“No to War”

Like many politicians, the opinions of European leaders on the Trump administration have gone unstated for the majority of the current term. On Mar. 4, 2026, Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, broke away from the trend. Resurrecting a slogan from 2003 Spanish protests against the Iraq war – “No to war” (“No a la guerra”) – Sánchez took to the floor of La Moncloa to deliver a strict condemnation of the violent conflict of the world, referring to Russia and Israel as a reinforcement in what can be interpreted as a blatant rejection of the Trump administration’s current use of force in Iran.

The relationship between the current Spanish Prime Minister and the President of the United States has been consistently strained. Last June, when Trump demanded that NATO members aim to meet a 5% target for military spending, Sánchez rejected the proposal, deeming it “counterproductive”. He also branded the U.S. as setting “a terrible and very dangerous precedent” in their removal of Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela in January of 2026, arguing that the operation was an attempt to attain resources from the country. Sánchez has made his mark as an unapologetic critic of the Trump administration, setting himself apart from the rest of Europe, as he seeks to defend the peace and integrity of the Spanish people when it comes to international intervention.

Some have questioned Sánchez’ outspoken nature, however, as they link it to the previous corruption scandals linked to his government. Over the past two years, close allies of Pedro Sánchez have faced corruption allegations, the likes of which Sánchez himself attributes to his political rivals, the Popular Party (PP - Partido Popular), which was last ousted in 2018 when corruption scandals led to a vote of no confidence that put Sánchez in the position he holds today. Sánchez’ popularity has decreased as a result of such allegations, raising questions regarding if his boldness might be some attempt to display his allegiance to democracy, not corruption.

In his condemnation of the United States’ actions, Sánchez seems to have found a point of support from the citizens of Spain. In 2003, Jose Maria Aznar, the Spanish prime minister at the time, was opposed by 91% of Spaniards in his decision to support U.S. President George Bush and U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair in the Iraq war. Given Sánchez’ new use of an old slogan, he perhaps seeks to remind Spain of a leader who promoted and supported war, capitalising on the failures of past leaders to inflate the opinions of his current administration. That said, Sánchez is also one of the only European leaders to truly speak out against the Trump administration to this degree.

At the beginning of March, the Trump administration made a request to utilize the American military bases in Spain to aid their military efforts in Iran. The Spanish government quickly forbade such actions, and it was this dispute that provoked Sánchez’ speech, as he made it clear that Spain was opposed to the violence being carried out in Iran.. However, something about Sánchez’ most recent speech has grabbed the attention of the world.

Perhaps the impact of this particular speech can be attributed to the growing unity and forthrightness of European leaders (as demonstrated in recent weeks at the Munich conference and recent European Council meetings) after a long period of inability to unify under a single voice. Throughout 2026, it has become clearer that Europe must take great efforts in unifying and becoming more independent, as outside allies become less and less reliable. Nonetheless, in recent weeks, as Trump publicly criticised his new rival, saying “Spain has been terrible”, Friedrich Merz, the current Chancellor of Germany, did not hesitate to reject Trump’s proposal of cutting Spain out of all trade deals. As Sánchez speaks out in a way that other leaders have not, Europe is realizing that the repercussions they fear are largely within the realms of their own control.

And although the President of the European Commission, the President of the European Council, and the French President have come to his aid, the main supporters of his new rhetoric are his own citizens, as protests have been taking place all over Spain in the wake of their prime minister’s words. As Pedro Sánchez continues to brand the actions of the Trump administration as illegal, the long-term consequences remain uncertain, and the question going forward for the Spanish prime minister will be how well he can navigate an opinion steeped in neutrality, but forced into action. That said, it remains to be seen if his current efforts will be enough to salvage his dwindling support or whether Spain’s current government is running on borrowed time.