To the Spanish government's rejection of the use of the US bases in Rota and Morón for operations related to the war in Iran –they continue to be active for all other activities– now comes the closure of airspace to planes participating in the attack by the United States and Israel against Iran, as reported by El País and confirmed by the Spanish government. With this decision, the State takes another step in its "no to war": "Everyone knows Spain's position. The use of the [Rota and Morón] bases is not authorized, and, of course, the use of Spanish airspace for actions related to the war in Iran is not authorized," stated the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, in a press briefing this Monday.

The residents of Sant Climent Sescebes, a small town of about 700 inhabitants in the Alt Empordà region, are accustomed to the sounds of gunfire and explosions in the distance. Less than a kilometer away lies the Spanish army's training base, the only one in Catalonia where soldiers conduct live-fire exercises and maneuvers with explosives. Every week, the soldiers carry out exercises with live ammunition, and occasionally, other forces such as the Civil Guard, the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), or, in recent months, even elite squadrons of the Ukrainian army, also come to the 1,300-hectare training ground.

The world is once again experiencing uncertain times, in which old-fashioned military conflicts cannot be ruled out – the situation in Ukraine and also in the China Sea is of particular concern – and in which there are also new threats, such as cyber-attacks, sabotage, the climate crisis or the hijacking of basic supplies. The pandemic has exposed Spanish and European vulnerability in many areas and this has forced the PSOE-Podemos government to bring forward the publication of its National Security Strategy by one year; it was made public last week.

It is one of the world's leading arms manufacturers and exporters. Spain occupies the seventh place in the world ranking: for a decade now it has been in the top ten of this list, alongside powers such as the United States, Russia, Germany, China and the United Kingdom, and therefore well above its economic potential. It is ahead of Israel, South Korea and Italy. Its main buyers are NATO countries, especially Germany and the United Kingdom, followed at a distance by France and Australia. In fifth place it has two controversial clients: Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Because of the war in Yemen, plagued by atrocities, Germany and Italy have stopped selling to the Saudis. Spain, on the other hand, has not. Since 2015, at least 233,000 people have died in the Yemen war (there are allegations of war crimes against all sides). The Turkish genocide against the Kurds has not put a brake on Spanish arms sales. After Venezuela, the Arab Emirates are the eighth client of the State: the violations of human rights have led Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands to deny them the sale of arms. Again, Spain has kept it.