Granada is dressed up. Thousands of Grenadians have taken to the streets this Saturday to attend the central act of Armed Forces Day, presided over by the Kings, and accompanied by the Defense Minister, Margarita Robles.
At twelve o’clock in the morning, Felipe VI and Doña Letizia arrived at the Royal Tribune in the Gonzalo Gallas roundabout to the shouts and cheers of the large audience, which from early in the morning crowded the fence along the entire route under a sunny sun. radiant, who denied the omens of rain that in recent days threatened to tarnish the parade.
After the military honors to the Kings, Felipe VI, who was wearing the uniform of Captain General of the Army, reviewed the battalion and then greeted the authorities present, including the Defense Minister, Margarita Robles; the president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno; the acting mayor of Granada, Francisco Cuenca; and the Chief of Defense Staff, Admiral General Teodoro Esteban López Calderón.
Subsequently, and in one of the most anticipated moments of the celebration, Corporal Carmen Gómez Hurtado, a member of the Air Force Parachute Acrobatic Patrol (Papea) starred in the jump with the Spanish flag, landing in front of the Royal Tribune. She is the first woman to wear this maneuver, just in the year in which the 35th anniversary of the incorporation of women into the Spanish Armed Forces is commemorated. Next, the flag was hoisted, and the act of homage to the fallen, which closed the Eagle Patrol with a pass over the square coinciding with the prayer call. In this way, the air and land parade was given way.
For days now, City Hall employees have had to run to dismantle electoral propaganda and display Spanish flags throughout the city. In parallel, the city has been receiving soldiers from all over the country throughout the week. Armed Forces Day is a meeting day between civilian and military personnel that honors the work of the 53,347 active soldiers who one day pledged to give their lives for Spain.
Of all of them, more than 3,100 soldiers participate in a parade through the center of the city in which 150 vehicles and mobile units and 70 aircraft are displayed. It is an appointment presided over by the Kings and to which the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, has attended. A celebration that comes at a delicate moment for the Government, barely a month and a half before the general elections, but in a sweet circumstance for the Armed Forces, whose work and mission have been reinforced by the Executive and by society due, in part, to the war in Ukraine, which has heightened the need for countries to have strong militaries.
Pedro Sánchez has shown a clear evolution to support the work of the Armed Forces. In 2014, in an interview in EL MUNDO, he stated that “there is a need for more budget against poverty, gender violence… And there is plenty of the Ministry of Defense.” However, in 2018 he already committed to reaching the goal of devoting 2% of GDP to Defense. Later, the important work of the Army during the pandemic, of the Military Emergency Unit in the face of storm Filomena or in the different fires that devastated the country last summer and the need to confirm its international projection have made it a defender of the importance of the Armed Forces. He confirmed it in the last General State Budgets, when he increased the allocation for Defense by 26%.
Sánchez, in his international projection, wants to show himself as a reliable partner for NATO and everything depends on complying with what was agreed in 2014 in London, where the allied countries promised to gradually increase the Defense budget until reaching 2% of GDP. That year, Spain had decreased by 3.22% the item dedicated to the Armed Forces to 5,745.77 million euros, which translated into 0.55% of GDP. Since then and due to the absence of economic crises in all the years, its budget has been increasing. The largest proportional increase was the one assigned by Mariano Rajoy in 2017, which reached 7,638.54 million and 0.64% of GDP. The 26.31% rise that Sánchez has given for this year means dedicating 12,827.18 million to Defense and reaching 1% of GDP for the first time.
Defense therefore faces a year of economic prosperity to improve the weapons and conditions of all its personnel. Spain wants to position itself in Europe and in NATO. For this reason, part of the money will be spent on the FCAS project, the sixth generation aircraft that Europe wants to take off in 2040. With the participation of Spain, France and Germany, Robles signed the agreement at the end of April, when he revealed that the Executive will participate with 2,500 million euros.
For the Navy, an expense has just been approved for the maintenance of the second phase of the NH-90 helicopter, in addition to acquiring the American MH-60R, which is assembled by Lockheed Martin, a company that also manufactures the F-35, the aircraft that Spain still resists to acquire.
The Army has received this year the first seven 8×8 Dragon, the nationally manufactured combat vehicles for whose production the budget has increased. They have also had to do it for the S-80 submarine and a month ago a new economic boost was approved for this Spanish project. The godmother of the first of the submarines to be delivered to the Navy was the Princess of Asturias.
