US Treasury Secretary claims Spain putting ‘American lives at risk’, tourism numbers drop in Catalonia so far in 2026, more Spaniards repatriated from Middle East and more news on Thursday March 5th.
US Treasury Secretary claims Spain putting ‘American lives at risk’
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said Spain’s stance regarding the Rota and Morón air bases is “unacceptable”, with the Spanish government doubling down on its reluctance to let the US launch attacks on Iran from there.
“The Spanish have been very uncooperative regarding the US bases and what we could do with our aircraft right as we were launching the operation.
“Anything they do that delays our ability to conduct this war as quickly and effectively as possible puts American lives at risk. The Spanish put American lives at risk,” he reiterated in an interview on CNBC .
On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Madrid had “agreed to cooperate with the US military”, without providing details on what the cooperation would entail.
But Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares told Cadena SER radio shortly afterwards that “our position on the use of the bases, on the war in the Middle East, on the bombardment of Iran, has not changed at all”.
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Tourism numbers drop in Catalonia so far in 2026
Although Catalonia registered a record 20 million+ foreign tourists in 2025, 2026 has with a decrease in the number of visitors, according to data published on Wednesday by Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE).
During January, 1.01 million tourists visited Catalonia, a 6.2 percent decrease compared to the previous year.
That’s despite the fact that the number of foreign tourists increased across Spain as a whole to 5.12 million, 1.2 percent more than a year ago.
More Spaniards repatriated from Middle East
A Spanish Air Force plane carrying 171 Spaniards repatriated from the Middle East landed early Thursday morning at Torrejón Air Base near Madrid.
This marks the second evacuation operation of Spanish citizens carried out by the Spanish government following the outbreak of the war in Iran initiated by the US and Israel.
There are at least 30,000 Spaniards living in the Middle East, with it still unclear if the focus will be on repatriating Spanish tourists or also these overseas residents.
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Foreign correspondents frustrated by lack of workspace in Spain
Foreign correspondents have nowhere to work in Madrid, despite the commitment of the State Secretariat for Communication (SEC) and the personal promises of the Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to enable an International Press Centre for them to carry out their correspondence work.
Previously they were able to carry out their duties at a headquarters at Calle María de Molina in Madrid, but this was closed in 2019.
In a statement obtained by Spanish news site El Confidencial, the Board of the Foreign Correspondents in Spain has denounced its “frustration” and “feeling of helplessness” in the face of the government’s excuses and broken promises.
