Spain permanently pulled its ambassador to Israel on Tuesday over its opposition to the U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran, ratcheting up an already tense diplomatic rift between the two countries.

The Spanish government formally terminated the ambassador’s post in its official gazette and said its embassy in Tel Aviv will now be led by a chargé d’affaires indefinitely.

Madrid had recalled its ambassador last September after Israel condemned Spain’s decision to block aircraft and ships carrying weapons to Israel from using Spanish ports or airspace. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called the move antisemitic at the time.

When a reporter on Wednesday asked whether Spain, in general, was cooperating with the U.S., President Donald Trump replied, “No, they’re not. I think they’re not cooperating at all.”

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“Spain, I think they’ve been very bad,” the president said. “Very bad. Not good at all. We may cut off trade with Spain.”

“I don’t know what Spain is doing,” Trump continued. “They’ve been very bad to NATO. They get protected, they don’t want to pay their fair share. And they’ve been that way for many years.”

Trump added that the people of Spain “are fantastic,” whereas the leadership is “not so good.”

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Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Wednesday criticized Spain’s decision to recall its ambassador to Israel permanently as “hard for me to absorb.”

“Spain is a member of NATO, and the United States and Israel are in joint operations against the Iranian regime who openly calls for the destruction of the Jewish State, attacks against the West, and seeks to purify Islam in its own image,” Graham wrote on X.

“The religious Nazi regime in Iran is the problem, not the Jewish State,” the senator continued. “I hope Spain’s actions will not encourage the tyrannical, fanatical regime in Iran — that abuses its own people — to hang on.”

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Relations between Spain and Israel have deteriorated sharply since Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza in response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks.

Israel also downgraded its diplomatic presence in Spain last May after Spain recognized a Palestinian state, placing its own embassy in Madrid under a chargé d’affaires.

Published on
11/03/2026 – 20:30 GMT+1

The European Union is bracing itself for potentially major repercussions as the Iran war persists, with Brussels urged to intervene to cushion the economic impact on consumers and secure energy supplies.

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But beyond the immediate concerns, the war is also raising existential questions about the EU’s foreign policy and its place in an increasingly dangerous and chaotic world.

In this context, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) Antonio López-Istúriz, of the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), and Daniel Attard of the centre-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) stepped into The Ring to defend their views on the EU’s response to the conflict.

Both MEPs are aligned in their condemnation of the Tehran regime and believe that the EU has to continue to support the Iranian people calling for change.

MEP Attard believes that reports of Iranian mine-laying ships in the critical Strait of Hormuz indicate that the regime is severely weakened and facing its moment of reckoning.

MEP López-Istúriz says the EU must firmly stand by its democratic allies — including the US and Israel — rejecting the “narrative” of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who has firmly condemned the US-Israeli attacks on Iran as a violation of international law and the values that the EU holds dear.

This episode of The Ring is anchored by Mared Gwyn Jones, produced by Luis Albertos and Amaia Echevarria, and edited by Vassilis Glynos.

Watch The Ring on Euronews TV or in the player above and send us your views by writing to thering@euronews.com.