Editorial:
Donald Trump took a swing at Spain last week, describing this country to (for some reason) the Finnish prime minister as being behind on its military spending. The American agency AP reports that Trump told Alexander Stubb in a meeting at the Oval Office that “You people are going to have to start speaking to Spain. You’re gonna have to call them and find out why they are a laggard. They have no excuse not to do this, but that’s all right. Maybe you should throw them out of Nato, frankly”.
In fact, Spain spends just 2% of its GDP on defence. The recommended level in these difficult times is 5%. The arms manufacturers would probably agree with this figure.
The leader of the Partido Popular Alberto Núñez Feijóo says he would raise the spending accordingly if the party were to win an election (the next one, all being well, is planned for 2027). He says: "The problem isn't Spain; the problem is Pedro Sánchez. Spain has always been a reliable and credible partner within Nato, and it will continue to be so".
This at the same time as lowering taxes for the wealthy and – inevitably – reducing spending in public health, wages and pensions.
Spain joined Nato (they call it the OTAN) back in May 1982. In those days, the people had been largely against joining (except that nobody had asked them) until Felipe Gonzalez agreed four years later to hold a referendum on the subject and then, surprisingly, performed an ideological flip and told his bemused supporters that ‘We must say ‘Yes’’ – apparently because he was worried that Morocco might have taken the opportunity to annex Melilla and Ceuta (with its current combined population of 160,000 souls).
The question asked was "The Government considers it convenient, for national interests, for Spain to remain in the Atlantic Alliance, and agrees that such permanence be established in the following terms: (1) Non-incorporation into Nato's military structure; (2) Prohibition on the installation, storage or entry of nuclear weapons on Spanish territory; (3) Gradual reduction of the United States' military presence in Spain. Question: In your view, should Spain continue to be a member of the Atlantic Alliance subject to the terms agreed by the national Government?" Around 57% of those who understood the question answered with a resounding ‘Sí’.
Membership of Nato is getting expensive and while 2% is a commendable figure (how does one say ‘I surrender’ in Russian?), 5% is certainly way over the limit. A Guardian article from June this year says ‘Spain rejects Nato plan for member states to spend 5% of GDP on defence. PM Pedro Sánchez says he wants a more flexible formula that would make the target optional or allow Madrid to opt out’.
In broad terms, the farther left one goes, the louder is the call to leave Nato. The Izquierda Unida, for example, says: ‘We encourage Trump to accelerate Spain's expulsion from Nato and the withdrawal of its two military bases’. That’s right, the US military bases in Morón de la Frontera (air-force base) and Rota (naval base), in the provinces of Seville and Cádiz respectively. Mind you, there’s always Gibraltar and the Lajes base in the Azores if needs must. The leftie Diario-Red wants another referendum on Nato, which would, with little doubt, achieve nothing. Vox on the other extreme says that Sánchez with his short-term savings is ‘seriously harming our national security’.
In the middle, we think 2% sounds about right and we hope that neither the USA or indeed the Russians will (violently) disagree with us.
How dangerous is the world in 2025? Ben Hodges, the former US Army chief in Europe: "We are naive if we believe war will never touch Spain", he says.
But what about a future Nato without the USA? It wouldn’t be good says the CNN: ‘Europe is staring down the barrel of a stark new reality where the United States being the backbone of Nato – the alliance that has guaranteed the continent’s security for almost 80 years – is no longer a given…’ it adds: ‘But Nato without the US is far from impotent, with more than a million troops and modern weaponry at its disposal from the 31 other countries in the alliance. It also has the wealth and technological knowhow to defend itself without the US, analysts say’.
Phew! You had me worried there for a moment.
Housing:
From Spanish Property Insite here: ‘Foreign non-resident buyers – the holiday-home crowd – have sharply reduced their purchases across Spain, according to the latest Housing Ministry data. After years of expansion and a post-pandemic buying frenzy, the trend has turned negative in 2025, and the pace of decline appears to be accelerating...’. Reasons abound: the 90/180 day rule for non-EU Citizens (now harder to avoid), the end of a post-pandemic boom, the sharp rise in property prices, the media-induced fear of squatters, and ‘Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s public statements about taxing or restricting non-resident foreign buyers from outside the EU may have influenced how Spain is perceived abroad. Even if no concrete measures have been introduced, the rhetoric itself may be enough to give some buyers pause’.
