Spain’s Prime Minister has communicated to his European counterparts that the nation intends to increase its defense spending more rapidly in response to the continent’s urgent need for rearmament amidst potential shifts in U.S. foreign policy. However, implementing these plans domestically poses significant challenges for Pedro Sánchez.
This week, Spain’s leader engaged in discussions with representatives from nine political parties to explore avenues for boosting the defense budget. This follows his announcement that Spain would expedite efforts to fulfill NATO’s benchmark of allocating 2% of GDP to military expenditure. Currently, Spain is at the lower end of the NATO spectrum, having spent approximately 1.28% of its GDP on defense last year.
The leader of the Socialist Party, heading the economy as the eurozone’s fourth-largest, operates a minority government with partners from the hard-left who are typically opposed to increases in military spending. Furthermore, the tense relationship with the conservative Popular Party, the largest opposition force in Parliament, complicates reaching any consensus on this matter.
Following negotiations with Sánchez on Thursday, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the head of the Popular Party, criticized Sánchez’s approach. Feijóo argued that Sánchez appears to lack a clear plan and emphasized that any proposed increases in military spending ought to be sanctioned through Parliament. “A government that hasn’t been able to govern under normal circumstances is hardly prepared to face an extraordinary situation like this,” Feijóo remarked.
Previous attempts to pass less divisive measures have already proved difficult for Sánchez, as evidenced by his administration operating on the 2023 budget due to insufficient votes for a new one. Within his own coalition, there is notable apprehension, as observed by Antonio Fonfría, a defense economics professor at the Complutense University of Madrid. Fonfría noted, “One part of the government doesn’t agree with spending increases in defense, because it thinks it will be at the detriment of other types of spending, for example social spending, health, or education.”
While Sánchez has not detailed the exact timeline or method by which Spain will achieve the NATO target, he has reassured that social expenditure will remain unaffected. European and NATO figureheads have urged member states to boost military budgets, especially after former U.S. President Donald Trump questioned America’s commitment to NATO.
At a summit in Kyiv, Sánchez reaffirmed Spain’s military assistance to Ukraine by pledging an additional 1 billion euros in support, in conjunction with ongoing commitments. Spain’s Defense Minister Margarita Robles reiterated Spain’s dedication to Ukraine, citing the training of roughly 7,000 Ukrainian troops as part of the efforts.
In advocating for increased military spending, Sánchez has recognized that Spain’s security concerns differ from those in Eastern Europe and the Nordic region. “Our threat is not Russia bringing its troops across the Pyrenees,” he stated, explaining that the main concerns for Spain involve cyber and hybrid threats.
Despite ideological divisions within his coalition over defense budgets, Sánchez has not dismissed the possibility of using executive powers to achieve his goals. However, Spain’s robust economic growth could present additional hurdles in reaching NATO’s spending target, which may yet be adjusted further in the coming months. Last year, Spain’s economic growth was the fastest among major developed economies, significantly outpacing the eurozone average.
