Madrid, May 3, 2025 - Spain is set to significantly increase its defense spending to reach 2% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by the end of 2025 [3, 11, 13]. This decision comes as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez aims to align with NATO's spending targets amidst growing pressure from international allies [2, 3].
On April 22, 2025, Sánchez announced the approval of a new Industrial and Technological Plan for Security and Defense, valued at €10.471 billion ($11.2 billion) [3, 11, 13]. This investment will bring Spain's total defense and security expenditure to €33.123 billion this year [3]. The funds will be allocated to telecommunications, cybersecurity, military equipment, and improvements in armed forces' salaries and troop numbers [2, 12].
While Spain has been among the lowest defense spenders in NATO, allocating only 1.28% of its GDP in 2024 [1, 2], this new plan aims to rectify that [2, 4]. The decision has stirred debate within Spain's coalition government, with the Sumar party expressing concerns [1, 2, 6, 8, 10]. Despite internal opposition, Sánchez insists that the increased spending will not affect social programs or require new taxes, drawing funds from EU initiatives and economic savings [2, 3, 4, 11].
The increased investment also aims to bolster Spain's domestic economy, with projections estimating a GDP increase of up to 0.7 percentage points and the creation of 100,000 jobs [11].
This article is based on our author's analysis of materials taken from the following resources: www.politico.eu, www.defensenews.com, www.reuters.com, and Associated Press.