The Secretary of State for Defence vetoes Israel at FEINDEF 25, the defence exhibition in Madrid
The Spanish Ministry of Defence, through its Secretary of State, Amparo Valcarce, has vetoed the presence of Israel's military and security industry at the 4th edition of the Spanish International Defence and Security Fair (FEINDEF), which is scheduled to take place in Madrid from 12 to 14 May 2025.
At the FEINDEF 25 presentation ceremony, the ministry's number three, a person trusted by Minister Margarita Robles and responsible for managing the department's armaments, materiel and R&D&I policies, made a parenthesis in his speech to confirm that ‘there will be no institutional participation by Israel or any Israeli company in this fair’.
The reason given was that Spain ‘is committed to peace and security in Palestine and Lebanon and respect for international humanitarian law, and FEINDEF cannot be unaware of this’. A few moments before Valcarce's speech, the President of the FEINDEF Foundation, Ángel Olivares, former Secretary of State for Defence (2018-2020), spoke.
Olivares alluded to the fact that ‘we cannot admit that the UNIFIL mission in Lebanon is attacked and that the security of Spanish soldiers is not guaranteed by those who have the obligation to do so, in serious violation of international law’, in a clear reference to the Israeli Defence Forces. And he finished his words with the statement that ‘FEINDEF 25 cannot host companies with the national flag that cause this situation’, so that ‘in the coming days we will take the appropriate measures’.
The agreement of the FEINDEF board of trustees means that Rafael and Elbit Systems, two major Israeli manufacturers of weapons systems, will be able to attend the Madrid show. Elbit is a world reference in drones and military electronics and, together with Escribano and Rheinmetall Expal, develops the SILAM rocket launcher system for the Spanish Army. Rafael has its Spanish subsidiary in Pap Tecnos, which is involved in the Ministry of Defence's Spike LR 2 missile programme. Like the restrictions on Russian companies vetoed since FEINDEF 23, the measure now announced is due to other domestic and international political factors.
96% of space contracted
In France, a similar measure was applied at the Euronaval show, which runs from 4 to 7 November in Paris, but a French court overturned the ban just days before the show opened. However, most of the Israeli companies interested in Euronaval have not been able to complete the formalities in time to bring their planned equipment and weapons systems to the French capital.
In Spain, Izquierda Unida, a partner in the coalition government led by Pedro Sánchez, tabled a non-legislative proposal in Congress in mid-September to exclude Israeli companies or companies with Israeli capital from participating in defence, security or related fairs, both private and with public collaboration, held in Spain. And it has succeeded.
With six months to go before the fourth edition of FEINDEF opens its doors at the Madrid Trade Fair Institution (IFEMA), Ángel Olivares has announced the main figures for the only biennial professional fair in the sector institutionally supported by the Ministry of Defence. ‘96 % of the 50,000 square metres of exhibition space has already been contracted’, around 25 % more than in 2023, which has led ‘the organisation to consider extending the surface area with a third pavilion‘, with the ambition of reaching 550 exhibitors.
According to the president of the Foundation and head of the next edition, the number of ‘companies that have already confirmed their attendance amounts to 405, which represents a growth of 15 %’, of which ‘130 are attending for the first time and 131 are from third countries’, representing 32 % of the total number of exhibitors.
In the words of Olivares, these figures mean that ‘in just four editions we have become one of the ten most important multi-domain fairs in the world in terms of number of exhibitors, in seventh place in terms of exhibition space and sixth in terms of the presence of international exhibitors’.
Three full days of exhibitions and activities
As this is the only exhibition and conference show in the sector institutionally supported by the Ministry of Defence, in the words of Ángel Olivares ‘we hope to receive around one hundred international delegations representing 57 countries and 35,000 professional visitors’.
In parallel, FEINDEF 25 includes an ambitious programme of activities. There will be ‘more than 35 sessions with the participation of military commanders and qualified representatives of the national and international industry’, of which Olivares has not anticipated any names. It includes the Innova space, which will focus on innovative products and services showcased by new companies and start-ups.
Among the new features is a ‘20% increase in the duration of the fair, which will be three full days’. The third and final day, 14 May, will not close its doors at 14:00, but will be extended until the end of the afternoon. Special attention will also be paid ‘to university students, young people in vocational training and students from military academies’, with activities to help them learn about the defence industry and its employment opportunities.
Aware of the importance of the sector, having spent three years at the helm of the Ministry of Defence's industrial and procurement policy, Ángel Olivares pointed out that it is a ‘strategic and driving sector, which can play a decisive role in achieving the major objective of increasing the weight of industry in the Spanish economy’.
In her closing remarks, the Secretary of State emphasised that FEINDEF is the most important national exhibition for the defence and security sector and its best showcase. In her opinion, it represents an excellent opportunity ‘to strengthen ties, forge alliances, define business consortiums and offer new technological solutions to the national defence industry’.
