{"id":516711,"date":"2026-06-03T15:51:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T15:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/516711\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T15:51:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T15:51:19","slug":"spain-defends-its-rejection-of-trumps-law-of-the-jungle-approach-to-foreign-policy-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/516711\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain defends its rejection of Trump\u2019s \u2018law of the jungle\u2019 approach to foreign policy \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spain<\/a>\u2019s outspoken criticism of the US-Israeli war on Iran <\/a>has achieved a rare double for the country\u2019s traditionally low-key foreign policy: it has both infuriated Donald Trump<\/a> and irritated Spain\u2019s more cautious European allies.<\/p>\n

In the eyes of his critics, Spanish prime minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez<\/a> is guilty of grandstanding abroad to distract attention from mounting corruption woes and political paralysis at home. But his chief diplomat insists Spain is simply sticking to its internationalist principles while others forget theirs.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the Financial Times, Jos\u00e9 Manuel Albares, Spain\u2019s foreign minister, brushed off White House anger at Madrid\u2019s criticism of Trump and its refusal to let the US use bases in Spain to attack Iran. Albares also rejected private complaints in other European capitals that Spain\u2019s bare-knuckles approach is undermining Nato unity and efforts to manage Trump.<\/p>\n

According to Albares, the fundamental rupture in the world order is between a view grounded in international law, state sovereignty and the UN Charter on the one hand, and \u201cthe law of the jungle\u201d on the other \u2013 meaning \u201cchaos, violence and war as a substitute for foreign policy\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the real choice,\u201d he said. He rejected suggestions Spain had become an outlier on foreign policy in Europe and rather described it as a \u201cleading voice\u201d for the rules-based international order.<\/p>\n

\"SpanishSpanish foreign minister Jos\u00e9 Manuel Albares. Photograph: Olivier Matthys\/EPA <\/p>\n

Spain has traditionally been a dutiful EU member with little clout outside its old sphere of influence in Latin America.<\/p>\n

When S\u00e1nchez came to power in 2018, the country was still shaking off the shame of narrowly avoiding the need for a bailout during the Eurozone crisis. But in the past three years the economy has strengthened and Spain, starting with S\u00e1nchez\u2019s strident criticism of Israel\u2019s assault on Gaza, has assumed its most prominent position in global affairs in more than two decades.<\/p>\n

In 2003 S\u00e1nchez\u2019s conservative predecessor Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Aznar broke ranks with France and Germany and joined the then UK prime minister Tony Blair in backing the US-led invasion of Iraq.<\/p>\n

This year, S\u00e1nchez became the first European leader to declare that the US-Israeli war on Iran was \u201cillegal\u201d, comparing it to the Iraq War, which he said had yielded only a rise in jihadist terrorism, a migration crisis and a spike in energy costs.<\/p>\n

Asked whether Spain would participate in a Nato mission to secure the Strait of Hormuz<\/a> in the event of a putative US-Iran deal failing, Albares said: \u201cWe will not take part in any action that could mean an escalation. And above all, we think that there is no military solution for this crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s stance is consistent with a series of moves by S\u00e1nchez \u2013 a self-declared pacifist \u2013 that have outraged the Trump administration. At the start of the Iran war, Madrid refused to let the US use two jointly operated military bases in Spain to attack Iran, a decision that complicated the US operation, including its refuelling options.<\/p>\n

Spain had been \u201catrocious, just horrifying\u201d, Marco Rubio, US secretary of state, said last month. \u201cThere are some very legitimate questions to ask about Nato,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat is the purpose of being in an alliance whose benefit to us is these basing rights if, in a time of conflict like the one we\u2019ve had with Iran, they can deny us the use of those bases?\u201d<\/p>\n

When S\u00e1nchez became the spoiler at a Nato summit last June, rejecting a new US-inspired target to spend 5 per cent of GDP on defence, Trump called Spain \u201chorrible\u201d and accused it of freeloading.<\/p>\n

