40 years of Spanish membership to NATO

USPA NEWS - On February 25, 1981, in his investiture debate as Prime Minister, Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo proposed that Spain join NATO. The possible accession was debated in Congress in October of that year and, on December 2, 1981, Spain informed the Alliance of its intention to join. Thus, on May 30, 1982, Spain became the 16th member of NATO.

After the general elections of October 28, 1982, a period of reflection began that culminated in the 1986 referendum in which 52.54% of the population voted in favor of accession. This accession did not entail the incorporation of Spain into the integrated military structure and it was forbidden to install, store or introduce nuclear weapons in Spanish territory. In 1996, the Spanish Parliament supported the Government negotiating Spain's entry into the NATO command structure. A few months later, on July 8 and 9, 1997, Spain hosted the first NATO Summit in Madrid and aspired to "full" participation in NATO's integrated military structure, something that was completed in 1999.

Spain has contributed with means and troops to the main NATO missions, demonstrating its commitment and solidarity as a reliable partner of the Alliance. The Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez highlighted that, thanks to NATO membership, Spain has successfully tackled the challenge of modernizing the Armed Forces, "which have taken advantage of this opportunity with an extraordinary degree of commitment and professionalism."

Spain participated in the first NATO mission in 1992 and, since then, around 125,000 Spanish soldiers have been deployed in 22 operations in places such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Libya, the Gulf of Aden, the Horn of Africa, Afghanistan and in the Mediterranean, in which 119 Spaniards have lost their lives, including two interpreters.

Currently, Spain participates in six NATO missions: Baltic Air Police, NATO Permanent Naval Groups, Operation 'Sea Guardian' in the Mediterranean, 'Enhance Foward Presence' in Latvia, Operation 'Support Turkey' and the 'NMI' Mission NATO in Iraq. Spain's commitment to the Atlantic Alliance has recently been reaffirmed with the deployment of 157 more soldiers to reinforce the southern flank at the Latvian base in ?daži.