"I do not believe that anything good is achieved by suspending, cutting, expelling," Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said, according to AFP.
Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau stated last week that she is suspending all of the city’s ties with Israel, citing what she called “the repeated violations of human rights of the Palestinian population and non-compliance with United Nations resolutions.”
She added that Barcelona will maintain relations with “Israeli and Palestinian entities that continue to work for peace and against apartheid.”
Barcelona’s city council this week held a vote rejecting Colau’s stated intention to un-twin the city with Tel Aviv and cut ties with Israel, but the vote was only symbolic, as council members do not have the power to veto Colau’s decision.
Speaking at an event in Barcelona on Friday, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares responded to the move, calling it a "unilateral decision, and I understand an almost personal decision, by the mayor".
"I believe that Barcelona's vocation is to be an open city, as Spain is," he added.
"I do not believe that anything good is achieved by suspending, cutting, expelling, nor is a dialogue built between Israel and Palestine," said Albares.
Madrid’s mayor, José Luís Martínez-Almeida, last week offered to step up as a replacement for Barcelona.
MNA
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