Spain’s Leader Is Showing How to Stand Up to Trump, and So Much More

By Omar G. Encarnación

Mr. Encarnación is an expert on Spanish politics.

It was quite the gathering.

In April, many of the world’s progressive luminaries, including President ​Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico and President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, descended on Barcelona. Ostensibly, they were there to show their support for democracy and multilateralism against the threat posed by the far right. But you’d be forgiven for thinking the real purpose of their visit was to honor Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez. The West’s longest-serving center-left leader, he has recently become better known for something else: heading the global opposition to President Trump.

In contrast to the “don’t poke the bear” approach of most foreign leaders, Mr. Sánchez has boldly challenged the American president — condemning Mr. Trump’s removal of........

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