Today in Spain: A roundup of the latest news on Monday

Spain gets exemption from 5% Nato spending deal

Spain has reached a deal with NATO exempting it from the alliance's five-percent target for defence spending demanded by US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said.

"Spain has just concluded a deal with NATO... which will allow us to respect our commitments towards the Atlantic alliance... without having to raise our defence spending to five percent of gross domestic product," Sánchez said in a speech from the Moncloa palace.

140,000 candidates apply for just 20,000 teaching positions in Spain

Around 140,000 candidates sat entrance exams on Saturday for 20,000 teaching positions across Spain.

The competitive exams for aspiring teachers and other public servants in Spain (known as las oposiciones) were held in all regions of the country except for the Canary Islands, Catalonia, Murcia and the Basque Country, where no new positions were announced.

The number of roles available across all teaching bodies in Spain totals 20,461, an increase of 2 percent on last year, of which 6,236 are for primary school teachers, 13,437 for secondary school teachers and the rest for other positions including vocational training teachers, music teachers, teachers at official language schools, art and design teachers, workshop teachers, and music and performing arts teachers.

JP Morgan warns corruption is increasing political uncertainty in Spain

The influential American investment bank JP Morgan has warned of increased political uncertainty in Spain due to the latest cases of alleged corruption involving some members of the ruling Socialist (PSOE) party.

In a note published recently, the bank confirmed that the Spanish economy is performing well but that both consumer confidence and private investment may have been affected by the various corruption allegations surrounding Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his government.

Sánchez’s wife, brother, attorney general and two former right hand men are all being investigated for alleged corruption or influence peddling. The political pressure reached boiling point last week when Santos Cerdán, the former PSOE organisational secretary, was caught on tape discussing illegal kickbacks for public work contracts.

12,000 locals in Catalonia confined due to fire

Around 12,000 residents in the Catalonian towns of Cervera, Granyanella and La Curullada i Fonolleres were confined for several hours over the weekend after a fire broke out in Granyena de Segarra in Lleida.

The fire reportedly broke out at around 1:27 p.m on Saturday afternoon when a farmer's car caught fire while parked next to agricultural land.

Local firefighters immediately deployed 44 ground units and eight air units. A total of 290 firefighters battled the fire, which affected around 445 hectares, mostly agricultural, according to the regional government representative in Lleida, Nuria Gil.

With additional reporting by AFP.