The Spanish Armed Forces (Spanish: Fuerzas Armadas Españolas, FFAA) are the military forces of the Kingdom of Spain. The Spanish Armed Forces are a modern military force charged with defending the Kingdom's integrity and sovereignty. They consist of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
The Monarch is the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, with the title jefe supremo de las fuerzas armadas (Supreme Chief of the Armed Forces) The current Chief of the Defence Staff is General Admiral Fernando García Sánchez.
The Armed Forces are also active members of NATO, the Eurocorps, and the European Union Battlegroups.
The three main branches of the Spanish armed forces are as follows;
- Spanish Army: 61,300
- Spanish Navy: 25,000
- Spanish Air Force: 27,000
Read more about Spanish Armed Forces: History
Famous quotes containing the words spanish, armed and/or forces:
“The French courage proceeds from vanity—the German from phlegm—the Turkish from fanaticism & opium—the Spanish from pride—the English from coolness—the Dutch from obstinacy—the Russian from insensibility—but the Italian from anger.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“A woman’s beauty is a storm-tossed banner;
Under it wisdom stands, and I alone
Of all Arabia’s lovers I alone
Nor dazzled by the embroidery, nor lost
In the confusion of its night-dark folds,
Can hear the armed man speak.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“There is the falsely mystical view of art that assumes a kind of supernatural inspiration, a possession by universal forces unrelated to questions of power and privilege or the artist’s relation to bread and blood. In this view, the channel of art can only become clogged and misdirected by the artist’s concern with merely temporary and local disturbances. The song is higher than the struggle.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)