánchez is currently the European head of government who is positioning himself most clearly against Trump. The media are therefore already calling him the "European anti-Trump" and "main critic from the EU".
This makes sense because Sánchez is already familiar with such positions. He has already criticized the war in Gaza and the arrest of Venezuelan head of state Nicolás Maduro. Spain was also the only NATO member to reject Trump's demand to spend five percent of its budget on defense.
However, it also makes sense because Sánchez's socialist government in Spain is currently on shaky ground. His coalition no longer has a majority in parliament and is barely able to act. His party is also being rocked by corruption scandals. Elections are due to take place next year - but there is speculation that they will have to be brought forward because the government can hardly remain stable until then.
Sánchez's criticism of Trump could help him regain the trust of the population. According to a recent survey, 77% of the Spanish population have a negative opinion of Trump.
And Sánchez knows that opposing this opinion could cost him his job. One of his predecessors, former Prime Minister José María Aznar, sided with George Bush in 2003 and supported the war in Iraq - a decision that later brought Spain into the sights of Islamist terrorists. In March 2004, almost 200 people lost their lives in Islamist bomb attacks in Madrid. Under public pressure, Aznar did not stand in the next elections.
But for Sánchez, the position of having to fear elections is nothing new. He joined the Socialist Party in 1993 at the age of 21 and worked in the European Parliament and for the United Nations in the years that followed. He only made it into the Spanish parliament in 2009 as a successor after a previous candidacy failed. He failed again in 2011 and moved up again in 2013. In 2014, the party members elected him General Secretary of the Socialists. In 2015, he wanted to become Prime Minister, but clearly failed and resigned in 2016. He made a comeback in 2017.
Correction note 6.3.26: An initial version of this text referred to almost 2,000 deaths. That was incorrect. It is correct: almost 200 people were killed in the Islamist terrorist attacks in Madrid in 2004.
