20th anniversary of a professional military in Spain

 On December 31, 2021 Spain celebrated 20 years of a professional military.  In 2001, under the Government of José María Aznar, a decree was adopted that suspended the "mili", obligatory military service, following an intense debate that began in the 1970s, against the mili promoted by conscientious objectors, the "insumisos" (lit. the unsubmissive) -those who refused to do military service and antimilitarists.

The last group of "quintos" (fifths) called to serve was in 2000.  Their name "quintos" comes from the obligation imposed during the reign of Juan II of Castilla (1406-1454) pursuant to which one of every five males was obliged to serve in the military, which continued until 31 December 2001.  The three decades prior thereto were characterized by the increasing fight on the part of objectors and insumisos, who suffered prison terms for their opposition to service.

During the Francisco Franco dictatorship military service in Spain lasted two years; in 1968 it was reduced to 18 months, in 1984 to 12 months, and in 1991 to 9 months.  The long duration of obligatory military service incurred a break in one's life plan, which the objectors and insumisos characterized as "legal kidnapping".  In the 1950s, a military tribunal sentenced Pepe Baunza, the first objector for political reasons, to four years in prison.

By 1992, almost 20% of the quintos declared themselves conscientious objectors and in the Basque region up to 50%.  It has been said that the opposition to the mili was greater in Spain than in any other country in Europe.  The opponents pointed out that the number of abnormal accidents in the military and the fact that suicides were three times as high in the military when compared to civil society helped to convince people that it was time to abolish the mili.

Spain was the third country in Europe to professionalize its Armed Forces after Holland in 1991, and Belgium, the following year.  The majority of European countries have abandoned obligatory military service, but Sweden, Austria and Ukraine, for example, have reintroduced it.  Sweden did not attract enough volunteers so on January 1, 2018 it reintroduced it, for both men and women.  Austria, in 2013, held a referendum on whether obligatory military service should be abandoned and more than half the population participated (52%) and 59.7% voted against eliminating obligatory service. In Ukraine, it was eliminated in 2012, but barely two years later it was reintroduced with the war with Russia over Donbas.  Lithuania also reintroduced it in 2015, after having abolished it in 2008.