Spanish Property Insite also brings ‘Spain’s prime minister says a new agency will map the impact of tourism on housing and help balance visitor numbers with local life. Pedro Sánchez has announced the creation of an Observatorio de la Vivienda Turística (Tourist Housing Observatory) to analyse the relationship between tourism and residential life in Spain’s most visited cities and neighbourhoods. The aim, he said, is to “reconcile tourism with residents’ quality of life”, particularly where rising housing costs and saturation have become serious issues…’.
By the way, here’s a useful link: ‘Everything you need to know about property in Spain. Buying, owning, and selling property in Spain comes with its share of costs and risks. The more reliable and impartial information you have, the better equipped you’ll be to navigate the process with the help of Spanish Property Insight here.
‘Jacking up the rents are pushing tenants to buy instead: "Renewing a 5-year lease can mean a 50% increase"’. From 20Minutos here.
A sad story found at Meneame: ‘I'm leaving Santiago de Compostela (and not because of the rain). I'm not leaving Galicia, but I am leaving this city I no longer recognize. This Santiago that has sold itself to the highest bidder, that has sacrificed its soul on the altar of mass tourism and real estate speculation. I'm leaving because after more than two decades here, I feel the city is expelling me with the same indifference with which it now treats its residents…’
‘The Guardia Civil uncovers illegal mobile home park in area of Spain popular with British residents’ says Sur in English here. ‘The Guardia Civil are investigating the managers of a residential complex located on a non-developable and flood-prone plot of land in the Vega Baja del Segura district in Alicante, Spain. The responsible parties are investigated for serious urban planning, environmental and safety infringements’. The park, says Información here, is called Guardamar Park (its website here).
The Euro Weekly News has: ‘A growing British footprint across Spain. From the Costa del Sol to Alicante’s sunlit coast, the sound of English voices is now as familiar as the hum of cicadas. British expatriates represent one of Spain’s largest foreign communities, with more than 290,000 officially registered, though estimates suggest the real number could exceed 800,000 when seasonal residents are included…’
Tourism:
From an article on the slowing trends in tourism worldwide from Travel and World Tour here. ‘Tourist Arrivals: The number of international tourists coming to Spain may fall short of the 100 million mark that the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) predicted earlier this year. As of August 2025, Spain had welcomed 66.8 million international visitors, representing a 3.9% increase compared to the same period in 2024. Despite this positive growth, the pace has slowed considerably over the past nine months. Spain’s tourism sector was initially expected to contribute 13.5% to the country’s GDP in 2025. However, this estimate has been reduced to 13.1%, underscoring the strain on the sector amid shifting global economic dynamics…’
Seniors:
‘Happiness is in Spain: foreign retirees who choose our residences. Spain has become an increasingly popular country for foreign retirees, who choose residences as permanent or vacation accommodation, especially on the Costa del Sol, Catalonia, and Levante’. There are said to be 415,000 senior foreign residents (over 65s) in Spain says Salud y Diario here.
Finance:
From El Mundo here: ‘The IMF raises Spain's growth rate to 2.9% in 2025, once again the highest for a developed economy. However, the Fund believes that "the global economy is sliding toward a more fragmented and riskier landscape" due to US protectionist measures and the chaos in the international system’.
The self-employed, los autónomos, always consider themselves hard-done-by regarding their fierce monthly cuota to the Social Security. Now, says 20Minutos, the Government plans raises in the payment for next year by at least 11€ (most autónomos understandably declare the bottom rate if they can). The Blog de Nationale-Nederlanden here compares the self-employed to regular workers to see how the social security payments compare.
The shadow economy exceeds 16% of GDP in six autonomous communities. A study from the University of Murcia highlights Andalucía and the Canary Islands (representing 17.9% of GDP), Extremadura (17.8%), the Region of Murcia (17.4%), Castilla-La Mancha (16.8%) and the Balearic Islands (16.1%) are the autonomous communities in Spain with the highest representation of the black economy in relation to the Gross Domestic Product. El Economista has the details here.
