President Donald Trump recently threatened to cut off all trade with Spain for their refusal to allow American access to their military bases in the wake of the Iran strikes. This incident, however, might just be the final nail in the coffin, as Spain already refuses to pay debts it owes to American businesses, specifically a Florida-based energy company, Nextera.
Trump ally and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani shared a portion of President Donald Trump's remarks on social media, where the President said, "Spain actually said that we cannot use their bases."
"They were unfriendly, and so I told him, 'Spain has absolutely nothing that we need other than great people," added President Trump. They have great people, but they do not have great leadership," the president added, citing Spain's refusal to increase military spending in NATO to 5%
Spain sits in the center of two lawsuits filed by American companies NextEra and Blasket Renewable Investments, both of which were contracted by the Spanish to build up the country's renewable energy infrastructure, such as wind and solar.
The effort has been a plank in Span's Socialist Workers' Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's platform, but they have recently begun backtracking on that promise, and despite owing these companies billions in Euros, they are refusing to pay up.
Not only has Spain turned out to be a dead beat nation in support of the global war on terror, it is deadbeat country when it comes to paying its debts.
The Sánchez government is claiming immunity through the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), but the U.S. Supreme Court and other international courts have agreed that they still must honor the payment.
In fact, despite the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) (part of the World Bank) having paid NextEra $370.4 million in damages in 2024, and the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that American courts could enforce business contracts with foreign governments, Spain filed a writ of certiorari, a demand that the case be reviewed, to the U.S. Supreme Court in late 2025.
Such refusal to honor contracts not only harms Spain's reputation as a renewable energy investment partner, but is also leading to asset seizures, government bond defaults, and skyrocketing interest and legal fees.
The US Supreme Court has invited the Trump Administration to provide its views on whether it should take up the Blasket Renewable Investments LLC v Kingdom of Spain.
