Staff Correspondent | Crime Chronicle

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has responded personally to a young Palestinian artist in Gaza after she and her friends painted his portrait on the rubble of a bombed-out building as a gesture of gratitude toward Spain.

The mural was created by Layan Al Quqa, along with fellow young artist Obay Kareem and friends, on a wall amid the ruins of destroyed buildings in Gaza. In a video message shared on social media, Sánchez thanked Layan and the other artists for the gesture, saying: "I thank Layan and the artists for this beautiful gesture, and all the Palestinians who have shown their love for Spain. Amid so much suffering, you found a moment to send us your love."

He added a direct message to Gaza's children: "The whole of Spanish society hears you, sees you, loves you, and does not forget you." Sánchez closed by expressing hope that children in Gaza "can return to painting without fear in their schools and live a future of peace," sending "a warm embrace from Spain."

Layan responded with her own video, expressing surprise and joy that a prime minister had personally replied to a child from Gaza. "I am Layan, from Gaza," she said. "Today we received a message from the Spanish Prime Minister. We love the Spanish Prime Minister and the Spanish people very much... I'm genuinely seeing for the first time a prime minister respond to someone from Gaza. It surprised and delighted me greatly."

The exchange comes against the backdrop of Sánchez's broader, repeated public defense of Spain's solidarity with Palestinians. Earlier this year, Sánchez firmly backed FC Barcelona star Lamine Yamal after the 18-year-old winger waved a Palestinian flag during the club's La Liga title celebrations in Barcelona.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz had criticized the gesture as "inciting hatred," prompting a sharp rebuke from Sánchez, who wrote on X that "those who think that waving the flag of a state is 'inciting hatred' have either lost their minds or have been blinded by their own disgrace." He added that "Lamine just expressed the solidarity with Palestine that millions of Spaniards feel — yet another reason to be proud of him."

Spain has formally recognized the State of Palestine and has repeatedly condemned what Sánchez has described as Israel's actions in Gaza, as well as settlement expansion in the West Bank, positioning itself as one of the most vocal EU governments on the issue.