The State is investing more money than ever in defense. In fact, it had committed to spending 2% of GDP and would have already exceeded it, according to NATO confirmation at the end of February. But when the pie of resources is bigger than ever, the sector is also more tangled than ever. Perhaps precisely because there has never been so much money at stake. "For the last 25 years this has been stagnant and there has been no budget," say a large company in the sector that depends, like the rest, on defense ministry contracts.

For decades now, we have lived in societies characterized by high mobility of people and information, powerful new technological tools, rapid change, and a new relationship between ourselves and our environment. All of this creates new opportunities for progress while simultaneously generating new dangers and difficulties. It is no surprise, therefore, that there has been a significant increase in the desire to measure and publish numerical indices that portray both the positive and negative aspects of the evolution of many things. Below, I refer to a small selection of these indices that proves particularly revealing.

They can range in size from a hand's breadth to the 13.5 meters of the American Global Hawk (with a wingspan of 35 meters). They can weigh less than a kilogram or hundreds of tons. Some are suicide drones launched like kamikazes, others lurk in the sky to gather enemy intelligence. But they all share one characteristic: they are pilotless and remotely controlled. Almost every army has them, but the United States, Ukraine, Iran, Russia, Turkey, and China have developed some of the most widely used models. Here's a compilation of the main aerial drones that have changed the rules of warfare.

Wars continue to cause destruction and death, but battlefield strategy must change because new elements are completely transforming how we attack and defend. The clearest example is drones, which have revolutionized warfare in Ukraine and other conflicts. Therefore, this weekend we're focusing on drones in the military and defense sectors, explaining what they are, how they work, and how they have changed warfare.

The world is rearming. In 2024, global military spending reached $2.7 trillion, 9.4% more than the previous year and the highest level ever recorded. This is the tenth consecutive year of increase and now represents 2.5% of global GDP, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), one of the world's most renowned centers for weapons studies. "This is an absolute record since the Second World War," summarizes Ian Davis, executive coordinator of the SIPRI yearbook. "Europe and NATO are leading this increase, which is leading us into a new era of permanent insecurity," Davis warns in an interview with ARA.

Indra takes a step further on its way to consolidating itself as the Spanish "champion" of the defense sector and is launching a full-fledged entry into the military business. This Thursday, the company's general shareholders' meeting, with the State as the largest shareholder with 28% of the share capital through SEPI, approved the amendment to the company's bylaws to introduce the military business as one of the company's areas of activity. The underlying objective is to grow in the military vehicle manufacturing segment, but also in the space business. "With the approval of its shareholders, Indra has amended its bylaws to allow the development, manufacture, and marketing of military land vehicles, devices, and air and space vehicles, among others, in accordance with its strategic plan," the company emphasized in a press release.

Basically, Trump and Sánchez did what they always do yesterday. Trump threatens, and Sánchez resists. There's not much new news beyond the fact that when the president of the United States points his finger at you, the finger is seen around the world. If Trump only accepts being soaped, how can he not react if he's contradicted? Well, as he did yesterday, in a speech that will go down in history in Spanish-American relations:

Pieter D. Wezeman (Netherlands, 1969) is a researcher on arms exports and military expenditure inStockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI),one of the international references in terms of armament in the world.

Europe must wake up, both politically and economically, as a relevant player in the world. This is the warning issued by the Círculo de Economía (Economic Circle) in the opinion piece marking its annual meeting, to be held in Barcelona between May 5 and 7. "The moment is grave, and Europe urgently needs to react," it warns. After a period of energy dependence and defense protection from the US, which have favored cheap energy and facilitated exports and international trade, we have reached a current world in which all of this has become "vulnerabilities," exacerbated by Donald Trump's rise to power in the world's leading power.

Serious crisis in the Spanish government between the coalition partners, PSOE and Sumar. In the disagreements with the security and defense investment plan Announced this Tuesday by Pedro Sánchez, the purchase of 15 million bullets for the Civil Guard from an Israeli company is added. An award that a few months ago the Ministry of the Interior had committed to reversing. The second vice president and leader of Sumar, Yolanda Díaz, has demanded the appearance of Fernando Grande-Marlaska to report all the details of this setback, but other sectors of the space go further and do not rule out the breakup of the coalition. The spokesperson for United Left in Congress, Enrique Santiago, has requested a meeting of the parties that make up Sumar to analyze relations with the PSOE. "All scenarios are open. Unilateral decisions taken by others are those that cause serious consequences," he stated in a press conference in the lower house.

After US Vice President JD Vance's speech at the Munich security conference and Zelensky's meeting with Trump at the White House, it's difficult to write about anything other than Europe and its future. The victory of the far right in the US and the new international order it is trying to impose should spur European leaders and provoke an accelerated political reorganization of the continent. It's time for Europeans to abandon illusions about how we would like the world to be and to make the difficult decisions that must be made to face the world as it is. It's time for realism.

