BRUSSELS, Belgium: Spain has refused permission for a ship carrying weapons to Israel to dock in a Spanish port, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said.
“This is the first time we have done this because it is the first time we have detected a ship carrying a shipment of weapons to Israel that wants to enter a Spanish port,” he told reporters in Brussels.
Albares further said that it will be a consistent policy with any ship carrying weapons to Israel that wants to enter Spanish ports. He said the State Department will systematically refuse such stopovers for one obvious reason. “The Middle East doesn’t need more weapons, it needs more peace,” he added.
The Spanish minister did not provide details about the ship, but Transport Minister Oscar Puente said it was the Marianne Danica, which requested permission to enter the southeastern port of Cartagena on May 21.
El Pais newspaper reported that the Danish-flagged ship was transporting 27 tonnes of explosive material from Madras, India to the port of Haifa, Israel.
The announcement that permission has been denied comes amid a dispute between Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialists and their coalition partners, the hard-left Sumar party, over another ship, the Borkum, due to dock in Cartagena tomorrow.
Pro-Palestinian groups say Borkum is carrying weapons into Israel, prompting Sumar to call for his removal. But according to Puente, Borkum was transporting military material to the Czech Republic, not to Israel.
Spain has been one of Europe’s most critical voices on Israel’s offensive in Gaza and is trying to rally other European capitals behind the idea of recognizing a Palestinian state.
Spain has halted arms sales to Israel after it launched a military offensive against Hamas in Gaza.
