Eduardo González
Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares stated on Monday that “at this time” neither side has considered a US withdrawal from the Morón and Rota air bases, following Spain’s refusal to allow the use of these two joint military installations for the US military operation against Iran.
“At this time, it is not an issue being considered by either side,” Albares declared during an interview on the program “La hora de la 1.” According to the minister, Spain has exercised its “sovereign power” with its decision not to allow the use of the bases, whose transfer to the United States is stipulated in an agreement that establishes that their use “must always be in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations,” something that has not occurred with this “unilateral” action.
Furthermore, he warned, Spain has demonstrated its intention “not to participate in or do anything that fosters, escalates, or allows the continuation of a war for which we see no objective and which is having very serious consequences for the global economy and for the finances of Spaniards.”
In any case, Albares rejected any diplomatic repercussions for the government’s stance. “How can there be diplomatic consequences for a country sovereignly deciding, within the framework of International Law and the Charter of the United Nations? It would be the world turned upside down,” he added.
Regarding the evolution of the conflict, the Foreign Minister stated that, “at this time,” there is no “real possibility” of establishing mediation to return to the negotiating table and finally end the war in Iran. “For that, we need to involve both Iran and the US,” because “without both being involved, it will be very difficult to open the Strait of Hormuz and see a de-escalation of this war,” he warned.
“At this moment, we must tell the Spanish people the truth. Everything indicates that the war, on all fronts, will continue, and the risk we see is that this perpetual war in which the Middle East has been mired for many decades will spread,” he admitted.
“It would seem that there is no other way for the peoples of the Middle East to relate to one another other than through war, but this is now reaching a scale that, at least in its economic consequences, affects the entire world. That is why Spain opposes the war, calling for negotiation, calling for de-escalation; and certainly, that is the path we will continue to follow,” he insisted.
For this same reason, he recalled, Albares declined to participate in the international meeting organized last Thursday by the United Kingdom, which was attended by the 40 countries that make up the coalition to unblock the Strait of Hormuz. “I was invited, but Spain decided not to join because Spain will not participate in any meeting where any type of intervention, whether by force or security, that could escalate this war is discussed,” he insisted.
Energy consequences
Regarding the economic consequences of the war, Albares asserted that Spain “has a solid, diversified energy supply.” “I was in Algeria just a few days ago, where the president himself guaranteed an increase in the volume of gas to Spain if it so desired, and furthermore, he expressed his desire to even expand the energy infrastructure that would allow it,” he explained. “We have other partners and a large amount of renewable energy that guarantees a very significant percentage of Spanish energy sovereignty, because renewable energy—sunlight, gas—doesn’t need the Strait of Hormuz or any other strait to reach us,” he added.
However, he warned, “the global economic consequences of this war are very serious.” “That’s why we rejected it from the outset, and that’s why we are actively working to achieve, first, a de-escalation and then negotiations,” he insisted. He also noted that some twenty countries, including Spain, have sent a letter to the European Commission and EU institutions requesting the establishment of a special tax on the windfall profits of energy companies to mitigate the price increases caused by this war, similar to what was done after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine.