US Senator Lindsey Graham has died aged 71.

The Republican lawmaker grabbed headlines in Spain earlier this year after calling on President Donald Trump to withdraw American troops from Andalucia.

Graham, one of Trump’s closest allies in Congress, died on Saturday evening following what his office described as a ‘brief and sudden illness’. No further details about the cause of death have been released.

The South Carolina senator became a familiar name in Spain in March after urging President Trump to move US military assets out of the country during a dispute over defence cooperation.

His comments came after Spain refused to allow US bases at Naval Station Rota in Cadiz and Moron Air Base near Sevilla to be used for military operations against Iran.

Graham argued that Spain had become an unreliable NATO ally and publicly called on Trump to relocate American forces from Andalucia, prompting a political storm in both Madrid and Washington.

The remarks drew sharp criticism from Spanish politicians, who defended the long-standing defence relationship between the two countries and stressed the strategic importance of the bases.

Rota hosts thousands of US Navy personnel and several destroyers that form part of NATO’s missile defence shield, while Moron Air Base serves as a key hub for US military operations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

First elected to the Senate in 2002, Graham was one of the Republican Party’s most influential voices on foreign policy.

Although he was a vocal critic of Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, he later became one of the president’s closest political allies and advisers.

Tributes have begun pouring in from across the political spectrum in the US, with colleagues describing Graham as a dominant figure in American national security and foreign affairs over more than two decades in the Senate.

Under South Carolina law, the state’s governor is expected to appoint an interim replacement until a special election can be held to fill the remainder of Graham’s term.

Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.