Spain agreed during its hosting of the NATO summit in June to boost defence spending from 1% to 2% of GDP by 2029, in part using the hike to modernise military equipment, prioritising Spanish companies for contracts.
Spain ups defence spending
Spain's govt ups social and defense spending in 2023 budget
Presenting the package after the weekly Cabinet meeting, Finance Minister María Jesús Montero told reporters that “the primary objective was to accompany Spanish society to get through the enormous uncertainty provoked by Russia’s war.”
The government also plans to step up defense spending by 25%, to 12 billion euros, to help Spain reach by 2029 the NATO member goal of devoting 2% of GDP to national defense.