US President Donald Trump recently floated a possible cut to trade relations with Spain over its refusal to support illegal US-Israel attacks on Iran. “We don’t want anything to do with Spain,” Trump said, as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, head of another EU government, sat meekly in the next chair.

While supposed allies failed to stand up to President Trump’s lambasting, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez addressed the comments himself, emphasizing Spain would not be intimidated into endorsing warmongering narratives or breaking international law. “The Spanish government’s position on this situation is clear and consistent,” Sánchez said, referencing stances on the genocide in Gaza and war in Ukraine. “It can be summed up in three words: no to war.”

The coalition government in Spain, headed by Sánchez’s Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), has positioned itself differently from other European countries regarding ongoing crises in the world. Since October 2023, like Slovenia and Ireland, Spain spoke out against Israel’s attacks on Gaza and took steps to limit arms transfers to the occupation power. Local solidarity movements warn these steps were often too slow and limited, yet Spain’s stance in regional discussions provided much-needed resistance to the EU’s unlimited support for Israel.

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Speaking on Wednesday, March 4, the Spanish prime minister called on the international community not to “repeat past mistakes” and blindly believe attacks on Iran would result in greater wellbeing. Sánchez stated that while he cannot predict the final outcome of the current situation, “what we do know is that it will not result in a more just international order, nor will it lead to higher wages, better public services, or a healthier environment.”

This response to Trump’s threats also reflected on the impacts of wars on national governments’ core responsibility – securing decent living conditions for the population. “It is absolutely unacceptable that leaders who are incapable of fulfilling this task use the smokescreen of war to hide their failure and, by doing so, line the pockets of a select few, the same ones as always,” Sánchez said. “The only ones who win when the world stops building hospitals to build missiles.”

Sánchez’s positioning represents a significant departure from other European high-ranking politicians, whose strategy toward the second Trump administration boils down to cajoling the US president and hoping for the best. In the process, most have also enthusiastically ramped up advocacy for more armament and war.

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In many aspects, the Spanish government has tried to distance itself from this trend, now insisting it would fulfill its duties toward the people – ensuring evacuations from West Asia for those who request them, supporting the local economy during the crisis, and protecting international law – despite some voices calling them naive.

“What is naive is to think that violence is the solution,” Sánchez countered. “It is naive to believe that democracies or respect between nations spring from ruins, or to think that blind and servile followership is a form of leadership.”

“We will not be complicit in something that is bad for the world and contrary to our values simply out of fear of reprisals from some,” he added. In protecting international law and advocating for peace, Sánchez concluded, they will not be alone, as millions of people across Europe, North America, West Asia and the rest of the world “do not want a future with more war or more uncertainty, but more peace and prosperity.”

“We are aware of the difficulties, but we are also certain that the future has not yet been determined, and that the spiral of violence that many take for granted is absolutely avoidable,” he said.

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