How Spain became Europe’s conscience as Sanchez leads ‘moral’ pushback against US and Israel

NewsWorldMiddle Eastin focusHow Spain became Europe’s conscience as Sanchez leads ‘moral’ pushback against US and IsraelEurope has increasingly distanced itself from US-Israeli action in the Middle East. Maira Butt looks at how Pedro Sanchez’s government led the way on the continentSunday 12 April 2026 14:43 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2955299","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/spain-israel-iran-netanyahu-pedro-sanchez-b2955299.html","title":" How Spain became Europe’s conscience with ‘moral’ pushback against US and Israel "},"popoverPlacementOverride":"bottom"}CloseSpain closes airspace to US planes involved in Iran warOn The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly international news dispatchEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_On_The_Ground_Newsletter","regTitle":"On The Ground","subscriptionGroup":"on_the_ground","subscriptionGroupId":"14806361-6435-4d19-b06e-05326605fb01","pathPrefix":["/news/world/europe","/news/world/middle-east","/news/world/australasia","/news/world/africa","/asia"],"associatedAuthors":["Bel Trew","Sam Kiley"],"title":"On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","mobileTitle":"Get a weekly international news dispatch","lengthenedMobileTitle":"Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/onTheGround1_1.png","newsletterKey":"receiveOnTheGround","regSourceSection"...