Spain increases arms purchases from the US, reaching its highest expenditure ever

"However, Spain has been increasing its arms and military maintenance budgets for several years now, and proof of this is that it will already exceed 2% of GDP this year, the figure committed to not so long ago in the halls of the Atlantic Alliance and a dramatic acceleration in just a few months from 1.4% in 2024, the last full year for which data is available and one in which the United States made a historic profit from arms sales to Spain."

"Specifically, according to the Defense Ministry's 2024 Procurement Report, the various affiliated bodies (the central government, the Defense Staff, the army and the navy) allocated 7.468 billion, split almost equally between the current year's annual budget (3.688 billion) and the funds deferred over several years (3.78 billion from 2025 onward). Of the total 7.5 billion ($8.74 billion), almost a third, around 2.23 billion ($2.6 billion), went to the United States."

"In parallel, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) went a little further. According to its statistical yearbook, which compiles all U.S. arms sales worldwide, Spain purchased materiel worth $2.907 billion in 2024. A year earlier, the value of Spanish spending on U.S.-made military purchases amounted to $1.682 billion, with more than $900 million in exchange for a package of MH-60R helicopters standing out."

President Donald Trump criticized Spain for falling short of NATO's 5% of GDP defense spending target and threatened trade measures. Spain increased arms and military maintenance budgets and will exceed 2% of GDP this year, up from 1.4% in 2024. The Defense Ministry's 2024 Procurement Report records affiliated bodies allocating 7.468 billion, split between 3.688 billion in the current budget and 3.78 billion deferred from 2025. About 2.23 billion of the total went to the United States for Patriot missile systems and equipment. U.S. DSCA data show $2.907 billion in Spanish purchases in 2024 and $1.682 billion in 2023, including MH-60R helicopters.

Read at english.elpais.com