He Government yesterday made an effort to convey that relations with USA are “fluid” and “cordial», but the truth is that the tension between Madrid and Washington has only grown since the Executive ofPedro SanchezHe refused to allocate 5% of GDP to Defense.
High-level diplomatic sources consulted by this newspaper explain that there is currently tension in the Spanish diplomatic corps because “a strong gesture” is expected from the United States in relation to the use of military bases and their fit within the framework of the Atlantic Alliance. The North American Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, questioned the role of NATO if his country cannot use bases in allied territory.
Quite a blow to Spain, which has prohibited the Donald Trump Administration from using the Rota and Morón de la Frontera bases for the military campaign in Iran, as well as the entry into Spanish airspace of any American aircraft that participates in the deployment against Tehran. Moncloa continues to classify the conflict in the Middle East unleashed by the United States as an “illegal war” that has undermined order and international law.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, said that “Spain does not fear retaliation from Washington for closing airspace.” But the sources consulted believe that the United States will make more noise. Precisely because the last time Madrid downplayed a disagreement with Trump, the United States government responded forcefully. In any case, almost no one believes that Trump is going to unilaterally break the agreement under which the two American bases operate on Spanish soil. “It would be tremendously complex to dismantle them,” concedes a senior diplomatic source.
In any case, the debate alone already benefits the left. It should be remembered that the Spanish left is very sensitive to US military hegemony and its presence in Spanish territory. It just so happens that the two bases are in Andalusiawhere elections will be held on May 17. Some foreign sources regret that the Government is willing to engage in internal politics with such a delicate issue.
The Italian Defense Minister yesterday denied that his government had prohibited the United States from using the bases: “There are those who are trying to make it believe that Italy had decided to suspend the use of the bases by American forces. This is simply false, since the bases are active, in use and nothing has changed,” he published on the social network Government of Pedro Sánchez.
For some time now, a good part of the Spanish diplomatic corps has regretted that the Foreign Minister is imbuing everything that happens in the department with ideology, as well as Spanish foreign action itself. The presidency of Donald Trump is already a new chapter in the friction between a Spanish socialist president and Washington. Pedro Sánchez has decided to become his global nemesis. More now in full US attack on Iran.
The socialist leader uses the figure of Trump as an element of political contrast. According to the strategy designed in Moncloa, the President of the Government confronts the American president – whom he places as a symbol of the “reactionary wave” – to reinforce his own discourse. against the Popular Party and Vox.
Sánchez thus aspires to present himself as Trump’s ideological counterweight on the global board. The diagnosis in the president’s environment is a “relevant” distinction in the European political debate: “the difference between liberal democracies and social democracies.”
In classical terms, liberal democracy is identified with the rule of law, the separation of powers and the protection of individual freedoms, while social democracy adds an additional layer based on social rights, redistribution and the welfare state.
The thesis that is proposed is that the current rise of the radical right – which the analysis links to the new political cycle in the United States – would be eroding some consensuses of political liberalism, but not the social base on which the European model has been built since the Second World War.
As soon as the conflict in Iran began, President Donald Trump said that Spain was a “terrible” ally because of its position. The president warned that he would review the trade policy with Madrid. Although the Spanish Executive’s “No to war” has extended to other European capitals, the diplomatic sources consulted explain that it is “bad business” to get on with the United States. Although all sources put above Spanish sovereignty.