Either one extreme or the other. This thing now called polarization, which used to be black or white. And in black and white, too. "If it rains too little, it's a drought; if it rains too much, it's a disaster," sang Raimon. Delays, lack of solidarity, and excessive negligence rain down. The only thing is for someone to drown, and it's always the one who steps in the mud. It rains good rain. Restrictions are eased. Minds relax. At least mine, which isn't very fond of deserts. But we want to hang out the laundry. The sheets and towels, at least. We don't need our face or our shirt in the sun, for that there's already a legion, an excess of nostalgic newborns who yearn for a past of constant restrictions, what they now, with the passing of the years, call freedom. They seem more foolish, but they've been quicker to steal the words. And they don't even need to speak. Violence is silent. Like fear. And everything has shit in it.

1. War fashion. Now it's time to talk about weapons. It's the latest thing in European politics. And President von der Leyen is displaying a financing proposal to buy weapons worth 800 billion euros with unusual pride. It's logical that Europe should arm itself at the moment when it's not paranoia to believe that there is a Russian-American confluence to squeeze the uncomfortable space that exists between the two powers (and with China lurking). We annoy them, and we should be happy, because it means that we are someone. And, at the same time, we must be able to create consensus among ourselves to move forward, that is, to show how, despite a plurality of doctrines, convergence on the priorities of a moment is possible. But that requires political greatness that is scarce among a political staff that too often does not go much beyond the squabble in front of the networks.

1. War fashion. Now it's time to talk about weapons. It's the latest thing in European politics. And President von der Leyen is displaying a financing proposal to buy weapons worth 800 billion euros with unusual pride. It's logical that Europe should arm itself at the moment when it's not paranoia to believe that there is a Russian-American confluence to squeeze the uncomfortable space that exists between the two powers (and with China lurking). We annoy them, and we should be happy, because it means that we are someone. And, at the same time, we must be able to create consensus among ourselves to move forward, that is, to show how, despite a plurality of doctrines, convergence on the priorities of a moment is possible. But that requires political greatness that is scarce among a political staff that too often does not go much beyond the squabble in front of the networks.

Well, actually, Von der Leyen announced 800 billion euros. But what can I say? With such a level of zeros, it almost doesn't matter. We are in an era in which people talk about billions of euros as if they were talking about pesetas back then. It seems like money is given away, you know.

Drone operator Oleksandr (not his real name for security reasons) shakes his head in resignation, closes his eyes wearily and leans against the cold wall of the bunker. “Sometimes I wonder whether it’s worth eating today or not… It depends on the weather. You think: today I’ll fast, tomorrow I’ll eat a couple of chocolate bars. And the day after tomorrow I’ll eat well, because I can go out to the toilet,” says the Ukrainian soldier, with a mixture of irony and resignation.

The war in Ukraine is heading towards a ceasefire and a tense peace, or, thanks to Trump's complicity, towards a clear victory for Putin. Either way, Europe will need a major leap in its defence capacity. To discourage the potential aggressor and stabilise a cold war, or, worse, to fight the hot war in good conditions. Let us hope that we are sufficiently skilled to guarantee the first option.

Spain has increased its military spending by 9.41% during the year of the pandemic, from €20.1bn to €21.6bn, which is equivalent to €55m per day. According to calculations by the Centre Delàs d'Estudis per la Pau accounts for more than 3.93% of the state budget and 1.8% of GDP. The investment in military research and development planned for 2021 is €861m and is more than the amount spent on health research and development, which is €287m. The Spanish government has also increased spending on arms purchases, while according to the Spanish Development NGOs Coordinator "Spain is one of the countries which in 2020 reduced its spending on cooperation, which will be allocated €3.1bn next year".

It is one of the world's leading arms manufacturers and exporters. Spain occupies the seventh place in the world ranking: for a decade now it has been in the top ten of this list, alongside powers such as the United States, Russia, Germany, China and the United Kingdom, and therefore well above its economic potential. It is ahead of Israel, South Korea and Italy. Its main buyers are NATO countries, especially Germany and the United Kingdom, followed at a distance by France and Australia. In fifth place it has two controversial clients: Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Because of the war in Yemen, plagued by atrocities, Germany and Italy have stopped selling to the Saudis. Spain, on the other hand, has not. Since 2015, at least 233,000 people have died in the Yemen war (there are allegations of war crimes against all sides). The Turkish genocide against the Kurds has not put a brake on Spanish arms sales. After Venezuela, the Arab Emirates are the eighth client of the State: the violations of human rights have led Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands to deny them the sale of arms. Again, Spain has kept it.