King Felipe VI defends military investment in the face of a "growing sense of threat"

MadridDonald Trump's recent attack on Venezuela, which continues to shake the international community, also cast a shadow over the traditional Military Easter celebration at the Royal Palace in Madrid. Without explicitly mentioning it, King Felipe VI underscored the need to strengthen the armed forces, invest in defense, and generate a "credible deterrent" in the face of the "growing sense of threat." In his year-end address, the Spanish monarch noted that we are living in a "complex geostrategic era." In his view, the past year has once again "demonstrated how valuable and necessary" it is to have a well-prepared and well-equipped army, one that is "up to the challenge." The monarch praised Spain's "firm and unequivocal commitment" to its EU and NATO allies, as well as to organizations such as the UN and to "multilateralism and, ultimately, the rules-based global order."

This last point is what Defense Minister Margarita Robles emphasized in a previous speech to the Spanish military leadership. Without directly mentioning the operation carried out a few days ago by the US, Robles warned that "there are no possible legitimate actions" outside the "international legal framework." "Spain firmly believes in multilateralism," she stressed. The Defense Minister reiterated on several occasions the "commitment to maintaining peace, security, and international law" and asserted that Spain is a "reliable, responsible partner" and "respected" for its "daily work" to guarantee these goals. "We don't lecture anyone, but we don't accept lectures either," Robles said.

Both King Felipe VI and the Minister of Defense have referred to Ukraine. The threat, as the monarch emphasized, "reaches the heart of Europe." "We will continue to support," Robles stressed. In fact, the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, was exceptionally absent from the military celebration, which marks the start of King Felipe VI's institutional agenda for the new year, precisely to attend an international summit on Ukraine. The Socialist leader is in Paris to meet with the so-called Coalition of Volunteers, promoted by France and the United Kingdom, with the participation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other allies of this country, which has been at war with Russia for almost four years. From there, Sánchez called for "respect for the sovereignty of countries," in a message directed at the US in which he reiterated "support for Denmark and the people of Greenland" in the face of Trump's threat.

The leader of the People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, seized upon Sánchez's absence from the Military Easter ceremony to criticize him, as well as X. According to Feijóo, "a dignified president" would not have shown such "disrespect" to the army and the head of state. With this argument, the leader of the opposition took the opportunity, at the start of this new electoral cycle, to assert himself as someone who "will be worthy of the professionals" of the armed forces if he reaches La Moncloa (the Prime Minister's official residence). The leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, did not speak out, despite his presence at recent official events with the monarch.among them the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the monarchy—He is the one who stood up Felipe VI with the excuse that he does not want to share space with Sánchez because it would imply "whitewashing" the socialist's "totalitarian" regime.

International uncertainty

Unlike most speeches of the last decade, which sought a more internal interpretation with the king's mentions of the Constitution due to tensions with separatism or Sánchez's with the most reactionary sectors of the right, international uncertainty has marked this beginning of 2026. In his televised Christmas address two weeks agoKing Felipe VI had already warned of the "crisis" of "multilateralism" in a "turbulent world" and cautioned against "extremism" in a context of the growing prominence of the far right in all spheres. In her address, Defense Minister Robles also mentioned the need for a "firm and stable peace" in Gaza and reaffirmed the commitment made to NATO—a commitment criticized by those to the left of the PSOE—to increase defense spending to 2% of GDP, as well as the commitment to... Strengthening the Spanish military industry"It is undoubtedly important to continue a shared effort in which our defense industry also plays a fundamental role," said Felipe VI.