Washington describes Spain’s government contract with Huawei as a threat to NATO security and accuses Huawei of being an agent for the Chinese regime.
The Spanish Interior Ministry’s awarding of a contract exceeding €12.3 million to Huawei for managing and storing judicial intercepts has triggered strong reactions in the United States. The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence issued a stern statement warning that “Spain is playing with fire” by entrusting critical infrastructure that handles legal wiretaps for agencies such as the UCO, the National Police, and the National Intelligence Center (CNI) to a Chinese company.
The news, disclosed by US media and confirmed in an official letter posted on intelligence.house.gov, prompted the US Senate and House of Representatives to demand that Tulsi Gabbard, the current National Intelligence Director under President Donald Trump, immediately review all intelligence-sharing agreements with Spain. The concern is that classified US and NATO data could fall into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
A contract with geopolitical implications
This contract involves Huawei OceanStor 6800 V5 servers and other storage and management systems for judicial interception recordings. Although Huawei has been a contractor for Spain in this area for years, the new contract has raised alarms in Congress due to the current geopolitical context.
Rick Crawford, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, called the Spanish decision “almost unthinkable” and noted that “Huawei, being subject to China’s intelligence laws, is compelled to cooperate with the Beijing regime,” making its presence in interception systems a potential channel for international espionage.
“Spain has made its citizens vulnerable and endangered the security of its allies worldwide,” Crawford stated.
Sovereignty questioned?
As a NATO member and a traditional US ally, Spain’s participation in joint intelligence exchange programs could be challenged if Washington determines the risk of leaks to hostile actors like the CCP is significant.
The controversy has also spotlighted figures linked indirectly to Huawei within the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE). José Blanco, a former socialist minister and current leader of the consultancy Acento, along with former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, have been identified in reports as frequent interlocutors of the Chinese company in Europe, though there is no criminal evidence linking them to the contracts.
Huawei and Beijing’s long arm
Huawei remains on the US’s blacklist of banned suppliers, due to national security concerns and its role in expanding the so-called “Chinese surveillance model.” Washington views its growing presence in critical infrastructure in allied countries as a “geopolitical victory” for the Chinese government and has reiterated that the international community must act united to curb this influence.
While the Spanish government hasn’t officially responded to Washington’s statements, diplomatic sources indicate that “the tension with the US is real” and that there could be consequences if the Huawei contract isn’t reviewed or additional technical safeguards aren’t implemented.
Impact on international cooperation
Assigning Huawei tasks related to national security tests the mutual trust between strategic partners. In a global context marked by escalating technological and military rivalry between the US and China, Europe’s—and particularly Spain’s—neutrality is becoming increasingly unsustainable.
For the US, controlling access to critical information is more than a technical matter—it’s about loyalty. With this move, Spain seems to have crossed a red line.
Sources: intelligence.house.gov and elchapuzasinformatico.com