US President Donald Trump has become increasingly angry after Spain condemned the attack on Iran. Last week, he threatened to end all business with Spain for not cooperating with his military campaign, which began on February 28.

He also urged Spain to join the Iran war. Which Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has flatly rejected.

Spain has said that it will not allow the US to use the jointly owned Rota and Maron military infrastructures on its territory. In response, US President Donald Trump last week commented that Spain is a terrible ally. However, Spain did not back down from this US threat. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that his country will always be in favor of peace.

Spain is the first among European Union members to openly confront Trump. Juan Luis Manfredi, professor of international studies and president of the University of Castilla-La Mancha, said that Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez has shown a different stance than other Western powers.

‘Sanchez is one of the few progressive leaders in Europe. He thinks differently than the populist environment in France, Germany or other European countries. An independent voice creates an environment for him to create a different international agenda,' Manfredi said, 'There is also another domestic environment. Spain's traditionalist People's Party (PP) and others are pressuring Sanchez to support Trump. But Sanchez has made compliance with international law and respect for the sovereignty of any country an agenda. This has created his independent image. '

A survey published in the Spanish daily El País last Friday showed that Sanchez's stance on the Iran war has been fruitful. In this, 42 percent said that Sanchez's stance was good. While only 19 percent said that the opposition PP was right.

General elections are due in Spain by August 2027. That is why the stance taken now is expected to benefit Sanchez in the election as well.

From 1980 to 2016, Spain and the United States were known as allies of common democratic values ​​and similar ideologies. However, in January 2017, Trump, a fierce nationalist, was sworn in as president of the United States for the first time. Immediately after that, the distance between the United States and its allies began to increase.

On June 2, 2018, the socialist leader Sanchez became prime minister in Spain. Since then, Spain has started to see the United States as a strategic partner. US relations with Spain, which had been distant during Trump's first term, were somewhat better during Joe Biden's term. However, after Trump was sworn in for his second term in January 2025, Spain's distance from the United States began to increase again.

Sanchez's Spanish Socialist Workers' Party has been advocating global cooperation and socialism. Other parties in this party's coalition also have liberal ideologies. Trump has put forward an 'America First' policy. Which imposes American interests on its allies rather than cooperation.

Trump is pressuring NATO allies to increase their defense spending. However, Spain, which has a high national debt, does not seem ready for this. Spain faces a challenge to improve the people's economy more than defense spending.

Spain, which is facing a shortage of workers and productivity, is giving asylum to a large number of immigrants and providing them with easy and legal residence in the country. On the other hand, Donald Trump has adopted a policy of expelling illegal immigrants in the United States.

Long history of bilateral relations

Spain was the first country to fly the European flag on the American continent. In 1492, the Italian navigator Christopher Columbus reached the Caribbean islands under the flag of the Spanish king. Within a few years, the Spanish began to settle in the Caribbean, South America, and North America. In 1776, Spain also supported the United States in the war of independence in which 13 American states fought against Britain. However, it also affected neighboring states under Spanish rule. For example, Mexico gained independence from the Spanish colony in 1821. In 1821, the United States bought Florida by treaty with Spain. The United States also tried to buy Cuba, but Spain was not ready. Texas, New Mexico, California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, and other states remained in Mexico for some time after independence. Then they were annexed to the United States through war or treaty. Many countries in North and South America were shaken by the American War of Independence to gain independence from European colonies. However, as time went on, the United States began to intervene in those countries.

In 1898, the United States supported the rebels in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines to gain independence from the Spanish Empire.

As a result, the Spanish-American War broke out, and the United States controlled all three countries until the end of the war. After operating an interim administration in Cuba for four years, the United States established a new government.

The Philippines remained under its control until 1946. Although Puerto Rico has an autonomous government, sovereignty still lies with the United States.

During World War II, the dictator of the Spanish Empire, Francisco Franco, officially adopted a neutral policy. However, he unofficially provided secret information to the Axis powers Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.

Franco, who had anti-communist views, gave his ships and ports to help fight the Soviet Union.

After the defeat of Italy and Germany in World War I, Franco was under pressure. However, after the Cold War began, he improved relations with the West. In this process, the United States and Spain signed an agreement in Madrid in 1953. At this time, an economic and military cooperation agreement was signed between the United States and Spain.

It was through this agreement that Spain agreed to build the Rota naval base. It was agreed that the armies of both countries would operate this military infrastructure together. Maron Airport was also upgraded and brought under the command of the joint forces.

Spain, which signed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1982, began sending troops to NATO missions in 1999.

The military partnership between the United States and Spain deepened in the 2000s. Spain strongly supported the war that the United States launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Despite widespread domestic protests, Prime Minister José María Aznar decided to send Spanish troops to the Iraq War.

The incident was eventually followed by a series of train bombings in Madrid in 2004. At least 193 people were killed and more than 2,500 injured.

The bombers demanded that Spanish troops return home from the Iraq War. Spain withdrew from the Iraq War. But to keep America happy, it increased the number of its troops stationed in Afghanistan.

In 2010, the security relationship between Spain and the United States was deep. The military infrastructure in Rota was expanded and modernized. This helped increase the US strategic presence in the Mediterranean.

The 2015 bilateral defense cooperation agreement institutionalized the US military presence in Spain and expanded the routes for joint operations. Despite all this, problems began to arise in the bilateral relationship after Donald Trump became president.

During his first term (2017–2021), Trump demanded that all NATO countries increase their defense spending. After his pressure, NATO members committed to spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense. But Spain, which was in debt, could not increase its defense spending. Trump began to criticize Spain.

In January 2025, Trump is again putting the same pressure on Trump for his second term. He stopped inviting Spain, which failed to increase its security spending in the first term, to a meeting of European partners in 2025. This led to a growing diplomatic rift.

The United States has been criticizing Spain's actions, including setting up a checkpoint in the Strait of Gibraltar to check Israeli-American ships and condemning Israel's attack on Palestine.

Spain protested after the US kidnapped Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in January 2026. Spain claims that such a unilateral attack is against international policy.

Earlier, in 2024, Ireland, Spain and Norway decided to grant Palestine statehood. Similarly, the Spanish government has also imposed an arms embargo on Israel.

Is Trump's threat realistic?

Trump has threatened to cut off all trade with Spain. The US president has the power to cut off trade agreements with any country under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977. But this process is complicated. Because the US does not trade with Spain in isolation, but with the European Union (EU) as a whole. According to the Common Commercial Policy (CCP), which was adopted by the Treaty of Rome in 1957 and implemented since 1968, and the Single Market system that began in 1993, all member states' taxes and trade agreements fall under the European Union (EU). The EU protects its members when they are in trouble. Spain is the fourth largest economy among the 27 EU member states.

Trade between one country and another within the EU is not considered an export. For example, if a product reaches France from Spain, it is called an intra-community supply. This shows the deep trade relations between European countries. This means that imposing trade standards on one EU member affects the entire EU.

In the EU, various countries cooperate to produce any product. For example, car parts assembled in Germany may be made in Spain or Italy. Or, Spanish agricultural products may be processed and distributed by another country. Only then are they exported. This cycle also shows the state of modern international trade. That is why the US can put pressure on Spain through the EU. However, the standards targeting Spain will start a conflict between the EU and the US as soon as the EU's overall trade begins. The European Commission has said that trade rules imposed on one EU member country will be viewed in conjunction with the EU's overall market.