Spain’s left-leaning coalition government said on Tuesday that it will open investigations into businesses promoting goods or services in the country that originate from Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.
The move comes after the approval last week of a decree prohibiting the marketing of such products in Spain, with the stated aim of preventing companies from profiting from the occupation, according to a statement from the Consumer Ministry.
This decree forms part of a wider package of actions that also includes an arms embargo on Israel, intended to help bring an end to what Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has described as ‘the genocide in Gaza’. ALSO READ: Spain imposes permanent weapons ban on Israel, among 8 other measures ‘to stop genocide’ in Gaza.
Earlier this year, Consumer Affairs Minister Pablo Bustinduy (main image) had pledged that his department would deploy ‘all necessary resources’ to ensure that no company in Spain benefits from the occupation. At a July event, he said, ‘No firm should have its balance sheet stained with the blood of the Palestinian people.’
The announcement came just days after the United Nations updated its database of businesses involved in Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories. The new list identified 158 companies from 11 different countries.
One of the Spanish firms included, construction giant ACS, immediately sought to be taken off the list, explaining that it had sold its Israeli-operating subsidiary SEMI back in 2021.
‘ACS does not carry out any activity in Israel or in the Israeli settlements,’ the company, chaired by Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez, said in its statement.
While the majority of the international community deems the settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, Israel maintains that most are lawful. A number of smaller ‘outposts’ are illegal even under Israeli law, though they are frequently tolerated and later regularised.
Spain has positioned itself among Europe’s strongest critics of Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza, launched after the 7 October 2023 attacks carried out by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. ALSO READ: Felipe VI on Israel’s ‘abhorrent acts’ in Gaza: ‘We demand this massacre be stopped now’.
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