Defense already accounts for a third of large public contracts in the State

BarcelonaIn an international scenario marked by geopolitical instability, the Spanish public administration has redirected its financial muscle towards sectors that guarantee strategic resilience. The latest report published by the Licitaciones.io platform on the 2025 fiscal year paints an undeniable reality: security and defense have become the priority of institutional investment. According to the analyzed data, the defense and aeronautics sector already represents 31.2% of the volume awarded to the ten main companies in the State.

The picture of who receives public money in Spain is that of a select and closed club. Although the general ranking is led by Iberdrola Clientes S.A. with a record award of 6,629 million euros as a result of the energy crisis and the green transition, the combined weight of the military industry is what truly defines the 2025 picture.

Indra Sistemas S.A. –the giant specialized in military technology and defense systems– has consolidated in second place with 4,677 million euros. It is closely followed by Airbus Helicópteros España S.A.U., which has received 4,255 million. If we also add the 3,825 million euros that the Airbus Defence and Space division has taken, the result is clear: the flow of public money has been reoriented in favor of rearmament, where corporations that manufacture military technology are gaining weight in the face of the international military escalation.

The 0.2% decides everything

One of the most poignant pieces of data in the report, however, is not who receives the money, but how few share it. In 2025, a total of 59,745 companies obtained some public contract. It seems like a high figure, but it is a mirage of plurality. The reality is that the system has become a funnel where almost everything ends up in the same hands: only a hundred companies (0.2% of the total) capture 53% of the awarded volume. If we zoom in further, the ten largest companies alone control 28% of the total budget.

Alejandro Navas, spokesperson for Licitaciones.io, is clear in his diagnosis: "The system tends to reward those who are already inside." Previous experience and the financial solvency required for large contracts act as "barriers to entry" that push SMEs out of real competition.

Beyond defense: health and energy

Although helicopters and defense systems dominate the debate, the report also detects other poles of concentration. The healthcare technology sector has gained strategic importance: Siemens Healthcare S.L. and GE Healthcare España SAU are already part of the group of the ten largest, jointly accounting for 4.5% of awards.

In the field of energy, dependence on the administration is total. After Iberdrola, giants such as Gas Natural Comercializadora with awards worth 4,199 million euros and Endesa Energia with 4,173 million appear to close a group that manages the State's most basic services.

A matter of democratic health?

This scenario of business gigantism opens a necessary debate about the efficiency and equity of the Spanish system. On the one hand, it is true that large corporations provide the solvency and technical capacity essential for undertaking projects of extreme complexity. On the other hand, this low diversity of suppliers acts as a barrier that limits innovation and leaves thousands of small businesses outside a market that in 2025 moved 113,462 million euros.