The inauguration of Donald Trump as president of the United States has also marked the political news in Spain, especially after the president’s introduction to Spanish products. In the press conference after the Council of Ministers, the spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, clarified emphatically that “Spain is not a BRICS country” while the PP of Alberto Núñez Feijóo has avoided marking distances with Trump, even despite the mistake of the new president. The parliamentary spokesperson for the PP, Miguel Tellado, today, however, declared his party’s “maximum respect” for the American president, while blaming Pedro Sánchez’s government for Trump’s threats. Tellado has gone further in coming out in defense of the president of the United States, asking the Spanish Executive “to respect American democracy,” after Sánchez charged this Monday against the “technocaste” of technological oligarchs that surrounds the new president of the United States. USA
This Monday, the PP dedicated only one tweet from Feijóo congratulating Trump on his inauguration, in which the leader of the PP mentioned that he observes “many challenges to cooperate with Spain, with the EU, in NATO and on international political issues.” ” with the US Administration, while defending “the importance of the transatlantic relationship”, in the same vein as José María Aznar, a precursor in the PP of that link with the US. Beyond that brief message from Feijóo on the networks social, popular They avoided delving into Trump’s new mandate, uncomfortable with the evidence that the new American president has already forged solid alliances with his competitors on the extreme right, as highlighted by the presence of the leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, yesterday at his inauguration. of possession in Washington.
This Tuesday, the parliamentary spokesperson for the PP, Miguel Tellado, went further than Feijóo and defended Trump before Sánchez, after the Spanish president went on the attack yesterday: “Trump clearly won the American elections. It’s called democracy. I ask the Government of Spain to respect American democracy,” Tellado reflected at a press conference in Congress. “With many differences that may arise, we are defenders of the Atlantic link and the United States is an essential country,” he added before contemporizing with Trump’s first threats to Spain. The spokesperson has asked “not to take literally” Trump’s warning to impose tariffs on Spanish products, while blaming the progressive Spanish government for this. “Spain’s international image has been damaged in recent years. There is a perception that Spain is not reliable, because the Government of Spain is not reliable,” complained Tellado, who has also emphasized his “maximum respect” for Trump. “Sometimes I think that the mafia rules us,” he said at another time about the Sánchez Government.
The Government spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, responded in a press conference after the Council of Ministers that the US president’s mention of Spain could have been a “confusion”, because “Spain is not a BRICS country”. And, in addition to congratulating the new president on behalf of the Executive, he added: “Spain and, therefore, Europe see the United States as a natural ally. “We as a country have maintained and we will do everything possible to maintain that strategic relationship with the United States and especially with that transatlantic link that we have.” On the issue of the threat of tariffs launched by Trump, Alegría has insisted that Spain “is a reliable partner” and “the main economic engine at the moment in the EU” and maintains “good trade relations” with Washington. “In the last decade they have doubled, and we are going to continue working to strengthen the close relationship that we have had until now with the US administration,” Alegría remarked.
Regarding investment in Defense and weight in NATO, the Executive spokesperson highlighted that Spain has been a member of the alliance for 40 years. “We are a reliable, responsible and, above all, committed partner. In fact, we have more than 3,800 men and women deployed on missions. Therefore, Spain’s commitment against NATO is absolutely full and firm, and we are going to continue with that solid commitment.” Spain, with 1.28% of its GDP invested in defense, according to NATO data, is among all its members behind Slovenia, Luxembourg and Belgium. In 2014, the Alliance countries committed to devoting, a decade later, 2% of their GDP to military spending. The Government has proposed to achieve that goal in 2029.
Since Davos, at the economic forum in which Pedro Sánchez also participates, the Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, has tried to minimize the tension with Trump and has reduced his confusion about Spain’s membership of the BRICS, reports Carlos E. Cué. But he wanted to launch a fundamental charge, which in all probability Sánchez will consolidate this Wednesday, when he gives his speech in plenary, not so much against Trump, with whom the Government does not want to clash openly to avoid a diplomatic crisis, but against some of its main economic allies, which the president has already described as “techno-caste.” “Our democracy is threatened through disinformation, and there are new technologies that offer great opportunities, but also pose great threats. Spain is going to defend the European model and our democracy, which is the best way to protect the Spanish people,” Albares assured.
The minister does put his foot in the wall with Trump’s demand to increase defense spending to 3%, something that would mean an enormous effort for countries like Spain and Italy and would necessarily imply social cuts, because the money would have to be taken from somewhere. side to increase the percentage allocated to military spending. Albares has insisted that NATO, with the support of Spain, has agreed on 2%, and that is what the Executive is willing to comply with, not the 3% that Trump now unilaterally proposes. “The US is a very important ally but decisions on defense spending are made jointly by all NATO members,” Albares issued as a warning. Faced with the feeling that Trump conveyed of ignorance of the Spanish reality, the minister assures that Spain currently has “the greatest international weight in its history”, and cited the NATO summit in Madrid, the Spanish presidency of the EU, the UN summit in Seville on development aid scheduled for June, in addition to senior positions dominated by Spaniards.
