<h6><strong>Óscar Ruiz. Migration expert and international analyst.</strong></h6> <h4><strong>Spain will fulfill its NATO commitment to invest 2% of its GDP in defense before the end of this year. This fact will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the meetings, transactions, and events that take place within FEINDEF, Spain's international defense and security fair, which next week, from Monday to Wednesday, brings together the main players in the sector, including companies, governments, and militaries, in Madrid.</strong></h4> <h5><strong>What is FEINDEF and why does it matter in 2025?</strong></h5> The major Spanish Security and Defense exhibition is already warming up, with the background sound of growing tension, and even the sound of war drums heard in different parts of the world. For three days, Madrid will take center stage for innovation with the fourth edition of FEINDEF, a fair that has grown with each edition and is poised to break its own records this year, having already announced the increase in its exhibition space from 40,000 to more than 60,500 square meters, with the aim of consolidating its position as one of the most important gatherings in the sector in Europe and around the world. In the words of Ángel Olivares, president of the FEINDEF Foundation, to Digital Shield, this edition "will represent a quantitative and qualitative leap forward; we will increase the exhibition space by 60 to 70%, we will include a new pavilion, a static exhibition that is enjoying high demand, the number of exhibiting companies will increase by 50% compared to the 2023 edition, as will the number of international companies. This is very important for us because, right now, one of the major challenges facing the European Union and Spanish industries is internationalization—that is, the implementation of joint projects. That's why FEINDEF must be a framework that facilitates meeting, that facilitates agreements, and that supports the ongoing conversations regarding the implementation of international projects. These are the most significant changes." To these new features, the fair's president explains, we must add the effort that will be made this year to retain talent within the sector: "The Spanish defense industry, the European industry, and also the American industry, for example, have problems attracting and retaining talent, and we want to dedicate a special effort to explaining to the academic world and the world of vocational training what the defense industry means for national defense and also what employment opportunities this represents for them. Therefore, there is a whole set of factors that very well explain this spectacular growth that the 2025 edition will experience compared to 2023." <h5><strong>The big news: FEINDEF 2025 without Israel</strong></h5> A particular feature of the 2025 edition is the exclusion of Israel and its companies from the event. The Spanish Ministry of Defense made this decision in line with Spain's commitment to peace and security in the Middle East and in response to incidents related to the United Nations mission in Lebanon. This measure means that there will be no Israeli institutional or business participation at FEINDEF 2025, with all that this entails for the sector, given that Israel is one of the world's leading powers in the defense sector. However, despite this decision—which has also been fueled by the controversial contract cancellations announced by the government recently—the organizers do not expect it to have a special influence on its development: "I don't think it will have any impact," Olivares asserts, "and in any case, Israeli companies will continue to have their programs and projects in the area of collaboration with European companies, and their presence at the fair is irrelevant for this purpose." <h5><strong>Bigger and more innovative</strong></h5> This year, a fourth pavilion, measuring 5,900 square meters, will be added, dedicated exclusively to static exhibits. This means attendees will be able to see ground vehicles, naval and air platforms, as well as cutting-edge command and control systems up close. Emerging technologies such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and logistics—key fields for the defense of the future—will be prominent. And there will be more space for exhibitors. FEINDEF 2025 is emerging as a leading event in the European defense trade fair landscape. However, when compared to other international exhibitions, significant differences are evident in terms of size, visitor numbers, business volume, and global importance. <h5><strong>A leap forward in innovation, space, and international visibility</strong></h5> FEINDEF has quickly established itself as a key event in southern Europe, serving as a platform for the Spanish defense industry and facilitating international collaboration. Although it doesn't reach the scale of DSEI or Eurosatory, its focus on innovation, dual technologies, and participation of small and medium-sized enterprises gives it a distinctive and valuable presence on the defense trade show circuit. In the words of its president, "we are now in a phase of organic growth. It is already a spectacular success that in just four editions we are already among the ten most important generalist series in the world. We do not have any degree of specialization at the moment, just as Eurosatory does not have it either, and we have to define what the strategic lines are for the future, that is, for the 2027 edition. In my opinion, one axis that will endure is the need for internationalization, because the European Union must respond to new challenges by taking on collaborative projects, joint projects. Therefore, it will be a fair with the desire to give a great boost to multinational projects, fundamentally projects of the European Union and the opening of these projects to new international partners from all over the world. That is the great challenge that we are going to start in 2025, which will continue into 2027, and as soon as the 2025 fair is over, we will try to identify what the major strategic axes are for the future. But for now, this great progress we have made is very satisfactory." It has only been held in three editions, and this allows us to almost confidently predict that, in terms of the large numbers at the end of the 2025 fair, we will see FEINDEF among the six or seven largest international fairs in the world." <h5><strong>Spain as a strategic player in European Defense</strong></h5> FEINDEF 2025 is going to be the largest and most relevant edition in its (short) history. With growth in exhibitors, space, and technologies presented, the fair is consolidating its position as a benchmark in the sector. Its focus on innovation, international collaboration, and sustainability make it an unmissable event for all those interested in the future of defense and security. The fair will be a place where the direction of the defense industry will be defined in the coming years. <h5><strong>Why is FEINDEF key to global security?</strong></h5> Although FEINDEF 2025 does not match the size of the largest fairs in the world, its rapid growth, focus on innovation, and strong institutional support position it as an unmissable event in the European Defense and Security calendar. All of this will be achieved through the significant increase in the defense budget that the current Spanish government is undertaking, the first of which, by 2%, will be implemented this year.
