The Government announced on Tuesday an increase in the salaries of all military. A total of 400 million euros with which to improve the conditions of the almost 120,000 members of the Armed Forces and, at the same time, try … Gain the confidence of the allies of the European Union and NATO in full debate on defense spending.
However, it is an amount that will have little effect on the accounts that Spain brings to the Atlantic Alliance and that It will barely raise the percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP) that is destined for defense. Specifically, those 400 million euros only represent 0.025 percent of GDP.
The latest NATO data places Spain in the last position of the allies in military investment, with only 1.28 percent of GDP. The government’s commitment is to reach 2 percent in 2029 – it had to have done so in 2024–. This figure is far from the new most ambitious objectives that the Euro -Atlantic allies already speak and that Donald Trump requires from the White House.
To reach that percentage of 2 percent, Spain must duplicate the more than 17,000 million euros per year which currently allocates to defense spending. In these large figures, the effect of the 400 million announced on Tuesday by the Government will be minimal, although not so much for the payrolls of the military. In practice, the announcement will translate into a salary increase of 300 euros per month for the military and sailor and 200 euros per month for the rest of members of the Armed Forces.
Insufficient increase
Despite this, the salary increase is very Far from the demands of professional associations of the Armed Forcesthat have been claiming an improvement in the living conditions of their troops for years. The proposal that the associations moved last year to the Ministry of Defense included a salary increase of 800 euros per month, more than double what was announced on Tuesday by the Government. In total, about 1.5 billion euros annually compared to the 400 million announced by the Executive.
«If it is a first step, welcome; But we fear that it is just this, ”the Secretary General of the Unified Association of Spanish Military (Increase), Iñaki Unibasowhich warns that bad conditions are dragging a recruitment problem. Also the Spanish Troop and Marinery Association (ATME) He maintains that the new remuneration “do not meet the expectations of some increasingly discontent military.”
In addition, they remember that His problems not only go through salariesbut they extend to other areas such as temporality, recognition as a risk profession or mobilityamong others. «This rise in payrolls has not been motivated because the government and defense consider that the military are poorly paid, but because of the need to raise the 2% defense budget of GDP as quickly as possible and not be missed from the rest of the allies Europeans », laments Atme.
Currently, a soldier or sailor in his early years and does not receive specific accessories charges a payroll of about 1,150 euros. After 25 years of service, if it has not been promoted, the salary is around 1,300 euros.
The situation changes as it is evolving in employment or access to certain positions, but remains in any case Below similar positions in bodies such as National Police or the Civil Guard. To this is added that the members of the Armed Forces do not charge guards, extra hours or maneuvers.
This movement takes place after Informal Summit of Leaders held in Paris and the calls of NATO and the United States for the members of the European Union to assume the reins of the defense.
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