Oscar-winning Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar urged the Spanish government to cut all diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel on Wednesday over the war in Gaza, calling the conflict a ‘genocide’.
The ‘Talk to Her’ director called on Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to convince other European leaders to do the same in a video posted on Instagram by his production company, ‘El Deseo’. ALSO READ: Pedro Almodóvar wins lifetime achievement award at San Sebastian Festival.
‘I ask our government to sever diplomatic, commercial and all types of relations with the State of Israel as a sign of repulsion against the genocide it is committing against the people of Gaza before the eyes of the entire world,’ he said.
Almodóvar has previously signed a letter with other Spanish artists including Javier Bardem denouncing the ‘silence’ over Gaza during the Cannes Film Festival in May.
Sánchez’s left-leaning coalition government has been among the most vocal critics in the European Union of Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza. ALSO READ: Spain joins international condemnation of Israel’s plans to take over Gaza City.
Sánches himself called it a ‘genocide’ in June, having recognised a Palestinian state in May 2024, but Spain has not broken ties with Israel. ALSO READ: Sánchez: ‘We have a moral duty to save lives in Gaza’, which is a ‘catastrophic situation of genocide’.
The war was triggered by an unprecedented cross-border attack by Hamas into Israel on 7 October 2023, which resulted in the death of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to official data.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 62,819 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
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Pedro Almodóvar pide al Gobierno que rompa relaciones “diplomáticas, comerciales y de todo tipo” con Israel en repulsa por el “genocidio” en Gaza y se dirige a Sánchez para que “convenza a los aliados europeos” https://t.co/NtLg97kq9X pic.twitter.com/z09HrXGiPV
— Europa Press (@europapress) August 27, 2025
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