Spain insists before NATO that it refuses to increase military spending to 5%.

The escalating tension in the Middle East, which has led the United States Embassy in Israel to offer its citizens in the country a voluntary evacuation plan, has not, for the moment, altered one iota of the roadmap with which Spain will arrive at the NATO summit next week, which does not involve increasing military spending beyond the 2% of investment it claims to have met.

Ministerial sources assure La Vanguardia that the ambassador and permanent representative to NATO, Federico Torres Muro, has informed his colleagues in allied countries that Spain will not veto any country's intention to increase its defense spending to 5%, following the formula proposed by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, allocating 3.5% to the traditional military budget and an additional 1.5% to broader security items.

"We will not be at 3.5%, nor at 5%," the same government sources are blunt, appealing to the "realism" of the parliamentary arithmetic that supports the government, with partners who oppose continuing to ramp up the arms race.

Ministerial sources assure that the ambassador has conveyed that it will remain at 2%.

The Ministry of Defense refers to the statements made by its Minister, Margarita Robles, on June 5, in which she insisted that the desire is to reach "an agreement" because "Spain will not veto anything," suggesting that a formula will be sought so that the commitment to reach a specific percentage—which Minister Robles refuses to hear about—is not limited to a deadline.

Spain will state that its intention is to "continue advancing" in military investment, focusing on military capabilities, without forgetting the "enormous" effort the Armed Forces are making to be present in international missions under the NATO umbrella. The same sources do not rule out that this stance could cost Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez a clash with his US counterpart, Donald Trump.

Spain is not the only country that is not in favor of this, but it is the partner that is most openly communicating it.

The tycoon, for the moment, maintains his intention to attend The Hague summit, despite the heated situation in the Middle East, which forced him to leave the G-7 summit in Canada early. Negotiations on the declaration that the 32 allied countries must ratify at the meeting, as well as on the new defense spending commitment, however, remain very much underway. The meetings are being held in Brussels with the utmost discretion and will continue until a consensus is reached, as the decision must be made unanimously. It is possible that discussions will continue until the summit itself—which begins on Tuesday—but no one wants the leaders to arrive with important files open.

Allied sources confirm to this newspaper that, although Spain is not the only country unwilling to follow Trump and Rutte's instructions, it is the partner most openly communicating this, both publicly and privately. Therefore, it is taking center stage at next week's summit.

Italy, another ally in a similar situation—it has just announced it will reach 2%—doesn't mind the 3.5% and 1.5% breakdown proposed by Rutte, although it wants to fully understand what items could be included in this expenditure—it's considering including the major bridge project across the Strait of Messina, between Sicily and the peninsula—and asks to extend the period to ten years. Belgium isn't enthusiastic about the 5% idea either, but isn't keen to oppose it outright.