Spain's Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030 has launched an investigation into companies that advertise products made or services based in the Palestinian areas it considers occupied by Israel.
According to Article 4 of the Royal Decree-Law 10/2025, approved by the Spanish Government last week, the advertising of goods and services from these 'occupied territories' is prohibited.
The Ministry, led by Pablo Bustinduy, has therefore announced the adoption of urgent measures against the "genocide in Gaza and to support the Palestinian population."
One of the measures is that the Directorate-General for Consumer Affairs will investigate companies that are taking advantage of business from 'the occupied territories,' as recommended in a July 2025 report by UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese.
'Profit and loss accounts stained with the blood of the Palestinian people'
"We will guarantee that no company operating in Spain has its profit and loss accounts stained with the blood of the Palestinian people," said Bustinduy, adding that he will ensure that "any company with activity in Spain abandons all operations linked to the Israeli occupation, either directly or indirectly."
Last Friday, the United Nations published a report naming 158 companies that carry out activities generating "human rights concerns" in the West Bank.
138 of the 158 are Israeli companies, and 20 are foreign. Spain is the second non-Israeli country with the largest presence on the list, with four companies in the infrastructure sector, only behind the United States, which has six. The four Spanish companies are engineering group Ineco, infrastructure group ACS, the industrial assembly firm SEMI, and the Basque train manufacturer CAF.
CAF announced on 25 September that it is aware of the UN report and the possible implications for it as a company, given its involvement in The Jerusalem Project, which includes the construction of the Green Line tram as well as the extension of the existing Red Line tram, which partially runs through east Jerusalem.
CAF said it "is fully aware of the complex legal and ethical implications linked to the Jerusalem Project, in particular in relation to International Humanitarian Law and corporate responsibility," and for this reason, carried out specific due diligence measures with three levels of intensity before taking on the project.
It also noted that the Arab community makes up a significant part of tram users and is the most frequent user. Not only this, but it noted that the vast majority of Arab users are at the highest levels of satisfaction with the service. 25% of the employees are also Arabs.