Spain blocks ship carrying weapons to Israel from docking
Spain has blocked a ship carrying weapons to Israel from docking at one of its ports, in protest over the war in Gaza.
Marianne Danica, the cargo ship which is reported to be carrying 26.8 tons of explosive material supplied by an Indian company and bound for Haifa, had requested permission to call at the port of Cartagena on May 21.
Spain denied the request, in line with a policy of stopping vessels laden with arms and bound for Israel from docking there.
“The Middle East does not need more weapons, it needs more peace,” said José Manuel Albares, the Spanish foreign minister .
Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Mr Albares added: “This is the first time we have done this because it is the first time we have detected a ship carrying a shipment of arms to Israel that wishes to call at a Spanish port.”
Spain’s government has been outspoken about the need to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza, with Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish prime minister, criticising what he calls Israel’s “indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force” in its war against Hamas.
Mr Sánchez has said that the EU should revise its association agreement with Israel, in light of possible human rights abuses in Gaza, as his government prepares to announce its decision to recognise the state of Palestine – a move which is expected to happen next week.
Members of Sumar, the Left-wing alliance and junior member in Mr Sánchez’s Socialist-led coalition, had been pressing the government to bar entry of another ship into the port of Cartagena – claiming that it was also carrying weapons bound for Israel.
However, Óscar Puente, minister of transport and sustainable mobility of Spain, said that the Borkum was transporting military material to the Czech Republic, not Israel.
On Friday, the company that owns the Borkum – which, like the Marianne Danica, was heading to Spain from the Indian port of Chennai – announced that the ship would not be docking in Cartagena.
Íñigo Errejón, Sumar’s parliamentary spokesman, said the Borkum’s decision was a “victory” for the movement against the “genocide” taking place in Gaza.
