Spain cools its commercial relations with Israel and he buys 33% less in August compared to the same month of the previous year, according to the President of the Government, Pedro Sanchezrecognized Palestine like a state. This is reflected in data published this Friday by the Ministry of Economy and Trade about him foreign trade.
Thus, Spain imported a total of 34 million kilos of goods, far from the 51.4 million it acquired during the same month of 2023.
For its part, the amount that the economy paid during the eighth month of the year for these acquisitions amounts to 60.7 million euroscompared to the 80.2 million euros spent in August last year, or 24.5% less.
In other words, if the quantity purchased has decreased by 33%, the price paid has decreased less, by a little more than 24%. So not only do relationships cool, but Spain pays less for each product currently.
In a single month, that is, from July to August, Spain stopped buying 28.8% from Israel. In the seventh month of the year, the Spanish economy acquired goods from the country it leads Benjamin Netanyahu worth 85.3 million euros.
Thus, the effects of the Sánchez government’s hostile foreign policy are beginning to be felt. The socialist executive tilted the diplomatic balance in favor of Palestine.
Sánchez, Israel and Palestine
Concretely, Pedro Sánchez made an institutional declaration at the end of May in which he recognized Palestine as a state, thus providing his support to Israel and positioning himself in the conflict that began after the terrorist attacks that the Hebrew country suffered in October last year.
The terrorist group Hamas applauded this decision of the President of the Government. The self-proclaimed Islamic resistance movementdescribed the socialist leader’s announcement as “an important step for our rights.”
“We welcome the announcement by Norway, Ireland and Spain to recognize the State of Palestine and consider this an important step on the path to realizing our right to our land and the establishment of our independent Palestinian State, with Jerusalem as the capital,” the terrorist group added in a note published in the Palestinian newspaper Filastina media close to Hamas.
In fact, hostility toward the Hebrew nation is an ongoing attitude on the part of the government. This same Thursday, the Minister of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and the 2030 Agenda, Pablo Bustinduy, asked the Spanish companies which indicate in the labeled THE products coming from “territories occupied by Israel”.
According to the ministry, targeting the Hebrew nation allows consumers to have “clear” and “true” information and to be able to make decisions in this regard.
Thus, Bustinduy considers that marking guarantees the “right” to receive “true” information on the origin of products. According to him, this is particularly necessary because of the “critical” situation he is going through. Middle East.
To show the importance that Israel has for Spanish businesses and for the Spanish economy, Gil Gidronpresident of the Spanish-Israeli Chamber of Commerce and Industry, explained to OKDIARIO that “the bilateral affairs between Spain and Israel was 3.2 billion euros in 2022, including 2,160 million exports and 1,054 million imports, a record year.
In 2023, “bilateral affairs were almost 2.9 billion of euros”, according to Gidrón. However, these trade figures with Israel are decreasing as Spain improves its relations with Iran and Sánchez recognizes Palestine.
The Spanish Club of Exporters and Investors affirms that there is a “diplomatic crisis» of Spain with Israel which can lead to a trade crisis, as has happened with Algeria since Spain recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in 2022.
“If our companies exported to Algeria goods worth 1,916.6 million euros in 2020 and 1,887.7 in 2021, sales in 2022 were reduced to 1,017.8 million and in 2023 they did not even reach 350 million, or 331, 8 million (compared to imports of 6,424.8 million), warn businessmen.
