Spain will increase pressure on Israel by banning Israel-bound ships and aircraft carrying weapons from calling at Spanish ports or entering Spanish airspace, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday.
Spain will also increase aid to the Palestinian authority and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and will impose an embargo on goods made in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, he said.
"We hope that (the measures) will serve to add pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government to alleviate some of the suffering that the Palestinian population is enduring," Sanchez said in a public address aired on local TV.
On Saturday, El País reported that the Spanish government plans to approve sanctions against Israel at the next Council of Ministers meeting on Tuesday. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and the Sumar electoral alliance in Spain have been reportedly working to implement an arms embargo on Israel.
Spain reportedly wants the embargo to be implemented immediately, El País cited government sources as saying. The embargo will prohibit the sale, supply, transfer, or export of weapons and technology directly or indirectly to Israel, according to the report, and this would apply to both public entities and private companies.
Weapons Embargo?
The embargo would also prohibit the import of military products from Israel.
Spain has already canceled several weapons contracts, including a $325 million contract for 168 Spike LR2 anti-tank missile launchers and 1,680 missiles from Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. It also cancelled a $7.5 million order for bullets from Israel’s IMI Systems for its Civil Guard police force.
Nevertheless, according to a report by EuropaPress, defense ministry sources admitted in May that a full break from Israeli military technology or an arms embargo would be “complicated” and “difficult” to implement since much of Spain’s cybersecurity and artificial intelligence technology is Israeli.
“The Ministry of Defense emphasizes that the text is one thing, practice is another,” the report said, quoting sources adding that “Spanish industry is not in a position to meet the demands.”
Spain and Israel had been close arms trade partners since 2008 until October 2023 when Spain’s Defense Minister Margarita Robles announced that Madrid had suspended its arms-purchasing contracts and would only agree to contracts regarding repairs or spare parts.
And despite the embargo, official trade data indicates that Spain continues to buy weapons from Israel, reaching €7 million in 2024 and €10.2 million in 2025. Over the past year, Spain imported €6.8 million worth of bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles, and similar munitions. Another €3.4 million worth of war weaponry and ammunition were also imported.
Defense Exports Surge
In July, Turkey announced that Ankara decided to sever all economic and trade ties with Israel and would close its airspace and waters to aircraft and ships transporting weapons or officials to Israel.
In 2024,Israel’s defense exports surged to an unprecedented $14.8 billion, marking the fourth consecutive year of growth. Key highlights included air defense systems that accounted for nearly half of all exports. During that year, European nations accounted for 54% of deals, up from 35% the previous year with missiles, rockets and air defense systems making up the largest tiers of defense exports.
The demand was driven by Israel’s operational success and the global appetite for proven systems amid rising geopolitical tensions.
Spain will also ban anyone who has participated directly in what Sanchez qualified as "genocide" from entering the country.
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a statement on Monday that Sanchez was trying to divert public attention from his domestic corruption scandals and qualified his measures as "antisemitic".
Israel responded by banning Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz and Youth Minister Sira Rego, both from far-left junior coalition partner Sumar, from entering Israel.