Once again, both internationally and in our country, social democratic forces —such as PASOK, SYRIZA, the New Left, as well as other opportunist forces in Greece— are rushing, with no small degree of exaggeration, to celebrate, publishing headlines such as “Do it like Sánchez” and claiming that Spain “is choosing the path of peace”.
What are they really trying to conceal from the people? Can they truly hide the fact that Spain is a member of NATO and continues to develop strategic cooperation with the US to this day? Can they erase the reality that the Spanish bourgeoisie, through all its governments —whether led by the People’s Party or by the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), currently in office, has consistently and strategically supported this orientation? Can they deny the historical fact that the PSOE, whether in government or in opposition, supported the Gulf War in 1991, the intervention in Yugoslavia in 1999, the intervention in Afghanistan in 2001, the intervention in Libya in 2011, and so on?
The attempt to whitewash the Sánchez government comes at a time when it is retreating, taking into account the pressure of popular outcry against the imperialist attack on Iran. At the same time, in essence, the choices of the PSOE are dictated by the interests of Spanish monopolies, which at this stage are not served by the escalation of the imperialist war in the Middle East.
This position stems from their heavy dependence on energy imports, as they are directly affected by instability in the Gulf; from the fact that Spanish companies viewed Iran as an emerging market for technology exports; and from the reality that the bourgeoisie is not in a privileged position to take part in the division of the spoils in the region. At the same time, following the same logic, the Spanish government supports the Spanish energy monopoly Repsol, which responded to Trump’s call for investment in Venezuela following the imperialist intervention on 3 January.
If we were to follow their logic of those who urge us to praise the social-democrat Sánchez, we would today also have to celebrate the stance of the far-right Italian Prime Minister Meloni, or the British Prime Minister Starmer, who are distancing themselves from US–Israeli plans in the Middle East, defending the interests of their own bourgeois classes —even as they support, like Sánchez, the EU’s “strategic autonomy” and the war in Ukraine, and prepare their own plans for the day after in the Strait of Hormuz.
We might also recall various examples of such divergence, such as the stance of PASOK governments in the 1980s towards Middle Eastern states, or Greece’s withdrawal from NATO’s military wing under the Karamanlis government in 1974–1980, which had nothing to do with any genuine “pro-peace” policy or the interests of the people, but rather with the needs of Greek capital.
In this context, it is worth highlighting certain points that demonstrate that Sánchez is not a “peacemaker”:
1) The US anti-missile destroyers USS Roosevelt and USS Bulkeley, stationed at the naval base in Rota (Cádiz), Spain, participated in operations against Iran by reinforcing Israel’s anti-missile shield.
2) Their primary mission was to reinforce Israel’s missile defence. According to sources in the Spanish Ministry of Defence, they actively participated in intercepting missile attacks launched by Iran in retaliation for the strikes of 28 February, acting as a “supplement” to Israel’s Iron Dome and Arrow systems.
3) The destroyers are stationed there under a bilateral US–Spain defence agreement, the latest extension of which was signed by Sánchez and his government in 2023. This renewal allowed for an increase in the number of US destroyers in Rota from four to six —an expansion that enabled the USS Roosevelt and USS Bulkeley to be stationed there and to participate in the current operations of 2026.
4) As part of the imperialist missions abroad in which the Spanish government is involved, more than 1,000 Spanish military personnel are deployed in the Middle East: nearly 700 in Lebanon, 275 in Iraq, and 150 in Turkey.
5) The Sánchez government in Spain is among the strongest supporters of Ukraine in the imperialist war against Russia; it has provided billions in military equipment (including tanks) to the Zelenskyy regime, and is training Ukrainian soldiers and officers at NATO bases in Spain. It is striking to recall the photograph of Sánchez alongside Zelenskyy in front of the Guernica by the communist painter Pablo Picasso.
6) The Spanish government, which presents itself as a “dove of peace”, is developing multi-billion-euro arms programmes with the Turkish government, which continues to occupy 37% of Cyprus, including the construction of a Turkish aircraft carrier and the purchase of fighter jets and helicopters. Meanwhile, in a recent interview, NATO hawk Mark Rutte praised Spain for the air defence coverage provided through the deployment of a Patriot system by its Social Democratic government is support of “key US interests in Turkey” .
7) The PSOE government, at the very same time it verbally condemned the genocide of the Palestinian people by the murderous state of Israel, signed 46 contracts for military equipment with Israeli companies.
For all these reasons, the people must reject the calls of social democracy and opportunism to support one bourgeois government or another, and to align themselves with interests that are not their own. With the communists taking the lead, the struggle must be strengthened for the independent interests of the working class and the peoples against the involvement of every country in the imperialist war, against the causes that give rise to war, and for the overthrow of the decayed capitalist system.