MADRID —A Spanish court has declared that a boycott against Israel passed by the City Council of Gran Canaria, one of Spain’s Canary Islands, is illegal.
On November 27, 2016, the City Council adopted a resolution proclaiming the city a “free space from Israeli apartheid” and affiliated the Council with the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Disinvestment,Sanctions) movement. As part of this boycott, the City Council announced it would refrain from any cooperation with Israel, its public bodies and officials in areas including agriculture, education, trade, culture or security. The council also agreed to support BDS in every campaign for the trade, cultural, sports, academic or institutional boycotts.
The court ruling against the boycott followed a a complaint filed by Angel Mas, president of ACOM, a pro-Israel Spanish organization that combats BDS in the country.
According to ACOM, the Court No. 4 of Gran Canaria dismissed the argument raised by the town hall that the boycott decision was “just a political statement, insisting that the actions and declarations of the public bodies are subjected to the Rule of Law and are under the legal control of the courts of law.”
The sentence declared that the Council of Gran Canaria is “not competent to adopt such a resolution.”
“The court underlined that the impugned agreement is discriminatory and is not in accordance with the principle of neutrality and objectivity that must preside the actions of the council,” ACOM said in a statement.
This Court ruling is one more success by ACOM in its fight against BDS in Spain.
It succeeded to annul 14 boycott agreements by the courts as well as seven institutions voluntarily withdrawing their declarations.