THE HAGUE, Netherlands \u2014 Spain will rapidly increase its military spending rate this year to reach the 2% of GDP target set for NATO members, the country\u2019s prime minister announced on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spain so far has been among the alliance\u2019s lowest defense spenders, with just 1.3% of the country\u2019s total economic power going to the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The \u20ac10.5 billion boost ($12 billion) in defense spending will raise the Spanish total to \u20ac34 billion ($39 billion) for this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Madrid originally set a goal of reaching 2% of GDP for defense spending by 2029, but the envisioned cash infusion will mean that the target is reached in 2025 instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While announcing the increased military budget on Tuesday, the country\u2019s left-of-center prime minister, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, said most of the funding \u2014 almost 90% \u2014 is expected to boost Spain\u2019s domestic economy. He stressed that the country remained \u201cpacifist\u201d but that he hoped the increased military readiness would act as a deterrent to \u201cthose who might think of attacking Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The money will come from the post-pandemic recovery funds, from the government\u2019s savings due to Spain\u2019s strong economic growth, and from several line items included in the government budget that were \u201cno longer needed,\u201d S\u00e1nchez said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Less than a fifth of the extra money will be used for the \u201cpurchase of arms in the traditional sense of the word,\u201d the prime minister added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of the \u20ac10.5 billion boost ($12 billion), 35% is earmarked for improving the working conditions of troops, over 31% will be spent on new telecom technologies and cybersecurity, nearly 19% will go to defense and deterrence tools, and close to 17% to support for emergency and natural disaster management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spain\u2019s economy has been doing remarkably well compared to much of the West in recent years, with GDP growing by 3.2% in 2024, making it the fastest-growing in the Eurozone. The country has been under left-of-center leadership since 2020, whose priorities have usually focused on social issues and the fair redistribution of wealth, not military spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Spanish boost in military spending follows a broader trend across Europe, which has experienced a historic about-face in the wake of Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Defense budgets across the continent have significantly grown since, with military spending across the EU last year totaling \u20ac326 billion ($374 billion), or just under 2% of total GDP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly called into question the collective security assured under NATO\u2019s treaty for member states that don\u2019t spend enough. The 2% target had been formally agreed by the alliance\u2019s heads of state in 2014, following Russia\u2019s annexation of Ukraine\u2019s Crimean Peninsula, although the number had first been pledged noncommittally in 2006.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The target may be raised to 3% at the upcoming NATO summit in the Hague, which will be held in June.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Spain so far has been among the alliance\u2019s lowest defense spenders, with just 1.3% of the country\u2019s total economic power going to the military.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":118614,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":46,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,46,11,36],"tags":[8626],"coauthors":[3463],"class_list":["post-69732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-europe","category-global","category-newsletters","tag-spain"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"KUMOIMDT6FAJZP4KV7CXK5CBAQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/global\/europe\/2025\/04\/22\/spanish-spending-spike-to-help-hit-nato-budget-target-this-year\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n