Why does Spain dare to say "no" to the United States?

On February 28, 2026, after the United States and Israel launched a military operation codenamed “Epic Fury” against Iran, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez became the only major EU/NATO leader to publicly condemn the action as a “violation of international law” and ordered the US military to cease using Spanish territory at Rota Naval Base and Morón Air Base.

In the spectrum of European responses to the Iran crisis, Spain was on the most extreme anti-war end. German Chancellor Mertz visited the White House, calling Iran a “terrorist regime” and explicitly supporting US objectives; Italy publicly supported the US-Israel operation; UK Prime Minister Stamer initially refused but later allowed Cyprus’s Akrotiri Base to be used for “purely defensive purposes”; French President Macron announced the formation of a maritime escort coalition but did not condemn the US-Israel airstrikes. The E3 (UK, France, Germany) issued a joint statement condemning Iran’s retaliatory strikes but remained silent on the initial US-Israel actions that triggered the conflict.

Only Spain, Norway, and Denmark explicitly condemned the military operation. At the UN Human Rights Council, Spain’s representative was the only European delegate to condemn the “unilateral actions of the US and Israel,” while other European representatives only criticized Iran’s retaliatory strikes. Sánchez was the “only EU leader publicly condemning the strike on Iran.”

This stance made Spain the most assertive anti-war voice within the Western camp and also triggered Trump’s threat to “cut all trade with Spain.”

On the surface, it seems incredible for a medium-sized Southern European country to challenge the world’s top military power, but deeper analysis reveals that this is not a momentary impulse but the inevitable result of multiple structural factors.