The Spanish government's announcement of an 11.3% increase in its research and development budget should have been good news. Coming on top of the launch of a Ministry of Science and Technology, statements of priority for R&D by José Maria Aznar, the prime minister, and a four-year plan to increase R&D spending from 0.9 to 2% of gross national product, 2000 looked like an annus mirabilis for Spanish science.

But scientists were suspicious. Complaints about the true distribution of R&D budgets have been common since 1998, when it became clear that a substantial amount of the annual spend was set aside for military research. But distrust has grown as the government has resisted publishing the military and civilian allocations.

Belatedly, next year's position is now all too clear (see page 664). The military research spend will increase disproportionately. And to add insult to injury, secrecy rules again. Only reluctantly was science minister Ramón Marimon forced to admit that more than 50% of the 2001 budget will be devoted to military R&D.

In seeking to hide the military figures, the government is doing neither its citizens nor itself any favours. Why exacerbate distrust in this way? The United States, France and the United Kingdom make a clear distinction between civilian and military spending, and that information is easily accessible to all. To restore disenchanted scientists' trust in the government, Spain's government needs to boost civil science, significantly and transparently.