The announcement of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, that Spain will recognize Palestine as a State on the 28th fulfills a political promise, although it does not clear up some questions about the practical consequences that the mandate will have.

The coalition government of PSOE and Sumar pledged to approve it, in line with the non-legislative proposal agreed in Congress in 2014 by most political groups, including the PP.

The situation in Palestine after the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel and the response of this country’s army in the Gaza Strip, which has caused more than 35,000 deaths, pushed the Sánchez Government to take the definitive step in order to press for a solution to the Middle East conflict.

The step of recognizing a State is a legal act regulated by International Law. It depends exclusively on the Government’s agreement, without the need to have the support of Parliament, although it may ask for it.

It is a unilateral decision and does not depend, in the case of Spain, whether or not it has the approval of the EU, which does not have competence in the area of recognition of States.

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Of the 193 members of the United Nations, just over 140 recognize it as a State, which will be joined by Spain, Norway and Ireland on the 28th.

There are eight other EU members who have already taken the step, such as Sweden, Romania or Poland, but they have not made important partners such as Germany, France or Italy.

On April 10, 143 countries asked the UN General Assembly to endorse Palestine as a full-fledged state, but this decision must have the approval of the Security Council and the United States opposes it.

Recognizing a new State requires that there be a defined population, a delimited territory and a government that exercises authority over it. “In the case of Palestine, no assumption is now fulfilled because there are no internationally established borders,” the professor of Public International Law at the UNED, Eduardo Trillo, points out to EFE.

Similarly, Trillo points out, there is no government that has control over the entire Palestinian territory – the West Bank and the Gaza Strip -, since the first is exercised by the Palestinian National Authority (ANP) and in the second, Hamas had it until the war with Israel and is a faction that Spain does not consider an interlocutor.

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According to Trillo, it is not something that Spain has to specify, because Palestine lacks defined limits according to international law. Therefore, the UNED professor adds, more than at the legal level, recognition should be interpreted as “a political push to the peace process and a support for the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people.”

Spain can from now on formalize political relations with Palestine and sign international treaties, among other initiatives. So far, Spain has signed a memorandum of understanding of cooperation since 1994 channeling humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people and another for the establishment of political consultations since 2012.

It is a discretionary measure of the Government, according to the professor of International Relations at the European University, Beatriz Gutiérrez. Today, it is the Consulate General of Spain, located in Jerusalem, that acts as an “embassy” and channels the relationship with the ANP.

Among the questions, Gutiérrez adds, is whether Spain would take the step of recognizing Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital, something it has not done so far.

The ANP has an office in Madrid, which since 2010 has had the rank of diplomatic mission – previously it was a “delegation” – and its premises have inviolability.

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The head of the office acts as ambassador in practice and participates in the king’s receptions to the diplomatic corps. On its website, there is talk of “The Embassy of Palestine in Spain.”

The war conflict between Israel and Hamas makes it difficult to give content to the state recognition of Palestine. “Until the war is over, it is difficult to make a perspective of the practical effects. It is too early to see how it will be managed,” says the professor of the European University, who agrees that the measure adopted by Spain should be seen, above all, from “a symbolic rather than a legal point of view.”

South Sudan was the last country that Spain gave its endorsement in 2011, after almost all the citizens of this territory supported the separation of the north from the country in a referendum.

In the 21st century, Spain has recognized two other countries: Montenegro, in 2006, and East Timor, in 2002.

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