Spain denies port call for ship carrying arms to Israel

Spain has refused permission for an Israel-bound ship carrying arms to call at the southeastern port of Cartagena, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on Thursday.

Albares confirmed reports that the Marianne Danica was carrying a cargo of arms to Israel and had requested permission to call at Cartagena on May 21.

He said refusing permission to dock in Spanish ports was consistent with Spain’s policy to ban the exports of all arms to Israel since the outbreak of the war in Gaza in October.

“We have detected this ship, we have refused to allow it to dock, and I can tell you that this will be a consistent policy with any ship carrying Israeli arms and arms cargo that wants to dock in Spanish ports,” Albares told reporters in Brussels.

It was carrying nearly 27 tons in explosive material from India’s Madras, El Pais reported.

H. Folmer & Co, the company operating the Marianne Danica, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The reports come amid a dispute between the ruling Socialists and their hard-left partners over allowing the transit of vessels carrying arms to Israeli ports.