The Spanish defense and aerospace industry doubles its turnover in 10 years

Madrid"[The war in the Middle East] Can only have a positive impact on the results". The phrase was voiced by the former CEO of Indra, José Vicente de los Mozos, in April of this year, during the presentation of the company's first-quarter results. The fact is that there is no need to wait for 2026 to end to understand to what extent war conflicts are a business opportunity for Spanish companies in the defense and aerospace industry. In almost ten years they have doubled their turnover with a significant and sustained boost since the war in Ukraine and the change in military paradigm in Europe, which wants to recover military autonomy. Thus, they have gone from a consolidated turnover of 11.840 billion euros in 2016 to invoicing 18.034 billion in 2025, according to data from the Spanish Association of Defense, Security, Aeronautics and Space Technology Companies (TEDAE), the main employers' association in the sector, published yesterday, Monday.

"The turnover of the industry that TEDAE encompasses has accumulated several consecutive years of uninterrupted growth [...]. The momentum of 2025 is not a one-off rebound, but the continuation of a structural trend that is consolidated year after year", they argue from the employers' association. The jump in turnover between 2024 and 2025 is 12%. From the sector's employers' association it is stated that the "return of high-intensity war in Europe and the Middle East, added to the proliferation of hybrid conflicts (cyberattacks, disinformation or disruption of supply chains), has created a scenario in which instability is the new global norm". Faced with this, they defend the response of NATO members regarding the "jump in military investment" –a large part of the turnover of these companies is the result of public spending by states–, with an increase in the defense spending target from 2% to 3.5% of GDP.

25 billion to reach 3.5%

"It is a historic opportunity for the [Spanish] military industry," they state from the sector. In the case of the Spanish government, they acknowledge that it has reached 2%, just as it had committed to with the Atlantic Alliance. "Reaching the long-term goal of 3.5% of GDP would mean an additional investment for Spain of 25 billion euros," according to the annual report on the economic impact of the sector that they prepare with the consultancy firm PwC. To understand the magnitude of the figure, it represents seven times the budget of the Ministry of Housing (3.485 billion euros) or three times the total public budget for housing in Spain (7.613 billion euros in 2024).

The other macro figures that accompany the report record an impact of the industry on the Spanish GDP of 24.425 billion euros in 2025; the creation of 289,938 direct and indirect jobs; 10.821 billion in exports and 2.812 billion in R&D&I, and also 8.107 billion euros in tax collection. By sector, TEDAE differentiates three major areas: the aeronautical industry (for example, the maintenance of aircraft for military purposes), which invoiced 12.080 billion euros in 2025, which represents an increase of 6.24% compared to 2024; the defense and security industry (10.877 billion, 16.16% more compared to 2024), and, finally, the space sector (encompassing, among other things, the development of satellites), with a turnover of 1.416 billion (9.51% more).

Madrid, 'pool' of the turnover

By territories, there is a clear pool of turnover that is Madrid and which the sector's employers' association links to the "headquarters effect"; that is to say, to the fact that the main companies in the defense and aerospace sector have their headquarters in the Spanish capital and, therefore, it is where their business activity is registered. "The activity is deployed throughout the territory and consolidates major industrial hubs in communities such as Andalusia, the Basque Country, Castile-La Mancha or Galicia", they ensure from TEDAE. Of the more than 18,000 million euros in turnover for 2025, 53% is concentrated in Madrid (9,501 million euros) and 2% in Catalonia (309 million), where the arms and defense industry has been almost non-existent: it has always been a hostile territory to this type of industry and society has shown opposition to this sector. In fact, by area, only the aeronautical field and the space field have relevant turnover. In any case, this context of rearmament and investment boom has led many companies to try to break the taboo in the Principality.