Spain will struggle to match Nato defence spending targets because of political divisions and the weak position of the country’s Left-wing government.

But there is another factor that is making it difficult for the country to spend 2 per cent of its GDP on its military: its booming economy.

Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s prime minister, is meeting the heads of other parties on Thursday to seek support for his objective of accelerating the 2 per cent target in response to the call from Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, for an €800 billion spending rise across the EU to face the threat of Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

Spain’s buoyant economy, with GDP growing by 3.2 per cent in 2024, only makes the target harder to reach. Countries such as Germany and France are barely registering economic growth, meaning such GDP-based spending objectives are static and not such a moving target.

But as Spain’s economy grows, so too does the amount it needs to spend to match the Nato target which, under pressure from the US administration of Donald Trump, is under pressure to rise even further, maybe even as high as 5 per cent.

The country’s socialist leader knows, however, that he will not get the backing he needs to pass state budgets, including massive defence spending rises, with virtually all of the hard-Left, Catalan and Basque parties his minority government relies on for its majority having come out against the plan.

Government sources have said that the way around a parliamentary blockade is to raise spending plans piecemeal through cabinet approval of using contingency funds and credits for procurement of arms and other military costs.

But even within Mr Sánchez’s cabinet, there is division on raising defence spending beyond its current level of 1.28 per cent of GDP, a figure that positions Spain as the laggard of all Nato members.