A setback for the BBVA hostile offer for Banco Sabadell… The likelihood is that the squabble will continue into 2026.
From Público here: ‘Labour inspectors fine greenhouse owners in Huelva and Almería €6.5 million for cutting rights and wages for 7,500 workers. In 2024, the Inspectorate recorded more than a thousand violations in the fruit and vegetable and strawberry sector, which generates approximately €5,000 million annually with a workforce that is mostly migrant’.
Politics:
They call it ‘Tezano’s CIS’, the main pollster in Spain, the CIS, is under the control of a card-carrying PSOE man: José Félix Tezanos (wiki). El País has the latest poll from the pollster which gives the PSOE a fifteen-point lead over the PP who are being severely pressed by Vox. The percentages are PSOE at 34.8%; PP at 19.8% and Vox at 17.7%.
From elDiario.es: ‘Feijóo presents his immigration plan: “Entire neighbourhoods cannot be turned into unrecognizable places”, he says. The PP leader wants to make it more difficult to access aid or visas. He maintains that "nationality is not given, it is deserved." He says that "being Spanish means sharing a destiny" and "experiencing a universal heritage"’. Alternatively, from The BBC here: ‘Spain's radically different approach to African migration. Spain is kicking against the prevailing political mood among Western nations when it comes to migration and policies regarding the African continent…’
Alberto isn’t up to much as the leader of the PP and one likely alternative is Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who at least is pretty, if perhaps not much else. Her politics however would likely make a dent in the Vox ascendance and bring support back to the Partido Popular. Can Feijóo survive or will she bounce him as she did Alberto Casado? From La Nueva Tribuna, an opinion: ‘Isabel and Alberto, Chronicle of a War Foretold. Ayuso aims to become the PP's candidate for the presidency of the Spanish government’. El Plural, referencing Ayuso’s stand on abortion, has: ‘Feijóo, unable to escape the Sánchez-Ayuso standoff: abortion, the latest example, but not the only one. The Madrid president has reopened the ideological war over abortion with statements that defy the law and have forced the PP leader to intervene to put out the fire’.
From The Olive Press here: ‘Masked thugs and SS skulls: How Spain’s far-right extremists are emerging from under the rocks – and growing bolder every day’.
I was walking down past the Granada town hall the other day and saw a fellow enjoying a caña and a tapa. He was with some friends and was bare-chested and decorated with a large swastika tattoo. I worry that Spanish children are not taught about the Civil War and General Franco in their school history lessons.
If Vox isn’t far-right enough for your taste, there’s always Se Acabó la Fiesta led by the Spanish MEP Alvise Pérez (an unknown who rose to three MEPs in the last European elections through a campaign reserved strictly to social media sites, scoring 800,000 votes). Alvise announced on Sunday that his party would be running in the next Spanish general election. His platform is ‘massive deportation’, eliminate most taxes, the construction of a mega-prison for evil-doers and a referendum on whether Spain should stay in the EU (Brexit being an inspiration, no doubt). The story is at 20Minutos here.
InSpain News has: ‘Fifty years after the death of Francisco Franco, the shadow of his dictatorship still hangs over Spain. A new survey by Spain’s national research institute (CIS) reveals that memories of the regime remain sharply split along political, generational, and gender lines — exposing how the past continues to shape the nation’s politics and identity’.
From the Government official website here, Spain’s current military activities within Nato (in English).
Pedro Sánchez was in Egypt for the Gaza peace signing. The photo with Donald Trump made the headlines in Spain, although Trump – says the conservative radio La Cope here – quickly went from greeting Pedro Sánchez to shaming him: ‘"Where is Spain? Are you working on your GDP?" The US president criticized the Spanish leader for refusing to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP, days after he proposed Spain's expulsion from Nato’. Elsewhere, we read that Trump also told Sánchez, ‘You are doing a fantastic job’ (with video). Later, at Diario As here, ‘Pedro Sánchez on his brief meeting with Trump: "It was very cordial"’. Once back in Washington, Trump said that ‘he is "very unhappy with Spain" and is considering "punishing" the country with tariffs for refusing to raise its defence spending to 5%. He also noted that, despite benefiting from Nato protection, Spain is acting poorly toward the alliance’. The Government says it is not worried by these latest comments. Finally, on Wednesday, elDiario.es reported that ‘Brussels defends Spain against Trump: "We will respond to any measure taken against one of our member states"’.
