The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has opened an investigation to identify if there are companies that, from the Israel exhibitor in the , are promoting trips to occupied Palestinian territories. The initiative responds to the direct application of the , which prohibits the advertising of goods and services from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.
According to information collected by the ministry, several companies could be offering trips to places like Jericho, in the . If confirmed, these practices would be considered illicit advertising in accordance with article 4 of the aforementioned decree-law, approved in September of last year, which is part of the package of urgent measures against the genocide in Gaza and to support the Palestinian population. The royal decree, published on September 23 in the Official State Gazettealso includes the prohibition of importing products originating from these territories and the refusal to authorize the transit through Spain of fuels with possible military use in Israel.
The department headed by Pablo Bustinduy has not detailed which companies are being investigated or when the results will be made public. Nor has it specified what type of sanctions could be imposed, although the regulations provide for the withdrawal of advertising and the possible imposition of fines in the event of violation.
It is not the first time that Consumption acts in this area. In December of last year, he already demanded in these territories. Although on that occasion the names of the companies involved were not made public, it was stated that in total 138 advertising offers considered illegal in Spain had been found, as they were located in postal codes of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The announcement of said investigation was made public at the end of September and its execution was left in the hands of Bustinduy’s department, which examined whether there were companies that were selling or promoting products or services in Spain from occupied Palestinian territories, obtaining economic advantages from that situation. The analysis was based on the report released in July of that year by the UN special rapporteur, titled , which pointed to several companies for profiting from the occupation and warned of the existence of more than 371 illegal colonies and settlements built with machinery from international firms, also used in the demolition of Palestinian homes.
Minister Bustinduy had already announced in July, during the presentation of the event Alliances and actions before in Palestinethat his department would put “all necessary resources” to ensure that no company operating in Spain has its income statements “stained with the blood of the Palestinian people.”