The heiress also has an important role in the Armed Forces this year. Although Don Felipe’s eldest daughter does not attend the parade, she is counting down to enter the General Military Academy of Zaragoza. A few months ago, Zarzuela reported that the Princess of Asturias would receive the military training that was given to her father. Although for many the continuity of the model was the obvious, several options were considered in the Royal House before making the decision that Doña Leonor finally dedicate three years to military training. The Princess of Asturias will spend a course in each army, beginning as a lady cadet on August 17 and ending in three years with the military employment that corresponds to her fellow Air Force promotions, at whose academy in San Javier (Murcia). military training will end.
That the Government of Pedro Sánchez and the Zarzuela have agreed on such a complete training of the heiress, who one day will be the first woman captain general of the Armed Forces, is a new accolade for Defense. Even more so being a socialist government with Unidas Podemos as a partner in La Moncloa.
The good progress and reputation of the Spanish Armed Forces is also confirmed abroad. First, because of the support for the Ukrainian army since the war broke out due to the invasion of Vladimir Putin. Spain made itself available to Volodimir Zelensky’s needs from the outset. Although the first empty promises drew criticism, Robles has cultivated a close relationship with his Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksii Reznikov, and shipments of material are constant. Spain suffers from little transparency in this field, claiming that it is done so as not to give clues to the enemy, while countries like Germany update on the internet what they have delivered, down to the last first-aid kit.
However, the national government was the first to send winter uniforms to the front – 70,000 belonging to the Spanish Army and of which the national ensign was replaced by the Ukrainian one. Rocket launchers, ammunition, missiles and missile launchers, rockets and naval systems have also been sent. Also vehicles and ambulances. But what has received the most publicity has been the 10 Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks with which the Spanish Army joined the tank coalition led by Germany to help Ukraine in the counteroffensive. During his visit to Spain, Reznikov revealed that Robles’ mediation made it possible for Germany to authorize the shipment of the Leopards to Ukraine.
Spain also began training Ukrainian soldiers in a bilateral mission that later enrolled in a European Union mission. The Spanish Armed Forces have given basic training to recently recruited soldiers, who in Toledo obtain notions of shooting, first aid and military training. They have also offered specific training, such as training in the Aspide missile or in the handling and maintenance of the Leopard. Because finally Spain fitted out a dozen of these German-made cars that had been hibernating for a decade in Casetas (Zaragoza).
In addition to training, Defense launched a program to treat war wounded at the Miguel Servet Hospital in Zaragoza, where wounded with complicated amputations, who spend several months in the capital, are cared for. Now, Spain has increased training with an agreement with Ukraine through which they instruct doctors in the treatment of amputations and installation of prostheses so that they can be treated there.
In addition to the agreement with Ukraine, Spain is a solid NATO partner that participates in many international missions, being the majority force in some of them. Spain commands for the first time the mission of the allied countries in Iraq. There, for a week, Lieutenant General José Antonio Agüero Martínez has coordinated the work of 155 Spanish soldiers and troops from 30 other countries. It is worth noting the role in Mali after the departure of France. Currently, General Ortiz Repiso commands the mission, being the first time that the mandate of a country has been extended. Spain has 360 troops deployed in the country.
Although Robles does not want to abandon Mali, NATO forces are now focused on reinforcing the eastern border after the invasion of Ukraine. For this reason, Spain reinforced the Advanced Reinforced Presence in Latvia with 250 more troops, until it reached 600 soldiers. In Romania, 130 Air Force soldiers are part of the Reinforced Air Police. Lastly, Spain has deployed a Nasams anti-missile battery in Estonia for a month to reinforce the NATO border.
All of them are reasons for the Armed Forces to celebrate today. But with the problem of the professionalization of the troops and sailors present. This scale of the army, made up of more than 70,000 soldiers -many of them already out of the military career-, has been demanding for years to leave the military career with an official title, something that for the moment has not been achieved with any government despite pressure from associations such as the Spanish Troop and Sailorship (ATME). Despite everything, more than 5,000 soldiers have been rehearsing all week, even under intense gusts of rain, to show citizens part of what they do. Of these, 3,100 will participate in a 1,700-meter parade that will show their willingness to work and their commitment to Spain.
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