Across the Spanish-speaking world, socialist governments are dropping like flies. Their policies destroy economies and send voters running into the arms of right-wing candidates. Next on the list may be Spain. As Spaniards contemplate their next prime minister, they should remember the ways incumbent Pedro Sanchez is making them weaker on the international stage.
Like many elections, economic concerns are the biggest on the minds of voters. Spain has not escaped the affordability crisis affecting the housing market. Anger over this issue is what drove the socialist prime minister to call snap elections next month. Immigration is another issue driving anger toward the Sanchez government. The arrival of thousands of migrants in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and the difficulty of removing them highlight Sanchez’s ineptitude on this issue. However, it isn’t only domestic issues that voters should be thinking about.
Recently, Spain’s attitude toward China has been a headache for other members of the European Union. While many are mitigating the risk of Chinese espionage, Spain is intent on deepening its ties to China. Over the summer, the Spanish government signed an agreement with Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei to manage its wiretap data. Handing such sensitive data to a company from an adversarial nation created a major security risk. Worse, under Chinese law, Huawei cannot refuse to hand over data to the Chinese government.
As a NATO ally, this creates a tangential risk to the United States and our other allies. If China has access to Spain’s sensitive data, it also has backdoor access to other countries’ data. NATO countries coordinate defense. Therefore, any defense information shared with Spain risks being seen by China. Simply put, the U.S. is taking a big risk by sharing information with a compromised nation such as Spain.
Spain’s reckless handling of its data isn’t just a matter of the Chinese Communist Party reading its mail — there are real consequences to EU national security. The EU has been one of Ukraine’s top providers of aid since Russia invaded back in 2022. China is helping the other side, exporting dual-use mechanical components, buying Russian energy, and providing satellite data to the Russian military. If China leverages the Huawei deal into greater access to NATO intelligence, that will result in greater losses in Ukraine and a more dangerous security situation for Europe.
Sanchez has not only made NATO less safe with the Huawei deal, but his country’s defense budget also puts the alliance at risk. While most NATO countries recently committed to spending 5% of GDP on defense, Spain struggles to reach the old 2% goal. Sanchez may justify the low spending by saying Russia is not a threat to Spain, but national security threats extend beyond Moscow.
As the Spanish people know well, the war on terror is far-reaching. Hundreds were killed in the Madrid subway attack in 2004. Politicians such as Sanchez may think low defense spending will put adversaries at ease, but it only leaves Spain less prepared to deal with threats. The next prime minister of Spain must reverse this trend and make national security a priority.
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Policymakers in the U.S. and the EU should express disappointment over Spain’s poor national security record. NATO should consider consequences for Spain if it refuses to increase spending and continues giving data to the CCP. If a right-wing government comes to power, both the Trump administration and NATO should work with the new government on bringing Spain’s defense spending up to NATO’s benchmark.
When the Spanish people go to the polls next month, domestic issues will be on their minds. However, while Sanchez is failing domestically, voters should hold him to account for his foreign policy mistakes. To make Spain great again, voters must reject Sanchez’s weak socialism.
Matt Cookson is a supply chain professional in the defense industry. His writing has appeared in the Daily Wire, the Washington Times, the Daily Signal, and RealClearPolitics. Follow him on X @MattCookson95.