Relations between Spain and the United States have become strained again, this time due to the refusal of Pedro Sánchez’s Government to allow the use of the Rota and Morón bases for the US bombing campaign on Iran. Donald Trump has launched the biggest invective to date against our country, which he considers a “terrible ally“and to whom he has even threatened to impose an “embargo”, which he has not finished defining.
Until now, the Executive had achieved weather the wrath of the american president for not publicly committing, unlike other NATO allies, to raising defense and security spending to 5%. But the new clash, to which is added Sánchez’s explicit rejection of the “unjustified” war by the United States and Israel against Iran, has taken the diplomatic dispute to an unprecedented level.
Archive – Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez greets US President Donald Trump before the signing ceremony of the Middle East peace plan on October 13, 2025, in Egypt. / Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa – Archive
At the press conference, Trump not only repeated his unfulfilled threats of a trade punishment to Spain (trade policies are common to the entire European Union), but has also opened the range of possible punishments for Madrid.
– “I could stop tomorrow, or today, better yet, all business that has to do with Spain. I have the right to stop it, to impose embargoes, or anything you want. And we may do it with Spain. “What do you think?” he asked his Secretary of Commerce, Scott Bessent, during a press conference at the White House.
-“The Supreme Court has reaffirmed its authority to establish an embargo,” Bessent responded.
“An embargo, for what?”
After the new threats, Brussels has already said that it will defend the interests of the European Union and has reminded the United States of the trade agreement between both parties.
“Trump he doesn’t know what he’s saying. Spain does not have a trade policy. An embargo against Spain is against European policy. Good luck with that,” he analyzes for EL PERIÓDICO Roger Senserrichpolitical scientist based in the United States and author of Why Did America Broke?. “Also, an embargo, for what? We will buy European material. Trump says a lot of things. Once he realizes that it can’t be done, it will go away quickly.”
The Government considers Trump’s threats unfair, but is not deterred. “Spain is an export power of the EU and a reliable trade partner for 195 countries in the world, including the United States, with whom we maintain a historic and mutually beneficial trade relationship,” say Moncloa sources. “If the North American administration wants to review it must do so respecting the autonomy of private companiesinternational legality and bilateral agreements between the European Union and the United States”.
In the worst case, our country “has the resources necessary to contain possible impacts” and to “help sectors that could be affected and diversify supply chains.”
Possibility of redirecting the crisis
To Carlota García Encina, researcher at the Elcano Royal Institute, the situation can be redirected. The president of the United States has threatened other countries before and the blood has not ended up reaching the river.
“You have to calm down and not overreact. There are channels to talk through. I am sure that there will be people in the Government and certain ministries who will try to communicate with the American counterpart,” she says in conversation with EL PERIÓDICO. “Spain’s relationship with the United States It goes beyond the bases. We have a trade deficit with them, we would not lose more than them: we buy more from them than they from us, for example Liquefied Natural Gas. But Spain cannot forget that The United States is our first investorwe have to take care of that.”
Regarding the use of the bases, García Encina recalls that other NATO partners, such as Türkiye or the Gulf countries themselves, do not allow the use of their US bases to attack Iran. And remember that the American presence in the bases of Rota and Moron It has been maintained even during other previous diplomatic clashes, such as the one caused by the Iraq war.
“Sovereignty is Spanish. The cooperation agreement establishes that the use may or may not be authorized ‘in accordance with what has been agreed between the parties’. In a case like this, of a unilateral offensive without support from the United Nations, the Government may refuse to allow its use,” he adds.
Merz sides with Trump
Trump’s words against Spain occurred during the press conference after Friedrich Merz’s visit to the White House.
Asked about the threats made by the American against his European partner, the German chancellor has sided with Trump, although framing it not in the Iran conflict, but in Spain’s refusal to commit to increasing military spending up to the required levels.
“It’s very simple. We are trying to convince Spain to do its part in common security and that it has to meet that figure: 3.5% in defense and 1.5% in security“said the German conservative. “As the president has said, and it is correct, Spain is the only country that does not accept it.”
March 3, Washington. The President of the United States, Donald Trump, with the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz / Kay Nietfeld / REUTERS
These words expose the possibility of a fracture between Spain and the major European countries. The Spanish Government has been a loose verse in its explicit rejection of the Israeli-American attack against Iran, which ended with the assassination of its head of stateAyatollah Ali Khamenei. France, Germany and the United Kingdom have issued separate statements placing all the weight on Tehran and without any criticism of the unilateral war without casus belli. Merz himself has assured along with Trump that they are aligned on Iran.
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