Catalonia Closes Office in Tel Aviv

Catalonia announced the closure of its foreign affairs mission in Tel Aviv.

The Catalan government had previously announced the immediate closure of its trade office in Tel Aviv, after reaching an agreement with several municipalities, according to the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia.

This decision comes amid growing criticism from the Catalan and Spanish governments of Israel over the war on the Gaza Strip and the humanitarian situation there.

Israel's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest in the region sparked anger within Catalan government circles, aligning with the position expressed by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who called for Israel's exclusion from the festival.

The Catalan government, like Sánchez, criticized what it described as "double standards" in dealing with the war in Gaza, where "fundamental rights are being violated," a reference to the double standards of some right-wing parties, especially when compared to the war in Ukraine.