For historical reasons, too, the Spanish were skeptical about the transatlantic defense alliance for many years. That has changed radically. But are the Iberians really doing enough for the alliance?
At the time, Spain’s entry into NATO was highly controversial. In 1981, shortly before the country officially entered the country, major protests broke out in Madrid and other cities in Spain. 40 years later, the country is an integral part of the transatlantic alliance.
When Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez proudly announced last October that his country would host the 32nd NATO summit in Madrid, nobody could have guessed that a new war would soon blossom in Europe. The original plan was for the summit to be a celebratory setting to commemorate Spain’s entry into the transatlantic alliance 40 years ago.
Instead, the NATO summit in the Spanish capital is now the end of a series of summits at which new measures to protect Ukraine and Europe from Russia will be debated. In view of the serious situation, there is no festive mood. Rather, Madrid is turning into a fortress for the summit, which begins next Wednesday. More than 10,000 police officers and other security forces will be deployed; it is the highest security deployment in the country’s recent history.
Over 5000 participants are expected. There hasn’t been a single vacant hotel room in the city for weeks, and the police have been combing the boarding houses and hostels to keep potential opponents of the summit at bay. The Mayor of Madrid even called on the Madrilenians to stay at home during the summit, to work in the home office and to postpone errands because traffic chaos is expected due to the security checks and the announced protest rallies.
Spain no longer wants to be at the bottom of NATO
The Spanish government does not only want to show itself to be a reliable partner for the summit. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense has increased the contingent of soldiers for NATO to 800. 500 of them are stationed on NATO’s eastern flank in the Baltic States. Four fighter jets have been stationed in Bulgaria, which fly patrol flights in NATO airspace.
Sánchez also announced an increase in Spanish defense spending to the NATO target of 2 percent of gross domestic product. So far, the country’s military spending has added up to just 1 percent of economic output. Of all the NATO countries, only Luxembourg spends less on defense in relation to its economic power.
But doubling the defense budget does not meet with much enthusiasm at home. This applies in particular to the left-wing coalition partner Unidas Podemos. The government’s junior partner described the NATO summit as a “militaristic event”. In his view, the high costs of the summit could have been put to better use in Spain. “The price of sitting back and doing nothing while freedom and democracy are threatened is much higher,” Sánchez countered.
Shortly after accession, Spain voted to leave
The relationship between the Spaniards and NATO was initially divided. Although only 12 percent of Spaniards In a survey conducted in 1981 that they supported their country’s accession to NATO, Spain joined the alliance in 1982. Only a few months later, the Socialists won the elections. During the election campaign, you had already called for an early exit from NATO and held out the prospect of a referendum.
But when the referendum actually took place four years later, Felipe González, the first socialist prime minister in the young Spanish democracy, had changed from being an opponent of NATO to a supporter. He even threatened to resign if the electorate voted against NATO membership. It didn’t get that far, round 57 percent of Spaniards supported staying, albeit with certain reservations.
American troops have long been unpopular
At the time, the government made it a condition that NATO – contrary to American plans – not station any nuclear weapons on Spanish soil. Spain also initially rejected full integration into NATO’s military structure. This only followed in 1999. It also called for the gradual withdrawal of American troops from Spain.
The American presence on Spanish soil was associated by many Spaniards with the late dictator Francisco Franco. He had allowed the US to set up American military bases in Spain in the 1950s. America was in the Cold War with the Soviet Union and needed different bases to keep Moscow in check. In return, Spain received economic aid and military equipment under the dictator Franco.
In the eyes of many Spaniards, the USA made a significant contribution to the fact that the unjust regime was able to stay in power with this money and was less isolated internationally.
Of the four bases that NATO maintains in Spain today, three were created as part of the American treaties with Franco. These are the Morón de la Frontera air base, the naval port in Rota and the Torrejón air base near Madrid. American and Spanish forces have shared bases there for years. A new addition was the corps headquarters of the Spanish troops for the NATO rapid reaction force in Bétera near Valencia.
From the 1990s, the relationship steadily improved
After a bumpy start, the relationship solidified in the 1990s. At least since the Gulf War in 1991, the Iberians have been considered one of the USA’s most solid allies. A few years later, the then Spanish Foreign Minister and socialist Javier Solana even became NATO Secretary General. This is despite the fact that at the beginning of his political career he positioned himself as a staunch opponent of NATO like Felipe González once did.
Under his aegis, Madrid held its first NATO summit in 1997. At this meeting, the cornerstone was laid for the eastward expansion of NATO to include Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
The Spanish also play an important role in defending NATO’s southern flank and controlling the Straits of Gibraltar. At the summit on Wednesday, Spain could therefore propose that NATO should develop a new security strategy for the Maghreb in addition to Ukraine.
However, Angel Saz Carranza, a professor of geopolitics at the private Esade University, points out that given the dramatic situation in Ukraine, the southern flank is not a priority. One must also bear in mind that at NATO summits it is always the Secretary General who sets the tone and never the host.
So the role played by the Spaniards at the summit is likely to be small. Nevertheless, NATO is currently enjoying great popularity in the country. 83 percent gave in one current survey to support their country’s membership in NATO. There is rare unity between the political camps.
However, the Spanish government recently had to listen to severe criticism from the Ukrainian Ambassador Serhi Pohorelzew. So far, there has been far too little support for Ukraine. The country also had to back down on the Leopard 2 tanks, which were on the Ukrainians’ wish list.
According to the daily newspaper “El País”, Spain wanted to send up to 40 mothballed main battle tanks, but nothing is certain now, because the vehicles are in poor condition and coordination with the German government has not yet taken place. The ammunition supplied, the Ukrainian ambassador complained, would not even be enough for two hours of combat. Noisy Data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy Spain has so far pledged humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine worth around CHF 80 million. Measured in terms of economic power, the country is ranked 31st out of 37 western donor countries.