SPAIN Trends and Developments Contributed by: Albert Prats Ribas and Jordi Mayol Orga, BUFETE A. PRATS
with no room for individual assessment of specific circumstances. Structure of RDL 10/2025: prohibitions on three levels RDL 10/2025 introduces differentiated restrictions that operate on three clearly differentiated levels in its regulatory structure. • First level: absolute prohibition on transfers of defence material. Article 1 of RDL 10/2025 estab - lishes an absolute prohibition covering both Spanish exports of defence material to Israel and imports of such material originating in Israel. This prohibition is general and categorical in nature, with no exceptions except those expressly estab - lished in the First Additional Provision of RDL 10/2025 itself. The scope of this prohibition cov - ers all material included in the annexes to RD 679/2014. • Second level: denial of authorisation for the transit of defence equipment and military fuels. Articles 1.3 and 2 of RDL 10/2025 prohibit the transit of defence material through Spanish territory when its final destination is Israel. This prohibition operates in accordance with the administrative procedures of RD 679/2014, but with a predetermined out - come: all requests for transit authorisation will be systematically denied. Of particular relevance is the express inclusion of fuels suitable for military use (JP-4, JP-5 and JP-8), which, although not tradi - tionally classified as defence material under the regulation of RD 679/2014, are now subject to sys - tematic refusal. Article 2 of RDL 10/2025 declares Technical Note 1 of category ML8 of RD 679/2014, which excluded these fuels from classification as defence material, to be inapplicable. • Third level: prohibition on customs imports of settlement products. Article 3 of RDL 10/2025 introduces a ban on imports of civilian products originating from Israeli settlements located in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. This measure is dif - ferent in nature from the previous two, as it refers not to defence material but to ordinary civilian products produced in those settlements.
Operational mechanisms and practical effects on maritime transport The measures contained in RDL 10/2025 operate within the Spanish system of prior administrative authorisation established by Law 53/2007 and RD 679/2014, and are implemented through the refusal of authorisations by the competent Ministries. The Secretary of State for Trade (part of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise) decides on applica - tions for authorisations for defence equipment, while the Ministry of Finance, through the State Tax Admin - istration Agency, decides on operations with customs implications. The Interministerial Regulatory Board for Foreign Trade in Defence and Dual-Use Equipment (JIMDDU) issues mandatory and binding reports in accordance with Article 14 of Law 53/2007. From the perspective of the maritime operator, the effect of RDL 10/2025 is direct: it is impossible to obtain the necessary authorisations to operate with goods included in its material scope that originate in or are destined for Israel. Although this restriction is based not on Article 20 of the LNM (access to ports) but on foreign trade control (Law 53/2007), the prac - tical result is the same: affected ships cannot make operational stops in Spanish ports. One immediate operational consequence is the search for alternative ports in third countries for refuelling and provisioning. It is possible that ships participating in the MSP that historically included stopovers in Algeci - ras (one of the main transhipment and refuelling hubs in the western Mediterranean) will now make stopo - vers in other ports, such as Tangier Med. Access to ports and innocent passage regime in international law of the sea An analysis of the legal scope of the restrictions intro - duced by RDL 10/2025 requires a distinction to be made between access to ports, the regime of inno - cent passage through territorial waters and the regime of transit passage through straits. Although related, they are governed by different legal regimes under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the LNM.
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