Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has firmly rejected any involvement in the escalating US-Israeli war on Iran, comparing the conflict to playing “Russian roulette with the destiny of millions” and vowing Spain will not be complicit “simply out of fear of reprisals from someone.”
In a televised address on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, Sánchez — one of Europe’s most vocal critics of Israel’s actions in Gaza — summarised his government’s stance in three words: “No to war.”
Responding directly to Donald Trump’s threat to end all trade with Spain over Madrid’s refusal to allow US use of jointly operated bases in southern Spain for strikes against Iran, Sánchez said:
“You can’t respond to one illegality with another because that’s how humanity’s great disasters begin.”
“You can’t play Russian roulette with the destiny of millions … Nobody knows for sure what will happen now. Even the objectives of those who launched the first attack are unclear. But we must be prepared … for the possibility that this will be a long war, with numerous casualties and, therefore, with serious economic consequences on a global scale.”
He invoked the 2003 Iraq invasion — supported by Spain’s then-conservative prime minister José María Aznar — as a cautionary tale, saying it was sold as a mission to eliminate weapons of mass destruction, bring democracy, and ensure global security, but instead “unleashed the greatest wave of insecurity our continent has suffered since the fall of the Berlin Wall.”
Sánchez insisted a government’s core duty is to protect and improve citizens’ lives, not exploit geopolitics for profit or war.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that those leaders who are incapable of fulfilling this duty use the smokescreen of war to hide their failure and, in the process, line the pockets of a select few – the same ones as always; the only ones who profit when the world stops building hospitals and starts building missiles,” he said.
Later Wednesday, the Spanish government categorically denied any policy shift after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed Madrid had agreed to cooperate with US military operations.
“It is not true. We categorically deny any change. Spain’s position has not changed,” a government spokesperson said.
Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares told Cadena Ser radio: “Our ‘no to war’ stance remains clear and unequivocal … She may be the White House press secretary, but I’m the foreign minister of Spain and I’m telling her that our position hasn’t changed at all.”
Trump, during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, had sharply criticised Spain for refusing NATO’s call to raise defence spending to 5% of GDP and blocking base access.
“Everybody was enthusiastic about it – Germany, everybody – and Spain didn’t do it,” Trump said. “And now Spain said we can’t use their bases … But they were unfriendly.”
He also attacked UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, saying: “This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.”
Merz later told reporters he had privately warned Trump that Spain, as an EU member, could not be singled out for trade punishment.
“I said that Spain is a member of the European Union and we negotiate about tariffs with the United States only together or not at all,” Merz said. “There is no way to treat Spain particularly badly.”
EU Internal Market Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné defended Spain, stating: “Any threat against member state is by definition a threat against the EU.”
EU Green Transition Chief Teresa Ribera compared Trump’s stance to his earlier threats over Greenland, warning of economic disruption from such rhetoric.
The Spanish government’s firm “no” stance reflects growing European unease over the widening Middle East conflict and its potential global fallout.
