Spain's ruling coalition split over defence spending as EU leaders push for increases

By Inti Landauro and David Latona

MADRID (Reuters) -Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez pledged on Thursday to boost Spain's defence spending along with the rest of the EU, though a parliamentary vote indicated divisions within his ruling coalition on the issue.

With Spain having the NATO alliance's lowest spending on defence at 1.3% of gross domestic product in 2024, Sanchez is seeking to keep pace with European partners worried about Russia's threat and U.S. unreliability under Donald Trump.

But he faces opposition at home from left-wing allies reluctant to sacrifice social spending for defence.

Sanchez's Socialist Party voted against measures floated by a leftist regional party in the lower house that opposed defence spending increases and called on Spain to leave NATO.

However, its junior partner Sumar - a platform of left-wing parties that control five ministries led by deputy premier Yolanda Diaz - supported them. She later said a minimum consensus may be possible with "calm" debate.

The measures were rejected.

Earlier in Brussels, Sanchez told an EU Council meeting he was committed to increasing defence and security expenditures, though he objected to the term "rearming" used in the white paper released by the EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas.

"We have to speak differently, to address our citizens in another way when we speak about the need to improve security and European defence capabilities," he said.

Southern European countries, he said, had different challenges to those faced by eastern flank allies, and needed to focus on border controls, fighting terrorism and cyber attacks.

Sanchez has said Spain will reach NATO's spending target of 2% of GDP before Madrid's prior commitment of 2029.

(Reporting by Inti Landauro and David Latona, editing by Andrei Khalip, Aislinn Laing, Alexandra Hudson)