Spain

From NATO's perspective, Spain's possession of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic, Ceuta and Melilla on the north African coast, and the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, gives it control of a strategically important maritime axis. Nonetheless, any analysis of Spanish security issues should begin with two fundamental premises. First, the issues involve domestic politics as well as foreign policy issues. Secondly, the Spain has only recently perceived an external security threat. There are perhaps three factors that have shaped the nature of the modern Spanish military. First, the armed forces have always had an abundance of officers who have tended to be too old for their rank and responsibilities. Second, the army often has responded to a self-defined notion of patriotism, seen in terms of defending Spain against "incompetent politicians." Third, all branches of the military are acutely sensitive to civilian criticism, exacerbated by widespread hostility to conscription and the regular use of the army to crush social agitation.