Spain Formally Removes Ambassador to Israel, Cements Diplomatic Break over Iran War

M
ADRID — The Spanish government has officially terminated the appointment of its ambassador to Israel, Ana María Salomón Pérez, effectively freezing top-tier diplomatic relations as Madrid’s opposition to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran reaches a breaking point. The decision, formalised by Royal Decree 195/2026 following a cabinet meeting on March 10, 2026 — countersigned by King Felipe VI and Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares — was published in Spain’s Official State Gazette (BOE) on Wednesday, March 11. It formalizes a rift that has been accelerating since September 2025, when Salomón Pérez was first recalled for “consultations.” Spain’s embassy in Tel Aviv has been managed by chargé d’affaires Francisca María Pedrós Carretero since Salomón Pérez’s recall; Tuesday’s decree formally terminates the ambassadorship and makes that arrangement indefinite. Israel’s embassy in Madrid has similarly operated without a resident ambassador since May 2024, when Jerusalem recalled Rodica Radian-Gordon following Spain’s recognition of Palestinian statehood — meaning both capitals now formally lack an ambassador in the other.

While few European governments have matched Madrid’s degree of defiance, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has doubled down on his “No to war” policy, labeling the U.S.-Israeli strikes as “unjustifiable” and warning in a March 4 national address that great wars often begin with “a chain of events spiralling out of control” and that the region risked a game of “Russian roulette with the fate of millions.” Spain backed this rhetoric by denying Washington the use of Naval Station Rota and Morón Air Base — two jointly operated facilities in Andalusia — prompting the US to relocate 15 aircraft, including aerial refuelling tankers, from those installations. This unwavering stance has drawn sharp rebukes from both Washington and Jerusalem, pushing Madrid into an increasingly isolated position on the world stage.

Relations hit a historic low after Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar had branded Spain’s airspace and shipping bans as antisemitic in September 2025, then escalated in early March 2026 by accusing the Sánchez administration of “standing with tyrants” for opposing the US-Israeli strikes on Iran — two distinct charges separated by six months of accelerating bilateral tension. On March 3, President Trump escalated the confrontation during an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, threatening a full trade embargo and directing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to “cut off all dealings” with Spain — citing both the denial of base access and Madrid’s refusal to commit to NATO’s 5% GDP defence spending target, adding economic pressure to an already volatile political standoff.

Foreign Ministry sources in Madrid suggest that a return to “business as usual” is unlikely as long as the current military operations in the Middle East continue, with both governments showing no immediate appetite for de-escalation. The crisis underscores the widening fractures within the Western alliance, as Spain places opposition to the war above alliance solidarity, even at the cost of its formal bilateral ties with Israel—a diplomatic relationship that, while only formalised in 1986, had grown into a significant regional partnership.

As the conflict deepens, Madrid’s empty chair in Tel Aviv stands not merely as a bureaucratic vacancy, but as a symbol of a government unwilling to lend its name—or its airspace—to a war it considers unjustifiable.