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Spain's government reiterated its refusal to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP ahead of this week's NATO summit in Ankara, sources close to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told Türkiye's state-run Anadolu Agency (AA).
Sanchez is expected to repeat that opposition when he attends the alliance's summit in Ankara on June 7-8, pushing back against demands from NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and U.S. President Donald Trump, the sources said.
"Spain proposes that, contrary to the target of raising defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product, action be taken in line with strengthening the welfare state and restoring the health of public finances, accordingly developing a model that will reinforce security," the sources said.
The sources noted Spain has tripled its defense investment since 2018, bringing it to 2% of gross domestic product and aligning it with NATO Capability Targets.
They said Spain ranks seventh among the alliance's 32 members in capability level, third in the number of troops deployed on peacekeeping missions, and first in troop contributions to NATO's Eastern Flank.
Spain was among the first eight NATO countries to support Ukraine, the sources said, adding that Madrid has allocated a total of €3.795 billion ($4.34B) to Kyiv and trained more than 9,000 Ukrainian military personnel on Spanish soil.
"As of June 2026, Spain is the country deploying the most troops outside its borders on the alliance's eastern flank, and is one of the few allies holding strategic NATO command posts, such as the naval component of the NATO Response Force and the Multinational Brigade in Slovakia," the sources said.
The sources said there is a strong belief that many countries that have pledged to reach the 5% target will fail to do so.
They said NATO documents, contrary to the rhetoric of Rutte and Trump, clearly show Spain to be an important member of the alliance, and that Sanchez would arrive at the Ankara summit "having done his duty, with his head held high and untroubled."
The sources added that Spain views Russia as a major threat in the short, medium and long term, and that it supports the development of "a Europe and a European army project that is less dependent on the United States, invests more in itself, and defends itself more."
A Spanish court on Monday authorized Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's wife, Begona Gomez, to travel to London for her daughter's graduation, but denied her request to join him at the NATO summit in Ankara.
A judge has ordered Gomez to stand trial on allegations of influence peddling, embezzlement, corruption in business dealings, and misappropriation of funds, following a two-year investigation.
No trial date has been set.
The case is one of several scandals threatening Sanchez's left-wing government.
Judge Juan Carlos Peinado, who oversees the case, deemed Gomez a flight risk and ordered the confiscation of her passport last month, while a higher court reviews his order that she stand trial.
The investigation centers on the creation and management of a chair at Madrid's Complutense University, which Gomez co-directed, as well as the alleged use of public resources and personal connections to advance private interests.
Sanchez has defended his wife's innocence and denounced what he has called a smear campaign by the right to undermine his minority government.
The Madrid court ruled that Gomez could exceptionally receive her passport to travel to London on July 8-10, but denied her request to accompany Sanchez to the NATO summit in Ankara on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"Türkiye does not belong to the European Union's freedom, security and justice space, in which police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters is facilitated," the ruling said.
The court said Gomez had been invited to the summit "for reasons of international institutional courtesy, without having an active role," and ordered her to return her passport by July 13.
Gomez, like the spouses of other leaders attending the summit, had been officially invited to the NATO gathering in Ankara, the sources cited by Spain's media agency EFE said.
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