Trump administration bars ex-Barcelona mayor Ada Colau from Puerto Rico over Gaza flotilla role
Spanish politician and veteran activist says US authorities blocked her travel in an 'arbitrary, authoritarian and undemocratic' manner
MADRID (MNTV) — The former mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, has accused the Trump administration of barring her from travelling to Puerto Rico because of her activism against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, in a case she describes as a politically motivated assault on freedom of movement.
Colau, now a candidate for the left-wing Frente Amplio alliance in Spain’s forthcoming general election, had planned to attend a conference on local government in Puerto Rico but was refused travel authorisation by U.S. authorities, according to the Spanish outlet El Diario.
She said she had no doubt the decision was linked to her participation in the Global Sumud Flotilla, the humanitarian convoy that attempted to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza in October 2025.
“I went to Puerto Rico two years ago and had no problems,” she told the newspaper, calling it “extremely serious” that the Trump administration was “fortifying borders in an arbitrary, authoritarian and undemocratic manner.”
The sequence of events, as she described it, pointed to a targeted refusal.
U.S. authorities initially rejected her application under the visa-waiver programme known as ESTA, while other members of her delegation were cleared without difficulty. When Colau sought a review at the U.S. Embassy in Spain, officials questioned her about whether she had a criminal record and whether she had travelled to Israel.
She replied that she had gone there as part of a peaceful humanitarian mission, and had been detained by Israeli forces before being deported to Spain.
The embassy ultimately rejected her request, citing concern that she intended to immigrate to the United States — an explanation Colau dismissed, insisting the real reason was her role in the flotilla.
Pattern of double standards
She framed the episode as part of a broader pattern of double standards.
“Milei can enter Spain to talk about cuts, but those of us who denounce genocide and defend human rights cannot enter the U.S., or other territories it has appropriated through colonialism,” she wrote on Instagram, referring to a visit by Argentine President Javier Milei and pointedly invoking Puerto Rico’s status as a U.S. territory.
“What a curious kind of freedom Trump defends,” she added, accusing the president of disregarding the sovereignty of Puerto Rico’s residents.
Colau vowed to keep opposing the right-wing leaders she sees as part of a single reactionary current — naming Trump, Milei, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Spain’s Vox leader Santiago Abascal.
“Sooner rather than later, we will put an end to this reactionary wave,” she wrote, expressing hope that she would one day return to Puerto Rico.
Her case is a reminder of the lasting consequences faced by the flotilla’s participants. Colau was among more than 400 activists detained by Israeli forces and held for four days after their vessels were intercepted.
She has since accused Israeli forces of mistreating those in custody — alleging insults, physical aggression, sleep deprivation, and restricted access to water and medication — making her barring from U.S. territory the latest penalty attached to an act of protest that Israel, and now apparently Washington, has sought to punish.
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