JAKARTA - The Spanish government has awarded the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Palestine Francesca Albanese, one of the highest civilian awards for her work in "documenting and condemning violations of international law in the Gaza Strip, Palestine."
The Order of Civil Merit was awarded directly by the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to Albanese in a ceremony on Thursday.
"Public responsibility entails a moral obligation not to turn a blind eye," said Prime Minister Sanchez, launching The National (8/5).
"It is an honor to award the Order of Civil Merit to a voice that upholds the conscience of the world," he said.
Albanese, an Italian human rights lawyer, has been a vocal critic of Israel and its war in Gaza. He was in Madrid to promote his book "When the World Sleeps: Stories, Words and Wounds of Palestine."
Public responsibility also implies the moral obligation not to look the other way.
"It is an honor to award the Order of Civil Merit to a voice that upholds the conscience of the world: @FranceskAlbs, UN Special Rapporteur in the occupied Palestinian territory. pic.twitter.com/6x9Yg99uel
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) May 7, 2026
The US sanctioned Albanese after he called on the International Criminal Court to investigate companies and US and Israeli citizens he said were involved in human rights violations.
Not stopping there, Albanese was also threatened with arrest in Germany for his criticism of Israel.
PM Sanchez has written to the EU to ask that US sanctions against Albanese be blocked, telling officials the sanctions "set a very worrying precedent that endangers the independent work of institutions that are essential for international justice".
The Spanish socialist leader is also the most vocal critic of Israel in the European Union and in the past has rallied Arab and European countries to increase pressure on Israel to end the war in Gaza and its efforts to annex the occupied West Bank.
It is known that Spain is among the first European countries to recognize the Palestinian state in 2024.
Albanese also visited the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid to see Picasso's Guernica. The famous anti-war painting represents Picasso's condemnation of the Nazi bombing of the Basque city in 1937.
Albanese compared the destruction in the painting to Israel's actions in Gaza.
He criticized the ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave as an excuse "to distract the world from Gaza and forget it".
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