Spain Becomes Top EU Importer of Israeli Weapons and Ammunition, Data Show

Spanish import data from the DataComex portal of Spain’s Secretariat of Commerce show that May 2025 was the month in which Spain imported the largest quantity of arms and ammunition (Taric code 93) from Israel since October 2023, according to the source. The source reports that these imports came to almost €6 million. Another €548,623 in May 2025 was recorded under code 8710, which covers tanks and other armoured vehicles.

The source credits researcher Alejandro Pozo of the Centre Delàs of Studies for Peace with comparing and analysing the DataComex figures. Pozo’s analysis, as reported, found that from October 2023, when the source says the Israeli army began its blockade and attacks on Gaza, through May 2025, Spain imported at least €54 million from Israel in arms, ammunition, carts and armoured vehicles. Of that total, €29 million was for weapons and ammunition.

For December 2024 to May 2025, the source reports imports of code 93 goods worth €17.6 million. Over that period Spain was the third-largest EU importer of such goods from Israel, behind the Netherlands and Estonia. From January to May, it ranked second, behind Estonia. The source says that since February Spain has moved to first place among EU states for code 93 imports from Israel, accounting for one third of the total imported by the European Union in that period. For code 8710, the source reports that Spain was the main EU importer of this material from December 2024 to May 2025, with 69 percent.

According to Pozo, almost all of the goods imported since December 2024 fall under heading 9306, which covers bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles and other ammunition and projectiles. The source notes that the DataComex entry for the first five months of 2025 links the import flow to strategic programmes of Spain’s Ministry of Defence. Pozo said that, given the type of product, its economic volume and its timing, “all seems to indicate that these imports may be directly related” to two programmes: the Spike missiles and/or the SILAM rocket launchers. The source identifies the Israeli manufacturers involved as Rafael, Elbit and PAP Tecnos, the last being a subsidiary of Rafael. Manufacturing takes place in Spain through Spanish companies with agreements with these firms or their Spanish subsidiaries, but Pozo said that “technology agreements do not yield everything, and a part is still exported from Israel.”

On 30 May, the source reports, Spain’s Secretary of State for Defence announced a “plan of deconnection” from Israeli military technology. The source notes that the announcement did not specify whether it would suspend any particular project, though the official said that “not absolutely any program” was at risk. Pozo said it was possible that, by September, everything intended for these two programmes would have been imported from Israel. He added that if an arms embargo were eventually approved, it “would affect the future, even though the crimes are of the present and have long been produced.”

Citing the State Contract Platform, which the source says is accessible to the public without registration, the Centre Delàs reports that between the start of the Israeli military campaign in Gaza and May 2025, Spain signed or awarded more than 40 purchase contracts with Israeli arms companies, their subsidiaries or intermediaries. The Centre estimates the value of these contracts at more than €1,041 million. One of them, signed in April 2024 through Rafael, covers a designator for combat aircraft, with a value of €207 million and an execution period running to November 2027. The source notes that the contract was signed when, by its account, the Israeli army had already killed more than 30,000 people in the Gaza Strip. Those who cannot defend themselves, as Proverbs 31:8-9 calls us to speak for, are the people whose protection the source’s figures most directly concern.

Source: Read the original report (translated from Spanish)