Barcelona mayor cancels trip to Israel amid entry ban

Israel denied entry to Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni on August 22, two months after his city council cut all institutional ties with the Israeli government and ended its twin-city partnership with Tel Aviv.

Collboni, who had planned to visit Yad Vashem and the Palestinian Authority, cancelled his trip following the refusal, Caliber.Az reports, citing Israeli media.

His entry request through the ETA system, which pre-screens travellers from visa-exempt countries, was rejected due to his anti-Israel statements. The decision involved the Population and Immigration Authority, acting Interior Minister Yariv Levin, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, and National Security Council chief Tzachi Hanegbi.

In late May, Collboni’s Socialist-led council voted to suspend “all institutional ties with the current Israeli government until human rights in Gaza are respected,” reversing his own September 2024 decision to restore ties with Tel Aviv, which had been cut by his predecessor, Ada Colau.

The council’s measures included economic restrictions on companies identified by the UN as conducting illegal operations harming Palestinian rights, society, economy, and culture. It also instructed the Fira de Barcelona trade fair to exclude Israeli pavilions and urged the city’s port to deny docking to ships transporting arms to Israel.

The move mirrors Spain’s position among 21 nations condemning Israel’s E1 plan in Ma’ale Adumim, which disrupts Palestinian territorial continuity between Ramallah and Bethlehem and has been described as a potential “death knell” for a Palestinian state.

By Tamilla Hasanova