Earlier this month, prime minister Pedro Sanchez unveiled nine measures aimed at pressuring Israel to scale-back its military offensive in Gaza. These included a ban on the export of Spanish-made weapons to Israel, restrictions on military aircraft crossing Spanish airspace and the closure of Spanish ports to ships carrying arms. But legal experts raised doubts over the effectiveness of these measures given that the US, an outspoken ally of Israel, conducts military operations on Spanish soil. “Rota and Moron are under Spanish sovereignty, under the Spanish military, and everything that happens there would have to be authorised by the Spanish authorities,” the sources said. However, cargo viewed as ‘controversial’ – such as arms bound for conflict zones – requires explicit authorisation from the Spanish military.