President Trump ordered an immediate halt to all US trade with Spain on 8 July 2026, citing Madrid's refusal to hit NATO's 5%-of-GDP spending target and its stance on the Iran war. Spain shrugged the remarks off and the European Commission insisted trade is an EU-wide matter, underscoring the limits of unilateral action against a single member state.
Spain's extraordinary regularisation of undocumented migrants drew almost 1.2 million applications, as Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez casts legalisation as economic policy while much of Europe tightens its borders.
Spain's Supreme Court has sentenced former transport minister José Luis Ábalos to 24 years in prison for leading a scheme that rigged COVID-19 mask contracts. His aide Koldo García received 19 years. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was not charged, but the verdict — the first in a wider run of graft cases — sharpens questions about the stability of his fragile coalition.