Courts:
Those court cases against the PSOE seem to be speeding along – particularly the sillier ones against Pedro Sánchez and his immediate family. Although we were surprised on Monday to read, from 20Minutos, this story: ‘Judge Peinado extends the investigation into Begoña Gómez until mid-April’. The worthy judge deciding to tease out his politically damaging investigation for another six months (to make two years of eye-watering nothing).
Moving at a more leisurely pace, some Partido Popular proceedings within the Lezo, Kitchen and Gürtel trials finally have a date – beginning in June next year. El Plural has the details, plus a long list of future trials from the era of the previous Partido Popular government – including, says the article – ‘…the more than 150 PP public officials who appear in these summaries, apart from a number of commission agents and businessmen’.
Media:
Público has an opinion piece about the Vox leader Santiago Abascal, who, it claims, ‘is an idiot’. A taste: ‘Among the greatest successes of this trend of foolishness are the anti-vaccines, the flat-earthers, the claim that no man has ever landed on the moon, Adolf Hitler's apparent socialism, and the surreptitious invasion of Europe through the black market. Abascal, a true expert on the subject, uttered such a tremendous idiocy last week that it contained three or four other idiocies, like a depth charge with several mines inside exploding one after the other. That the Open Arms (a charity ship that helps save those arriving by canoes and rowing boats) must be sunk because it's a slave ship (video). That those black people who come to invade Europe with necklaces and T-shirts are financed by multimillionaires. That those slave ships attract crowds of immigrants who happily jump into a small boat, convinced that the ocean is a pond and that a decent sack of coins awaits them the moment they arrive on the other side. It's not easy to know whether these statements are driven by idiocy, ignorance, or malice: perhaps all the above. However, given the large number of ugly people sharing the meme about the Open Arms lying on the bottom of the sea, there's no doubt that being an idiot is in fashion…’
‘OkDiario, from a pamphlet of fake news to a laboratory of hate and racism. In ten years of existence, Eduardo Inda's pseudo-media outlet has become a gold mine. After leading the dirty war with Villarejo and the PP, it is now the most whitewashed and well-funded propagator of anti-immigrant hoaxes in the fascist sphere’. At least, according to ctxt here.
Journalism could be described as a system of reporting news or opinion (or maybe fake news and bulos) best managed by men. From Público here: ‘Threats, harassment, and hate campaigns: a snapshot of the machista war on left-wing female communicators. The attacks directed at journalists simply because they are women are a clear reflection of the political and misogynistic violence that continues to plague our societies’. Some compañeras reveal their experiences in the article.
While TeleMadrid is the most notorious for its slanted news, CanalSur (Andalucía radio and television) is not much better. From La Mar de Onuba here: ‘The Professional Council of Canal Sur resigned en masse on Tuesday, denouncing the loss of independence and the manipulation of information on Andalusian public broadcasting’.
Ecology:
From The Olive Press here ‘Spain is confronting 141 climate-related risks that threaten public health, the economy and biodiversity, according to a government report published on Tuesday. It pointed out 51 key risks due to their severity or imminence, and 17 with low reversibility, meaning they could cause permanent damage without swift action. The Ecological Transition Minister, Sara Aagesen, said that ‘the most extreme climate scenarios are already materializing’ as she referenced longer and more intense heatwaves, severe droughts, torrential rains, and an expanding arid climate…’
Various:
‘Oddly, not everyone is happy with the choice from the five members of ‘den norske Nobelkomité’ for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize. As you must already know, it went to the Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado "for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy"…’ From my Spanish Shilling here.
