Spain has begun its rearme operation. The Government – under the NATO guidelines – has announced an extra injection of 10.4 billion euros to finance military spending. An investment that will contribute to approaching 2% of the GDP defense focused on strengthening security equipment. Of that money, 2,000 million will be destined to buy weapons. The plan is clear: the country wants to be an independent military power and not depend on the arsenal of third countries. The objective is to reinforce the martial structure with purely homemade products of Spanish companies. Although, the Executive made it clear that around 5% of purchases will be made outside the borders, which will also require transparency in the negotiation between the State and the companies. The budget is already known, now it only remains to polish legal aspects. A process that, according to Pablo García-Manzano, responsible for the Defense Area in Bdo Lawyers, is a puzzle of many pieces. “The defense sector requires advice in M&A [fusiones y adquisiciones]due to complexity and affectation to national security interests. It also has fiscal, labor and compliance implications, ”he says. In the book legal regime of the industry at the service of defense (Aranzadi the law), which a few days ago saw the light in its second edition, a group of jurists puts the finger, precisely, in the lack of transparency in these contracts. A farr bureaucracy in the public tenders that can derive in an overwriting Armamentistic. co -author of the defense book, points out that many obligations are confidential. What should be public is always the expense of orders. Citizens have the right to know the fate of each public euro invested in military spending. A concept that, the expert points out, is very well documented and is «easy to control» in public reports such as the defense industry in Spain. In its latest edition (2022 and published in 2023), it dismisses these details. For example, the document reveals that the Ministry of Defense spent 523 million euros in the naval industry and 409 in the aeronautical sector. In addition, 70% of the products built by the public sphere are submarines S-80, NH-90 helicopters and N-1110 frigates. A common clause of these rigorous contracts, says Pedro Fernández-Villamea, an expert lawyer in public law, is that the public sphere requires companies to prove that the supply chain will comply with the production requirements. It is also usual to see in the contracts post -registered clauses. Among them, the expert adds, it is agreed to be the company in charge of maintaining supplies and spare parts. In case you cannot produce these materials, you must ensure that there is a means to continue manufacturing that supply.
A volatile market
Another elusive field, at a legal scale, is the unpredictable risk when formalizing contracts. An edge that worries companies in the sector. The main reason is that the execution times are very long, which prevents using the best possible material to create Arsenal. For example, in the delivery of military vehicles. «Building a helicopter can take at least two years; a combat car, between two and three, and a submarine, above three years,» says Palomar. If the large number of units is added to that period, the expert points out, “finding the balance between the execution time and the best available techniques is a continuous challenge”. The red light comes on when the pieces begin to revalue, which forces companies to try to renegotiate the conditions of the contract. In short, because prices are no longer competitive. Materials can raise their value, but in these cases companies have no maneuvering margin. It is the public body who has the power to decide whether to raise the cost or not. «Beyond assessing such uncertainty and including their amount in the offer, companies lack means to shield themselves,» says Estrella Pardo, corporate director of the General Secretariat in Grupo Oesía. For the expert, the solution would be a legislative modification that includes price review for these cases. «It is the only measure that can maintain an equitable balance in the contracts, would provide security to companies at the time of the tender and avoid having to approve regulatory provisions, as already happened in Pandemia.» As the president of the Spanish Association of Technological Companies for Defense, Security, Aeronautics and Space (TEDAE), Ricardo Martí-Fuxa already commented, in an event organized by BDO lawyers. «We have gone from being defended to have to defend ourselves,» he said. «We have to reduce external dependencies, boost their own industrial capabilities and reinforce the national productive fabric,» he said. For this, the sector requires less bureaucracy, more strategic clarity and a good dose of financing.
What moves the arms industry
The Ministry of Defense has received an injection of unprecedented money. In 2025, according to government estimates, the military departure amounts to 33,123 million euros, with the aim of fulfilling the obligations of GDP required by NATO by 2029. Last year, its financing reached up to 12,317 million, according to the general budgets extended from 2024. To get an idea of the magnitude of this budget item, in comparative terms, the Executive invests ten times in the armed industry In justice (2,231 million), four times more than in housing (3,483 million) or more than double than in health and education, which has been assigned 5,505 and 5,338 million euros respectively.