The rifts have fuelled speculation that Spain could pay a price for standing up to Trump. But Albares played down the idea that Washington might pare back the number of US forces at the two jointly run Spanish bases, Rota and Mor\u00f3n. He also batted away a previous threat by Trump to impose some form of trade embargo on Spain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe president of the United States talks about many, many countries and he has a way of speaking,\u201d he said. \u201cBut when you do foreign policy, it\u2019s facts. And the reality of the facts is that within Nato, when it comes to trade, when it comes to our cultural relations, investment, things are going smoothly. That\u2019s what\u2019s important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Insisting the US-Spain relationship was \u201cvery positive\u201d, he noted with satisfaction that he always spoke in Spanish to Rubio, whose parents migrated to the US from Cuba.<\/p>\n

One member of the opposition People\u2019s Party in Madrid criticised S\u00e1nchez for seeking to \u201cbuild his brand\u201d on the international stage with an eye on post-prime ministerial jobs. Others suggest he is trying to distract attention from a growing storm of corruption allegations against his family and close allies.<\/p>\n

\"DonaldDonald Trump and Pedro S\u00e1nchez in 2018. Photograph: Emmauuel Dunand\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

Government officials elsewhere in Europe grumble that S\u00e1nchez is antagonising Trump needlessly, even though many European leaders eventually adopted a stance close to his on both Iran and Gaza. France refused to let at least one Iran-bound plane for the US-Israeli assault fly over its territory, while Italy stopped US fighter jets from stopping to refuel at a base in Sicily on at least one occasion.<\/p>\n

Ignacio Molina, senior fellow at the Elcano Royal Institute, a think tank, said: \u201cParis and Berlin were not used to a southern nation taking the lead.\u201d A bigger risk for S\u00e1nchez than being punished by Washington, he suggested, was \u201closing centrality in Brussels\u201d.<\/p>\n

Another potential source of tension between Spain and the US is Cuba<\/a>, at a time when the Trump administration is applying mounting pressure on Havana.<\/p>\n

Asked what Spain would do in the event of US military intervention in Cuba, Albares said: \u201cWe don\u2019t accept military intervention in the countries in Latin America. For us Latin America goes well beyond foreign policy for Spain. Those are countries with which we have brotherhood ties. We don\u2019t see them as foreign countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spain has also enthusiastically embraced president Xi Jinping\u2019s China<\/a>, which S\u00e1nchez has visited four times in just over three years in search of Chinese investments and buyers for Spanish exports.<\/p>\n

Although other European leaders have visited Xi for similar reasons, their diplomats say Spain is going out on a limb with its untrammelled enthusiasm and a \u201cnaivety\u201d about potential security risks stemming from close economic ties with China.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe EU wants to keep China at arm\u2019s length and keep the US on board,\u201d said a Spanish diplomat who is critical of Albares. \u201cS\u00e1nchez gets as close as possible to China and throws sticks in the wheels of Europe\u2019s attempts to rearm. If that is not being an outlier, what is?\u201d<\/p>\n

Sensitive topics such as Tibet and the fate of Uyghur Muslims are conspicuously absent from Spain\u2019s engagement with China, the diplomat added. Spain\u2019s Asia-Pacific strategy, published in February, does not even mention Taiwan.<\/p>\n

Rejecting the maverick charge again, Albares claimed that France, Germany and Italy had conversations with China that were \u201cmore or less the same\u201d as Spain\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to have a global foreign policy, it\u2019s impossible to do so if you don\u2019t have a dialogue with China,\u201d he said. \u201cIt would be like saying that you want to have a global foreign policy, but I don\u2019t talk to the United States. I don\u2019t see how you can do it.\u201d \u2013 Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Spain\u2019s outspoken criticism of the US-Israeli war on Iran has achieved a rare double for the country\u2019s traditionally…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":516712,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[41],"tags":[9,10,48750,356,13,14,3761,6,18929,71,11,12,15,16,6587,5,81065,383,7,8,65,66,67],"class_list":["post-516711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-cuba","tag-donald-trump","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-gaza-strip","tag-headlines","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-marco-rubio","tag-news","tag-pedro-sanchez","tag-spain","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-world","tag-world-news","tag-worldnews"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116686978280108171","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}