From Economist & Jurist here: ‘Domestic Service: Starting November 14, it will be mandatory to have an occupational risk protocol at home. In the event of an accident involving a domestic worker, the employer may be uninsured if they cannot prove they have complied with the procedures established by the regulations…’
The Costa del Crime used to be the place where foreign villains went to retire and, more or less, live peacefully. These days, the Costa del Sol is a very different place and worthy of an essay… Beyond the drug-smugglers (El Español), El Debate’s ‘drug lord's hideout: the biggest drug lords hide between Málaga and Marbella’; the surge in active foreign criminals (see The Olive Press for regular updates); the Mocro Maffia (El País speaks of them here); and the usual sweet-talking con-artists from here and there generally preying on fellow-nationals, we now have Swedish assassins for hire says Area Costa del Sol here: ‘Swedish (immigrant) teenagers recruited to kill for 20,000 euros. Kids aged 15 and 16, recruited by Nordic clans, arrive on the Costa del Sol with one mission: to kill and disappear before being arrested’.
Maldita (the fact-checking site) has a piece titled ‘Memes, football, and songs: how 'pop fascism' paves the way for misinformation’. It says: ‘Franco appears wearing bright pink glasses, and Mussolini waves on a balcony while "Someone Like You" by British singer Adele plays. On TikTok, a video in which bees are gassed on a lamppost with the hashtag #extermination features the Erika March, linked to Nazism due to its use in military events during the Third Reich. There are 24,500 different videos on the platform with the same music. This is the first step: the normalization of fascism through pop culture. Memes, fascist speeches, military marches...
At the same time, misinformation about housing, reservoirs, Social Security, and other false achievements attributed to Franco circulates. Meanwhile, Telegram is full of channels that deny the Holocaust or manipulate the number of victims, and with a single click, you can download books that reject the existence of gas chambers in Nazi concentration camps. The goal is to normalize acceptance, driven by misinformation and the spread of conspiracy theories…’
From The Guardian here: ‘How a small Spanish town made headlines over its immigration stance. The mayor explains why Villamalea (Albacete) unanimously backed his call to regularise undocumented migrants – across party lines’.
The RAE (the Royal Spanish Academy) is at war with the Instituto Cervantes (public organisation) – not over the fine meaning of words in Spanish, or the spelling within new terminologies, nor even whether ‘ll’ (pronounced as an elyey), is one letter or two – but something far more dramatic. From El País here: ‘The director of the Instituto Cervantes was speaking at the New Economy Forum in Madrid last week to discuss the International Congress of the Spanish Language currently being held in Arequipa, Peru. Regarding his relationship with the RAE, he said “The Academy is now in the hands of a professor of Administrative Law who is an expert in conducting business from his law firm for multimillion-dollar companies. That, personally, creates a distance”. The RAE huffily replied: "We are unanimous in our absolute rejection of the incomprehensible statements of Sr. García Montero". It should be fun in Arequipa.
From Sur in English here: ‘This was the moment activists splashed red paint over huge Christopher Columbus canvas in Madrid museum’. Two foolish ‘Futuro Vegetal’ girls were arrested over the incident.
This one is hard to believe: According to 20Minutos, there’s a fine for having an alarm sticker on your front door without a real security system. Stickers with logos or insignia of different companies cannot be displayed without a valid contract. Maybe I should just draw one with my trusty marker-pen to frighten off the burglars.
A small Spanish start-up called Liux is marketing its new electric car. From 20Minutos here: ‘Liux is finalizing the launch of its 'made in Spain' electric car, to be available next year for under 18,000 euros’. It’s a two-seater city car with 170 – 230kms per charge.
The bikers’ site El Motero tells of a place on the road through Burgohondo (Ávila) that’s popular with motorcyclists. The owners put up outside the door a dummy dressed as a traffic policeman. Everybody slows down when they see him…
See Spain:
Vélez Rubio in northern Almería is a beautiful town with few tourists. Some good photos here. Just along from it is Vélez Blanco with its striking castle.
Finally:
Los Lobos here on YouTube with La Pistola y El Corazón (a favourite of mine). The group will be in Spain (Barcelona and Madrid) in early February.
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