Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo lauded the country’s energy resilience to the Iran war, saying a pivot to solar and wind power has shielded Madrid from the worst impacts of the resulting energy shock.

His comments come at a time when Spain’s government has emerged as one of the European Union’s leading critics of the U.S.-Israel war against Iran, with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez having described the ongoing Middle East crisis as a “disaster.”

U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to cut off trade with Madrid after Spain prevented two jointly operated bases in its territory from being used in strikes against Iran.

Speaking to CNBC’s Karen Tso on Thursday, Cuerpo said that Spain had been better prepared for this crisis, pointing out that the country has been the fastest-growing advanced economy in Europe over the last couple of years.

Spain also created 40% of all new jobs in the euro zone last year, Cuerpo said, while noting that on budgetary terms, the country’s debt has nearly returned to pre-Covid levels.

“In energy terms, we’re also better prepared because we’ve pursued our agenda on renewables,” Cuerpo said on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank Group Spring Meetings in Washington this week.

Spain’s reliance on gas for electricity prices has dropped to just 16% this year, Cuerpo said, down from 75% in 2019. “So, it kind of increases our energy sovereignty and reduces the exposure to the shock,” he added.

Cuerpo acknowledged, however, that citizens and businesses were still suffering the consequences of the Iran war through higher fuel and fertilizer prices.

Analysts have pointed to Spain as a prime example of how countries have been able to limit their exposure to fossil fuel price volatility in recent weeks.

Spain, alongside Portugal and some Nordic countries, is among the countries to have registered the lowest gas prices across the 27-nation bloc since the Middle East conflict began.

Spain’s renewables push has not been without its critics. Indeed, the country’s government was sharply criticized last year following a catastrophic blackout. The outage, which some U.S. lawmakers blamed on Spain’s green agenda, was one of Europe’s worst in living memory.

Spain’s government subsequently denied renewable energy was to blame for the blackout, and a report by Entso-e, which had been investigating the root cause of the April 2025 incident, later found that there was no single cause and instead said there was a combination of “many interacting factors” which led to the outage.

Speaking alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz last month, Trump pledged to sever trade ties with Spain, saying the White House did not want anything to do with the country.

The U.S. president has also repeatedly criticized Madrid for its refusal to meet the NATO defense spending target of 5% of gross domestic product.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday joined a chorus of world leaders welcoming the announcement of a U.S.-Iran ceasefire but issued a thinly veiled swipe at the Trump administration for having initiated the hostilities.

“Ceasefires are always good news. Especially if they lead to a just and lasting peace. But this momentary relief cannot make us forget the chaos, the destruction, and the lives lost,” Sánchez said in a social media post, according to a translation.

“The Government of Spain will not applaud those who set the world on fire just because they show up with a bucket.”

Sánchez, who has emerged as one of the European Union’s leading critics of U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran, called for “diplomacy, international law and PEACE” to prevail.

His comments come shortly after the U.S. president said he had agreed to suspend attacks on Iranian infrastructure for two weeks, sparking a broad-based relief rally across risk assets.

Trump had earlier threatened that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if no deal was struck by his Tuesday deadline.

Iranian officials said the temporary truce meant safe passage through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz would be “possible,” subject to coordination with its armed forces and “technical limitations” — caveats that may give Tehran some room to define compliance on its own terms.

World leaders welcomed the ceasefire, although analysts characterized the agreement as fragile and warned that a substantial lack of trust on both sides will likely complicate the path to lasting peace.

Sánchez has repeatedly raised the ire of the White House since the U.S. and Israel first launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28.

Spain’s government refused to allow two jointly operated bases in its territory from being used in U.S. strikes against Iran, before later closing its airspace to U.S. aircraft involved in attacks as it doubled down on its anti-war stance.

In response, Trump renewed his criticism of Spain’s defense spending and threatened to sever all trade ties with the southern European country.

Alongside Spain’s prime minister, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the two-week ceasefire, saying it brings “much needed de-escalation.”

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas described the deal as “a step back from the brink after weeks of escalation.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also welcomed the ceasefire agreement, saying it “will bring a moment of relief to the region and the world.”

Israel, for its part, backed the U.S. ceasefire with Iran but said the agreement doesn’t cover fighting against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, India, China and Japan all issued statements welcoming the diplomatic breakthrough, which was brokered by Pakistan.

Further talks to explore a comprehensive end to the Middle East crisis are scheduled to take place in Islamabad on Friday.

— CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger contributed to this report.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday doubled down on his criticism of the U.S strikes against Iran, describing the escalating Middle East conflict as a “disaster.”

His comments come after U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to cut off trade with Madrid after Spain’s government prevented two jointly operated bases in its territory from being used in the strikes.

“Spain has been terrible,” Trump said on Tuesday, during a White House news conference alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. “We’re going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don’t want anything to do with Spain,” he added.

In a televised address on Wednesday morning, Sanchez said: “Very often great wars start with a chain of events spiralling out of control due to miscalculations, technical failures, and unforeseen circumstances. Therefore, we must learn from history and cannot play Russian roulette with the fate of millions,” according to a CNBC translation.

Sanchez warned of “repeating the mistakes of the past,” drawing a comparison with the invasion of Iraq in the early 2000s, and summarized the government’s position as: “No to war.”

Spain’s socialist prime minister has emerged as one of the leading critics of the U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran among leaders of EU nations.

Trump’s latest comments follow his condemnation of Madrid’s refusal to meet the NATO defense spending target of 5% of GDP.

Spain’s Ibex 35 index traded 1.4% higher at around 10:17 a.m. London time (5:17 a.m. ET), reversing earlier losses amid U.S. trade jitters. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index, meanwhile, advanced around 1.2%.

Trump’s threat to punish Spain on trade would be challenging, given that the 27 EU nations negotiate trade agreements collectively.

“It’s naive to believe that democracy or respect among nations can spring from ruins, or to think that blind and servile obedience is a form of leadership. On the contrary, I believe this position is leadership,” Sanchez said.

“We will not be complicit in something that is bad for the world and contrary to our values ​​and interests simply out of fear of reprisals from someone,” he added.

— CNBC’s Charlotte Reed contributed to this report.