The Spanish parliament announced on Wednesday that it will discuss imposing a full arms embargo on Israel on October 7, according to Israeli public broadcaster KAN News.
October 7, 2025, which falls next Tuesday, will be the second anniversary of the Hamas massacre in southern Israel.
The Spanish arms embargo would completely prevent the sale of weapons to Israel and the purchase of Israeli weapons by Spain.
According to the Spanish newspaper, El Pais, American ships carrying arms to Israel were blocked from docking at two naval bases in Spain on Monday. The strategic military bases in Rota (Cadiz) and Moron de la Frontera (Seville) are shared with the United States.
On September 1, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez banned ships and aircraft carrying weapons to Israel from docking at Spanish ports or entering Spanish airspace.
Shortly following that announcement, Sanchez also banned Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country, in a further attempt to pressure Israel to end the ongoing Israel-Hamas War and show solidarity with Gaza.
Rising antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiments in Spain
Since the start of this war, there has been a massive uptick in antisemitic and anti-Israel attitudes, including from Sanchez himself.
The prime minister, increasingly unpopular in his own country, voiced his “admiration” for and praised pro-Palestinian protesters for disrupting the La Vuelta cycling race (Spain’s version of the Tour de France) in mid-September. The chaotic protests, triggered by outrage at the participation of Israeli athletes in the race, led to the cancellation of the final leg of the race.
The Israeli ambassador to Spain, Dana Erlich, expressed her belief that the Spanish government was directly enabling the rise of antisemitism in the nation - during a Wednesday interview with N12.