Royal Armed Forces: Royal Moroccan Army, Royal Moroccan Navy (includes Coast Guard, marines), Royal Moroccan Air Force, Morroccan Royal Guard (provides security for the royal family; officially part of the Royal Army); Royal Morroccan Gendarmerie (Ministry of Defense); Mobile Intervention Corps (a motorized paramilitary security force under the Ministry of Interior that supplements the military and the police as needed) (2020)
Spanish Armed Forces: Army (Ejercito de Tierra), Spanish Navy (Armada Espanola, AE, includes Marine Corps), Spanish Air Force (Ejercito del Aire Espanola, EdA); Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) (2021)
note: the Civil Guard is a military force with police duties (including coast guard) under both the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of the Interior; it also responds to the needs of the Ministry of Finance
Military service age and obligation
19 years of age for compulsory military service (reintroduced in 2019); both sexes are obligated to military service; conscript service obligation - 12 months (2019)
18-26 years of age for voluntary military service by a Spanish citizen or legal immigrant, 2-3 year obligation; women allowed to serve in all SAF branches, including combat units; no conscription (abolished 2001), but Spanish Government retains right to mobilize citizens 19-25 years of age in a national emergency (2019)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP
3.8% of GDP (2020 est.)
3.1% of GDP (2019)
3.1% of GDP (2018)
3.2% of GDP (2017)
3.2% of GDP (2016)
1.17% of GDP (2020 est.)
0.91% of GDP (2019)
0.93% of GDP (2018)
0.91% of GDP (2017)
0.81% of GDP (2016)
Military and security service personnel strengths
the Royal Armed Forces have approximately 200,000 active personnel (175,000 Army; 10,000 Navy; 15,000 Air Force); est. 25,000 Gendarmerie (2021)
the Spanish Armed Forces have approximately 120,000 active duty troops (75,000 Army; 25,000 Navy, inc about 5,000 marines; 20,000 Air Force); 80,000 Guardia Civil (2021)
Military equipment inventories and acquisitions
the Moroccan military's inventory is comprised of mostly older French and US equipment; since 2010, France and the US are the leading suppliers of weapons to Morocco (2020)
the inventory of the Spanish military is comprised of domestically-produced and imported Western weapons systems; France, Germany, and the US are the leading suppliers of military hardware since 2010; Spain's defense industry manufactures land, air, and sea weapons systems and is integrated within the European defense-industrial sector (2020)
Military deployments
750 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 925 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) (Jan 2021)
approximately 200 Iraq (training mission, counter-ISIS coalition); 350 Latvia (NATO); 625 Lebanon (UNIFIL); approximately 400 Mali (EUTM); 150 Turkey (NATO) (2021)
