Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, titled his 2019 political memoir A Manual for Resistance—an apt name for a center-left leader known for his ability to survive and hold firm under pressure. So it was no surprise when he stood his ground on Wednesday after Donald Trump threatened Spain with a trade embargo over its opposition to the U.S.-Israeli bombing of Iran.
“We will not become accomplices to something that harms the world—and goes against our values and interests—simply out of fear of retaliation,” Sánchez insisted. Having already called the strikes “a violation of international law,” he summed up his government’s position plainly: “no to war.”
His defiance went beyond words. On Monday, it emerged that his administration was denying the U.S. use of the air bases at Rota and Morón, leading to the withdrawal of 15 American aircraft from Spain. The only previous time a Spanish government blocked U.S. access to these jointly run bases was in 1986, when Ronald Reagan ordered strikes against Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya.
Yet unlike his 1980s predecessor Felipe González, Sánchez’s stance sets him apart from other European leaders. With Trump threatening economic retaliation and fellow NATO members showing varying levels of alignment with Washington’s war plans, Sánchez’s position appears both principled and risky.
While the Spanish prime minister’s sense of morality has been mentioned repeatedly in recent days, he is better described as a pragmatist. His defiance over Iran reflects a calculated bet that the geopolitical risks are manageable, the potential electoral gains are significant, and that broad support for Trump’s militarism will not last.
Sánchez’s standoff with Trump last year over NATO defense spending targets already showed his willingness to break ranks. Spain was the only country to refuse to commit to spending 5% of GDP on defense, but because trade policy is handled at the EU level, it was shielded from direct White House retaliation—despite Trump’s threats of punitive tariffs.
That episode also highlights the domestic political logic behind many of Sánchez’s recent foreign policy moves. Facing a fragile parliamentary majority after inconclusive 2023 elections, along with renewed pressure from an ongoing corruption scandal within his Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), he has increasingly turned to the international stage to build political momentum at home. From his strong criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza to his confrontation with Trump over defense spending, Sánchez’s international stances have distanced him from domestic troubles and positioned him as a progressive counterweight to Washington.
Sánchez is now betting that his outspoken position on Iran will resonate with voters ahead of next year’s local elections, much like the PSOE’s 2004 pledge to withdraw Spanish troops from the Iraq war did. With conservative opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo openly defending military action against Iran, Sánchez can frame the debate in terms that appeal to Spain’s anti-militarist public, while painting his rival as supportive of a conflict that could drive up inflation at home.
Yet his high-profile foreign policy moves are not just about domestic advantage. They also signal how Sánchez believes Spain and the EU should position themselves in a time of intense geopolitical change. He has been one of the EU’s most vocal advocates for stronger commercial and diplomatic ties with China, as a balance to U.S. influence. In fact, before other European leaders visited Beijing in recent months, Sánchez took the risk of meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping the same week that Trump…Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez unveiled his sweeping “liberation day” tariffs—a move that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned was tantamount to Spain “cutting its own throat.”
Sánchez has also championed the EU-Mercosur free trade deal as part of an effort to diversify Europe’s commercial partners amid aggressive U.S. protectionism—even though sections of his base and his left-wing coalition partner, the Sumar party, have criticized the deal for its inadequate environmental and social protections. Sánchez is willing to be ahead of the curve on certain issues, but without drifting too far from the shifting boundaries of the European mainstream.
Such a balancing act has become increasingly hard to maintain as the EU has lurched to the right in recent years. During the pandemic, he played a central role in negotiating the EU’s NextGeneration recovery funds. However, his exclusion from last month’s informal European summit—organized by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to push a new agenda of deregulation and competitiveness in Brussels—underscores his growing isolation.
This was the backdrop when Merz declined to defend Spain, a fellow EU member, in the face of Donald Trump’s threats over Iran. If Merz’s response might suggest Madrid has overreached this time in its confrontation with Washington, Sánchez’s administration remains confident it will ultimately be vindicated. His ministers suggest that, as with the EU’s stance on Gaza and relations with China, the consensus in Europe will shift in the direction Spain has charted once the dire consequences of the war become evident.
In case of further escalation from the Trump administration, Sánchez also holds a final card: the jointly run U.S.-Spanish naval base at Rota, which since 2014 has hosted U.S. missile-defense destroyers. While the U.S. has already been prohibited from using the Rota airbase, Spanish media reports this week suggested that warships based at Rota had been deployed to the eastern Mediterranean and may have been involved in intercepting Iranian missiles aimed at Israel. The base remains a cornerstone of U.S. forward deployment between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, giving Spain a strategic importance that is difficult for Washington to ignore.
For now, the Spanish government looks increasingly confident in its stance. Few other center-left leaders have shown Sánchez’s instinct for seizing political moments in recent decades: his 11 years at the helm of the PSOE have been marked by repeated political reinventions as the terrain around him has shifted. Having recently become the third-longest-serving prime minister since Spain’s transition to democracy in the 1970s, his bet is that he has found the next opening through which to advance his position, both at home and abroad.
Eoghan Gilmartin is a freelance journalist who has covered Spanish politics for Jacobin Magazine, Tribune, Novara Media, and Open Democracy.
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs Pedro Sánchezs Solo Stance Against Trump
BeginnerLevel Questions
1 What is this solo stance against Trump that Pedro Sánchez took
This refers to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez publicly and directly criticizing former US President Donald Trumps policies and rhetoric particularly on issues like climate change multilateralism and trade often positioning Spain apart from other major European allies who were more cautious
2 Why would a Spanish leader take a stand against a US president Isnt that risky
While it carries diplomatic risk Sánchez aimed to defend core European and Spanish values that were at odds with Trumps America First agenda It was a calculated move to position Spain as a principled leader
3 What makes this move shrewd and pragmatic instead of just confrontational
It was shrewd because it strengthened Sánchezs image at home and in the EU as a progressive leader distanced Spain from controversial US policies without breaking the alliance and created a clear political identity that appealed to his domestic base and European partners
4 Did this hurt Spains relationship with the United States
Not in the long term The USSpain relationship is built on deep institutional ties While it caused temporary friction it did not break the strategic alliance The relationship recalibrated significantly after the Biden administration took office
Advanced Strategic Questions
5 How did this stance benefit Sánchez domestically in Spanish politics
It solidified his support among leftwing and progressive voters who opposed Trump It framed him as a leader with international moral authority which can be a powerful tool in domestic politics to unify his coalition and distinguish himself from opposition parties
6 Werent other EU leaders like Merkel or Macron also critical of Trump How was Sánchezs approach different
Yes but Sánchez was often more vocal and unequivocal earlier on especially on specific issues like withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord While Merkel and Macron engaged in complex diplomacy Sánchezs stance was a clearer valuesdriven rebuke positioning Spain as a bold voice within the EUs progressive wing
7 What were the potential downsides or risks of this strategy
The main risks were temporary alienation from the White House potentially missing out on bilateral discussions and creating a perception of Spain as an
