Spanish economy

During the last 35 years Spain has developed from a agricultural and rural country to a prosper nation with a strong diversified economy with the service sector and manufacturing has the head poles.

In the 1960´s and up to the beginning of the 1970´s the growth of the economy in Spain was 7% a year and the per capita income around 500 dollars.

Spain entered the European community in 1986 and this lead to an increase in all senses. Spain has the last years had one of the world´s fastest growing economies. A growth that has been more than one % higher than the EU average making the Spanish economy the fifth largest in Europe. The Spanish economy today counts for 9% of the EU economy. The per capita income is still low compared to the average in Europe but is far over countries like Greece, Portugal and Ireland.

France, Germany and Italy is Spains main trading partners. The Catalonia and Basque regions of Spain in the north produce over 50% of Spain´s output. Barcelona is Spain´s largest economical region and is considered an important industrial region in Europe.

The industry on the Costa Blanca and in Spain in general is based on small and medium sized businesses normally family owned. Some 30% of the Spanish industry is owned by foreigners mostly the French. Although many foreign investors turned the back on Spain during the recession in the beginning of the 1990´s Spain´s economy do depend very much on foreign investors.

The most important industries in Spain are the tourism, chemicals, food and beverages and heavy industry. The service industry counts for some 60% of the workforce and the industry some 30% of the jobs.

Spain is the largest olive oil producer in the world and one of the largest in dried fruit and citrus fruits.

The vineyards in Spain are one of the largest in the world some 60% larger than the French vineyards.

Spain has been receiving large subsidized injections of capital from the EU in the last decades that have made it possible to better the infrastructure. The money from the EU have now started to decrease in amount due to the increase in the Spanish economy. In the 1990´s Spain started the process of privatising the state owned companies like the telephone company and the electricity company.