17/12/2020 |

Critical Analysis of the 2021 Spanish Defense Budget.

Working Paper: Análisis crítico del Presupuesto de Defensa del año 2021. Del optimismo social al pesimismo en Defensa

Centre Delàs of Peace Studies and GCOMS analyse in a new report the all-time record in military spending within the most social budget in Spanish history.

The general budget of the Spanish State for 2021, presented by the coalition government between PSOE (centre-left) and Unidas Podemos (left), proposes an expansive and progressive economic policy, appropriate for a context of crisis such as the one generated by the coronavirus pandemic, including a considerable increase in social spending. But this optimism in the social field has its downside in military spending, whith a consolidated budget of the Ministry of Defense increasing by 6.5% in comparison to 2020 and reaching 10,863 million euros. If we take into account the allocations distributed in other ministries, military expenditure rises to 21,623 million euros, a new all-time record that represents an increase of 10.3% over the previous year.

This increase is partly explained by investments in Special Weapons Programs (PEA in its Spanish acronym), for which payments of 2,341 million euros are disposed of. In total, investments for the acquisition of military material, infrastructures, facilities, weapons and others will increase by 30.2% in 2021 compared to 2020, totalling 3,266 million euros. If military R&D is also taken into account, this figure rises to 3,942 million, which represents 20.4% of the total investments of the central government.

Authors: Pere Ortega, Xavier Bohigas, Quique Sánchez Ochoa

You can consult and download the complete Working Paper in Spanish here.

Together with this report, Centre Delàs and GCOMS prepared the following infographic, comparing military spending with human security-oriented spending: