Several port cities with notable commercial weight in the Spanish Mediterranean have taken to the streets in unison this Saturday to protest against the arms trade with Israel. The entities calling for the mobilizations, the BDS Movement and the Free Palestine association, both attached to the Solidarity Network against the Occupation of Palestine (RESCOP), have led the protests under the joint slogan “no port for genocide”, “cap port per al genocide” in Valencia and Barcelona.
The mobilizations on December 14 come after a few turbulent months in which a considerable number of cargo ships that have sailed and docked in Spanish waters have been suspected of transporting explosives and military material with a possible destination to several Israeli ports, especially all since a controversy with the ‘Borkum’ ship took center stage in the media in Cartagena in May.
In a statement issued by the organizers of the protests, it is denounced that “the transit of ships bound for Israel through state ports is continuous and shameless.” “Since the detection of the ‘Borkum’, an entire network of arms and other metallurgical products trafficking towards Israel has been uncovered,” the writing continues, “where Spain and its ports play a key role.” “We demand that the Government of Spain, the Ministry of Transport and State Ports immediately implement an exceptional protocol for systematic registration and verification of the cargo of all ships whose origin or final destination is Israel, to ensure that the “The Executive does not assist in any way in the commission of war crimes or genocide,” the text concludes.
A hundred people walk through the center of Cartagena
It was precisely in Cartagena, the city that was involved from one day to the next in the scandal that was the starting point for the rest of the complaints, where protesters opposed to the transit of weapons with the country that has already been bombing for more than a year incessantly Gaza have gathered first. Before noon, the Plaza de España in the Murcian city was already filled with people dressed in Palestinian flags and handwritten protest banners with messages such as “Free Palestine from the river to the sea,” “Cartagena no longer complicit in the genocide in Gaza.” ” or “If Jesus of Palestine were born today, he would be a victim of Israel.”
In total, a hundred people, according to police sources, have gathered in the central square of Cartagena to immediately leave in a rush towards the port esplanade, along Calle del Carmen and Calle Mayor. From a megaphone that deafened the entire crowd that is now abundant in the old town of the port city and that has been passed from hand to hand during the journey, slogans have been shouted such as “it is not a war, it is a genocide”; “Israel murders, Europe sponsors”; “where are they, you can’t see the sanctions on Israel” or “Zionist state, terrorist state.”
The Podemos deputy in the Regional Assembly, María Marín, and several representatives of the organizing associations attended the Cartagena demonstration. One of them, Almudena Gómez, from BDS Murcia, highlighted that “this mobilization is within the RESCOP arms embargo campaign.” “First, the Government of Spain was denounced for failing to comply with the arms trade law and international treaties. “We demand a more comprehensive arms embargo on Israel,” he argued.
For his part, Pedro Luis López, from the Free Palestine Region of Murcia, has highlighted the coordinated nature of this Saturday’s protest “with several port cities in the State.” Among them, Valencia, Barcelona and Algeciras. According to López, “a recent investigation has discovered that two vessels, ‘Maersk Pittsburgh’ and ‘Maersk Chicago’, have been sending weapons through the port of Algeciras, with more than a thousand shipments.” “We ask for a systematic review of ships and transits so that the arms embargo on Israel is complied with,” he stressed. “In Cartagena,” López detailed, “in 2024 a lot of explosives are being imported. The last ship was the Kasser, in November, which came from Israel. “Importation is a way to collaborate with Israeli arms companies.”
Since May, the Government has adopted measures denying entry into Spanish ports to ships such as the ‘Marianne Danica’, a Danish-flagged ship that left India bound for Haifa (Israel), loaded with 28.6 tons. of explosives, to which the Government vetoed the scale in Cartagena on May 21. The Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, has declared on several occasions, since the ‘Borkum’ case became evident, that “Spain neither sells nor authorizes the transit of weapons that have their final destination in Israel.”
Last week, according to information provided by The Countrythe United States threatened to sanction Spain for vetoing ships transporting weapons to Israel from stopping at its ports. The Federal Maritime Commission (CFM) is investigating whether Spain “is creating unfavorable conditions for maritime transportation in the foreign trade of the United States by denying entry to its ports for certain vessels.”
Once they arrived at the port esplanade of Cartagena, the protagonists of the mobilization formed a kind of circle, in the center of which they displayed a large Palestinian flag. One of the attendees, Encarna Aguirre, has expressed that “as a Cartagena” it “hurts her soul that the port of our city can serve as a transit for weapons, ammunition and everything that facilitates the massacre. “We do not want to be a point of support for a genocide that does not sustain itself, but rather needs accomplices.”
Among those gathered was also María, a doctor from Murcia who has been working as a volunteer in the Gaza Strip for several months. There he coordinated three health centers. He was in charge of more doctors, as well as nurses and psychologists. He took the protest microphone for a few minutes. “It is very emotional to see the number of people who are supporting Palestine. I saw first-hand the suffering of the people, but my personal experience was very gratifying, because I was able to see how human beings can continue and move forward with great energy against brutality,” he noted to applause.
The case of ‘Borkum’ and ‘Vertom Odette’
All the commotion that this Saturday has led to a unison song from several Spanish ports began, in reality, on May 14 in Cartagena with the RESCOP complaint against the ‘Borkum’, the ship flying the flag of Antigua and Barbuda that It arrived in Escombreras loaded with dozens of tons of military weapons with a single destination, according to the network: the Israeli port of Ashdod, located just 30 kilometers from the Gaza Strip.
The RESCOP complaint came after verifying the identification codes – more than 30 tons of explosive weapons – of each container housed on the cargo ship that were specified in a series of documents obtained by the Campaign to End Arms Trade with Israel and leaked since the port of origin of the ‘Borkum’, in Chennai (India), to which elDiario.es had access.
That leak captured media attention and caused a series of protests and exchanges of information between pro-Palestinian associations and the Government of Spain. The Executive was quick to ensure that the ship’s cargo was destined for the Slovenian port of Koper, and that it would then travel by road to the Czech Republic. The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, published official documents that attested to the version.
Finally, at dawn on May 17, the ‘Borkum’ left the waters of the port of Cartagena after having anchored there all day and without finally docking in the city. The same day that the Antigua and Barbuda cargo ship anchored in Cartagena, the Executive denied docking permits for the ‘Marianne Danica’, towards which the Executive did certify that it was transporting ammunition and explosives to supply the Israeli army in the middle of the attack on Gaza. .
Three weeks after that episode, a new ship, the ‘Vertom Odette’, flying the Luxembourg flag, was also reported for the same reason. The cargo ship also appeared in the leaked documentation obtained by the End Arms Trade With Israel Campaign. This one did dock in Cartagena. This time the Executive did not let the controversy grow: the Government Delegation in the Region of Murcia confirmed that the ship’s cargo was going “to other European ports”, and that “all documentation” was “supervised and controlled by Foreign Affairs.” His arrival also caused protests on the port esplanade itself.
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