Go to the media bank The coat of arms of Spain on the building of the Spanish Embassy in Moscow. File photoMADRID, Oct 12 The Spanish Armed Forces lack 20,000 troops to keep the country's army operational, El Periódico newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing the country's senior military officers. At the moment, the Spanish Armed Forces need 12 thousand people for the personnel of the ground forces, 5.7 thousand people for the air force and 4 thousand soldiers and 2.7 thousand civilians requested by the naval forces. According to the publication, the air force of the kingdom is in the most difficult condition, where there is a shortage of specialized staff. For example, in Spain there are only 21 active pilots capable of flying the Eurofighter. The Spanish Ministry of Defense has kept the maximum number of military personnel and sailors at 79 thousand people for 2022, a figure that has remained unchanged since 2014. This is due to the fact that the government of the country in 2010, when the maximum number of military personnel was 86 thousand people, began to pursue a policy of reducing the personnel of the kingdom's troops. In early October, the coalition government of Spain approved the draft state budget for 2023, according to which 12.3 billion euros was allocated to defense, up 20.5% from 2022.
