Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has posted a video of himself with a red cap reminiscent of that of the ‘Make America Great Again’ movement, a nudge at Donald Trump at a time when relations between the US and Spain are particularly strained.
Spain’s PM Pedro Sánchez has made headlines after posting a video of himself on TikTok donning a red cap that reads “Make Science Great Again” in English.
Sánchez appears in selfie mode at the start of the video wearing the MAGA-style hat and saying “Vamos a darle caña”, an expression in Spanish which in this context could either mean “we’re going to give them hell” or “we’re going to give it our all”.
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The short video then cuts to a GoPro-style video of the Spanish premier practicing enduro mountain bike racing, a weekend pastime he’s spoken about on previous social media appearances.
The video has been covered widely by the Spanish press, who’ve described Sánchez’s cap as “pure sarcasm” and “a nudge at Trump”.
Sánchez’s headwear choice comes at a time when he has become the most vocal leader in the West to oppose US and Israeli-led attacks on Iran and the escalating war in the Middle East.
READ MORE: ‘No to the war’ – Spain’s PM defies Trump as rift with US deepens
The Spanish government has refused to allow the US military to launch missile attacks from its military bases in Andalusia (Morón and Rota), leading Donald Trump to threaten to sever all trade with Spain.
“Spain has been terrible,” Trump said when the news broke. “So we’re going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don’t want anything to do with Spain.”
On Monday March 30th, Spain’s government also closed Spanish airspace to US planes carrying out missions against Iran.
As for the message on Sánchez’s cap – “Make Science Great Again” – it is probably in reference to the fact that the Spanish government has sought to take in US-based researchers and scientists who have faced funding cuts under the current US administration.
Last year, Sánchez’s Socialist government allocated €45 million to convince these researchers being “disregarded” by Trump to continue their work in Spain, a programme which has proven relatively successful.
The Spanish PM’s video on Saturday also coincided with another round of ‘No Kings’ protests in the US against the growing authoritarianism of Donald Trump as well as his decision to go to war with Israel against Iran.
Pedro Sánchez and his politics are seen by many as the antithesis of Donald Trump and his administration. The Spanish leader is pro-immigration, anti-war, a defender of minorities and a supporter of a strong welfare system, to name a few differences.