Sanchez announced the release of Spain from the obligation to spend 5% of GDP on defense

Madrid will keep military spending at 2.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) instead of bringing it up to 5%. This was announced on June 22 by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

"Spain will spend 2.1% of its GDP on defense — no more and no less," the EFE news agency quoted him as saying.

Sanchez pointed out that spending more would be "wasteful" and an increase to 5% "will not help achieve the goals set."

The Prime Minister recalled that the country's military spending increased from 0.9% of GDP in 2018 to 2% in 2025, which, in his opinion, makes Spain "a key player in the security architecture of the EU, NATO and the United Nations."

Sanchez stressed that the exchange of letters with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte completed negotiations that allowed Spain to fulfill all its obligations to the alliance without "disproportionate" expenses.

He also noted that the agreement reached preserves the unity of NATO and guarantees the success of the upcoming summit of the alliance, and Spain will continue to enjoy "all the rights and bear all the responsibilities" of a member of the organization.

"To justify spending on defense, the EU needs a crisis"

MEP Rada Laikova — on the militarization of the region, support for Ukraine and the attitude of Bulgarians towards Russia

On the same day, it was reported that all NATO countries agreed to sign the final statement of the NATO summit on increasing targeted military spending from 2% to 5% of GDP, but only by 2035. It was clarified that Sanchez had blocked an earlier version of the text, saying that a commitment to achieve the 5% target would be unwise and counterproductive. According to NATO estimates, Spain spent 1.24% of GDP on defense in 2024.