Spain’s left-wing government has begun to implement its new policy of refusing entry to Spanish harbours to cargo ships carrying weapons for Israel.

The Danish freighter Marianne Danica was already denied a port call as requested for May 21.

Transport Minister Óscar Puente wrote on Thursday evening on X, formerly Twitter.

Spain will systematically reject such stopovers ”for one obvious reason.”

Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said in Brussels late on Thursday.

“The Middle East does not need more weapons. It needs more peace.”

Spain is one of the harshest critics in Europe of Israel’s military action against the Islamist militant organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The government had announced in February that arms exports to Israel had been suspended in October.

The decision to deny entry to all ships loaded with weapons for Israel is in line with this, Albares stressed.

The controversy over the issue erupted in Spain on Tuesday, centring on the anticipated arrival of the German ship Borkum in the eastern Spanish port of Cartagena on Friday.

Pro-Palestinian movements and critics of the Israeli government called on Madrid to deny the ship entry or detain it as it was transporting weapons for Israel.

Several government ministers rejected this claim and said the ship’s final destination was the Czech Republic.

Nevertheless, the left-wing party Podemos filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court in Madrid.

(dpa/NAN)