Spain, under NATO’s umbrella, has more than a thousand military deployed in Eastern countries. Since 2017, the Army of Earth maintains a contingent in Latvia and since 2024, another in Slovakia. Both deployments, which include between 600 and 800 soldiers in each country, are equipped with armored vehicles such as the Leopard, Pizarro and Centaur, in addition to artillery pieces and light vehicles. However, behind this operation, a discomfort is beginning to be created among the Spanish military: they denounce that They charge less than corresponding to be in the area of operations.
The Spanish Troop and Marinery Association, according to , He has already transferred to the Margarita Robles Ministry of Defense, numerous complaints related to the payments of diets or incentives that the military perceives in international missions. In the case of Slovakia, the soldiers arrived in January 2024 with the promise of charging the same as their companions in Latvia. However, throughout the year, they have received a lower amount. The difference is about 25 euros per day, which translates into 750 euros less per month. For a six -month deployment, this assumes that Each military has stopped receiving about 4,500 euros.
But the problem is not limited only to Slovakia. In Latvia, where Spain has been deploying troops for years, the military have also seen how the payment of their diets has been diminishing since December. Until November, they charged between 93 and 97 euros per day, but as of that month the amount has dropped to 72-75 euros. The explanation they received was that the change was due to a modification in the official name of the mission, which went from Reinforced Advanced Presence a Advanced land forces.
The General Directorate of Personnel of the Ministry of Defense, of which the General of Division José Ramón Velón has been taken, has attributed the anomaly in the payment of the diets to “technical issues” and has assured that a ministerial order is being processed to regulate the fertilizers in the Missions of the Eastern and Southern flank of Europe. In addition, he has also promised that the military will receive the arrears, once the regulations are approved.
However, the delay in the resolution of the problem has generated a deep discomfort among the affected military, who have transferred their outrage to Internet forums and the channels of Telegram, where numerous anonymous complaints have been published: “If a soldier charges 72 euros a day for being in Latvia, he does not compensate for the 60 euros that he would receive in a service commission in Spain,” they lament.
Despite the repeated consultations made to the Ministry of Defense, as explained by the Digital Confidentialthis has not answered the questions about the reason for the cut, the pending procedures or if the military will receive an explanation in writing, which has increased frustration among the soldiers, who see how the economic attraction of the missions abroad voids.
