Sánchez evokes Iraq with ‘No to war’ slogan

MADRID – Pedro Sánchez is using the US-Israel war in Iran to revive one of Spain’s most divisive political memories, and to force the conservative opposition into an uncomfortable debate about its past.

In a televised address last week, the prime minister made his position clear: “No to war”. The message has raised his international profile, casting him as Europe’s most outspoken critic of Donald Trump over the conflict.

Madrid has repeatedly argued that the war breaches international law. It has also blocked the US from using its joint military bases for the operation, prompting Trump to threaten sweeping trade retaliation against the country.

But Sánchez’s message is also primed for his electorate. “Twenty-three years ago, another decision dragged us into war in the Middle East,” he said in his address, arguing the 2003 invasion of Iraq made the world “more unstable and unsafe”. 

At the time, Spain’s conservative government under prime minister José…