Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez delivers a speech at Las Cortes Congress of Deputies in Madrid. AFP
Veteran diplomat Ana Maria Salomon Perez was officially relieved of her duties on Tuesday at the proposal of Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares.
She was recalled from Tel Aviv in September after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez unveiled measures designed to "stop the genocide in Gaza, pursue its perpetrators and support the Palestinian population".
A UN committee, UN experts, independent bodies, rights and aid groups, and genocide scholars have concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, while the International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to take steps to prevent acts of genocide -- orders it has so far failed to comply with.
With the ambassador's removal, Spain's diplomatic representation will now be handled by its charge d'affaires, a lower-ranking official whose status is meant to reflect the downgraded relations.
Israel withdrew its ambassador to Madrid in 2024 after Spain recognised Palestinian statehood and has since also been represented by a charge d'affaires.
"It's become clear that Spain's goodwill in maintaining cordial relations hasn't been reciprocated -- not diplomatically -- through an increase in Israel's representation in Spain, nor by restraining insults and slanders aimed at the Spanish people," Albares said.
"As a result, keeping an ambassador who had been called back for consultations for six months no longer made sense," he added during an interview with Spanish public television.
Spain's decision to definitively retire the ambassador follows years of tense exchanges between the two governments.
Sanchez, one of the most vocal critics of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, has also opposed the US-Israeli military strikes on Iran that began on February 28.
Spain only established diplomatic ties with Israel in 1986 following the death of dictator General Francisco Franco in 1975.
Under Franco, Spain avoided recognising Israel and maintained closer diplomatic ties with Arab states.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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