Catalonia's parliament in Spain on Thursday passed a resolution recognizing Israel as committing “the crime of apartheid against the Palestinian people”, i24NEWS reported, becoming the first European parliament to pass such a notion.
The resolution calls on both Catalonian and Spanish governments to not render “aid or assistance” to Israel and to use political and diplomatic tools to force Israeli authorities to implement recommendations issued by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Spain previously adopted several anti-Israeli motions on the regional and municipal levels.
In 2018, the City Council of the Spanish town of Sagunto voted in favor of joining the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, declaring itself an “Israeli apartheid-free space.”
A week earlier, councilors in the city of Pamplona, the capital of the Navarre province, called on the Spanish government to stop its arms trade with Israel and on their municipality to declare Israeli officials as "persona non grata" until Israel stops its "oppressive policy against the Palestinian people".
Prior to that, the city of Oviedo, the capital of Spain's Asturias region, cancelled a concert of Israel's NK Orchestra, citing political reasons. Oviedo also cancelled an Israeli ballet performance.
At the same time, nearly two dozen Spanish municipalities rescinded or suspended pro-BDS measures against the State of Israel.