The May 2025 Full City Council Meeting of the Barcelona City Council approved a 20-point motion with the status of an institutional declaration which, among other aspects, “breaks institutional relations with the current Government of Israel” and “breaks the Friendship and Cooperation Agreement that regulates the relationship with the city of Tel Aviv Jaffa, dated September 24, 1998,” in both cases “until respect for international law and international humanitarian law is restored, and respect for the basic rights of the Palestinian people is guaranteed”.

Mayor Jaume Collboni recalled on social media that “27 years ago, our agreement with Gaza and Tel Aviv was signed with the hope of fostering peace and cooperation,” but that “the brutality of the Israeli government in Gaza has exceeded all limits of humanity. Barcelona cannot maintain ties with a state that perpetrates crimes against humanity.” He also stressed that “Barcelona is and will remain a city committed to peace, human rights, and international justice”.

The first point of the approved text “rejects and condemns the attacks by the State of Israel against the Palestinian civilian population, which contravene the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the Geneva Conventions, and international humanitarian law, as well as rejects and condemns the denial of the most basic rights of the Palestinian population, forced population displacement, systematic destruction of homes and infrastructure, or the blockade of energy, water, food, and medical supplies to the population of the Gaza Strip”.

It also “condemns any form of antisemitism and Islamophobia”, demands “the immediate and permanent ceasefire from the Government of the State of Israel”, “the definitive and permanent lifting of the blockade on humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip”, and “calls for effective mechanisms, within and outside the United Nations system… to prosecute and put an end to the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed”, among other points.

On the other hand, the City Council “commits to continue working with UNRWA to deliver humanitarian aid and establish direct cooperation to contribute to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip” and “joins efforts to convene a peace summit as soon as possible, offering the experience of the city of Barcelona as a promoter of peace, facilitator of dialogue between peoples, and ready to work with the instruments of city diplomacy to actively contribute to peace in the Mediterranean region”.

The approved text also includes business and contractual areas, such as instructing Fira de Barcelona not to host pavilions of the Government of Israel or companies that profit from the situation of war and occupation, or the implementation of clauses in municipal public contracts to ensure that operations and procurements are not contrary to certain conventions and international humanitarian law, among others.