After cutting ties with Israel, Barcelona mayor barred from entering country

Jaume Collboni had been slated to land in Tel Aviv Friday evening, but was informed that he would not be granted a visa

By ToI Staff 22 August 2025, 12:58 pm

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Now-mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni speaks at the headquarters of the Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSC) in Barcelona on May 28, 2023 after the local and regional elections held in Spain. (Lluis Gene/AFP)

Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni has been blocked from entering Israel, the Population Immigration and Border Authority announced on Friday.

According to a statement from PIBA, Collboni had been slated to land in Israel late Friday night, but was informed that he would not be granted entry.

PIBA said that his entry refusal is “in accordance with the Entry into Israel Law” and in coordination with the Foreign Ministry and the National Security Council, without elaborating further.

The Ynet news site reported that Collboni had been planning to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in the capital as well as Palestinian areas of the West Bank. According to the ARA newspaper in the Spanish city, he had been invited by the mayors of Bethlehem and Ramallah.

In May, Barcelona’s city council voted to cut institutional ties with the Israeli government and suspend its friendship agreement with the city of Tel Aviv, citing alleged violations of international law and the rights of Palestinians.

Collboni said at the time that “the suffering and death in Gaza over the past year and a half, and recent attacks by the Israeli government, make any relationship unviable.”

There was no immediate comment from Collboni or Barcelona’s city council on Friday.

Israel has blocked several foreign officials in recent months from visiting the country, citing anti-Israel statements or concerns that they would take actions against the state during their trip.

In April, Israel barred a group of 27 left-wing French lawmakers from entering the country, days after it had stopped two British lawmakers at Ben Gurion Airport and denied them entry following an interrogation.

In February, Israel also stopped two left-wing European parliament deputies, Franco-Palestinian Rima Hassan and Lynn Boylan from Ireland, from entering. In June, Hassan tried to break Israel’s blockade on the Gaza Strip and was detained by Israeli officials and deported.