Israel said on Saturday it had reprimanded Spain’s top diplomat in Tel Aviv after a giant effigy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was blown up during a traditional festival in a Spanish town earlier this week.
The seven-metre figure, packed with around 14 kilograms of gunpowder, was set off in El Burgo near Málaga as part of a decades-old ceremony on April 5, according to local officials. The event drew sharp criticism from Israel, which condemned it as an example of rising antisemitism.
In a statement posted on X, Israel’s Foreign Ministry blamed the incident on what it described as “systemic incitement” by the government of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, calling the display “appalling.”
Spain rejected the accusation, with a Foreign Ministry source saying the government remains firmly committed to combating antisemitism and all forms of hate and discrimination.
The mayor of El Burgo said the town has previously used effigies of global leaders, including Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, as part of the same annual tradition.
The episode comes amid an ongoing diplomatic rift between Spain and Israel, which escalated over the Gaza conflict and broader tensions in the Middle East. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has criticised Spain’s restrictions on weapons shipments to Israel, while his Spanish counterpart José Manuel Albares has accused Israel of breaching international law and violating a recent ceasefire in Lebanon.
Netanyahu has maintained that Israel’s military operations against Hezbollah are ongoing, arguing that Lebanon is not covered by the ceasefire. Meanwhile, Sánchez — an outspoken critic of the wider regional conflict, including tensions involving Iran — has moved to block Spanish airspace from being used by aircraft linked to what he has called a “reckless and illegal” confrontation.
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