The economy of Spain, in the eyes of the general public, is subject to stereotypes associated with the Spanish coast, comfortable sunbeds on it, a warm sea and a loyal consulate issuing visas for suffering tourists. And also Gaudi ... A wonderful tourist country in the south of Europe, what would they do without us ...
And here it is not so. Without tourists, Spain will live. The point is its powerful industrial economy with serious technologies, diversified agriculture, a reliable banking system and other unexpected things that many do not even suspect. The tourism industry, of course, is also important. But it is not she who rules the general welfare ...
The main problems of the modern economy of Spain can be listed quickly and on the fingers, there are only three of them: unemployment, inflation and high public debt, many times higher than annual GDP, more about that below.
How it all began?
The history of the Spanish economy is unusual, uneven and extremely interesting. In short, this is a story about a quick and effective “re-shoe” of the economy of an entire country in response to political changes. Take the period starting at the end of World War II - the political and economic frontier for almost all European countries. Spain then was among the real outcasts - it was in economic isolation. Given the fact that Spain was part of the “axis countries” - the Hitler coalition, it did not receive any material or technological support, unlike its European neighbors, which received significant subsidies under the Marshall Plan.
Spain is a proud country with a proud government - together they decided to go on their unbeaten path. The features of the Spanish economy of that time were widespread cases of government officials interfering in private business - this was an extremely high degree of state control in almost all sectors of the economy. Realizing in the end that such a policy in the economy would not bring to good, Spain decided to carry out economic reforms in the 60s. As a result of this, the first brainchild of the new market economy of Spain was born - the “Spanish Miracle”. So they called their famous stabilization plan. At first, many laughed at the name: "What is the economy in Spain, such a miracle." Then they stopped laughing: in front of an amazed audience, Spain overtook all the countries of the world in terms of economic growth. This growth rate lasted until 1974, when a severe energy crisis hit all countries. He did not bypass Spain either, with its deep dependence on imported energy sources.
Spain overcame the crisis faster than others in Europe, but from that moment two problems of the Spanish economy began to appear - unemployment and its faithful companion inflation unfolded in all its glory. In general, there were no surprises - everyone had such problems. But this couple will no longer lag behind the country: the Spanish economy will live with it side by side. Other countries also have inflation and unemployment, but not on such a scale, and not so long. A 22 percent unemployment rate would shock any other country. But not Spain, which has been living with such numbers for a long time and for a long time. Perhaps this Olympic calm is explained by a significant shadow sector of the economy, but even this does not help reduce inflation. A “sweet couple” of Spanish economic problems was circled by a huge public debt that joined it. Debt, amazing in size and many times higher than the country's annual GDP (the largest debt is in the United States, everyone knows this, but it is equal to the country's annual GDP, which indicates the high solvency of the United States). In the Spanish version, the debt is simply cosmic, and it is not known what the Spaniards are going to do next.
Despite its “eternal” troubled troika, Spain managed to become one of the most highly developed countries in Europe with developed industry in combination with a powerful tourism sector. The development of the economy in Spain was non-standard. Interestingly, Spain has high ratings as a manufacturer of machine tools and industrial equipment, metalworking products, organic and inorganic chemistry, shoes, car accessories - in all these categories it has high places in the top ten countries of the world. But in the IT field, Spain is much lower - it is only in the third ten countries. We call this fact another characteristic of the Spanish economy.
European Orange Champion
The absolute hits of today's Spanish agriculture are olives and olive oil, citrus fruits, grapes and, of course, grape wine of very good quality.
If all of the above are well-known articles of Spanish agricultural income, then not everyone knows about a powerful and developed fisheries. Meanwhile, Spain is in the first “fishing” world ten. If there are plenty of fruits, vegetables and fish, and they are successfully exported, then grain and livestock products have to be purchased. There is a complete “change of shoes” of the whole industry in a short period of time. Such a quick and effective reboot can also be attributed to the characteristics of the Spanish economy. Judge for yourself, agriculture was originally a specialized sector of the Spanish national economy. Until the 50s of the twentieth century, Spain was a purely agricultural country, half of its population was employed in this industry. The main products were barley and wheat. Today, agriculture has not only sharply reduced its share in the total Spanish economic “pie”, but has also radically changed its specialization - another illustration of the development of the economy in Spain.
Fruit specialization by region is clearly divided, as a result of which large and very narrow “fruit” specialists live in different areas: oranges and other citrus fruits are grown in Andalusia and Valencia. Valencia, with its surrounding suburbs, also specializes in almonds and pomegranates. Pears and apples are the lot of the northern territories, and the famous Spanish tomatoes are produced in Alicante and Murcia. The Canary Islands are grown in huge volumes of mangoes, bananas and avocados.
As for the wine industry, the vineyards are located throughout Spain, except for the northern regions, which is understandable. The main and most valuable grape varieties grow in Andalusia, Castile and La Rioja. Spain is the largest wine producer, the third in the world. The average annual volume of wine is huge for such a small country - about four hectoliters. The quality of Spanish wine is also in order.
And now the “rice" news: rice in Spain is not just grown, but has one of the highest yields in the world. With such a local food abundance, Spain would still not be able to live autonomously (like in a submarine). She imports wheat, some fish, livestock products. This is true: with excellent agricultural integration in the EU countries, you can produce what is best grown or caught. There is a positive impact of European integration on the development of the Spanish economy. A lively import-export process with approximately equal volumes of production in both directions is an ideal picture of modern economic integration.
Industry in the economy of Spain
We already know about the stabilization plan called the “Spanish Miracle”, thanks to which Spain truly stood on its industrial feet and turned from a European agricultural province into a powerful industrial state with Spain's solid place in the global economy. At the same time, people began to come to the Spanish coast to relax and lie down on the beach, and a stable and profitable tourism industry was added to the economic reforms.
Mining is perhaps the only sector of the Spanish economy in which little has changed. This is understandable: minerals and minerals. They have not gone anywhere and now give Spain the right to be called a world leader, for example, in the extraction of mercury or pyrites. Uranium ore, silver, quartz, gold and much more ... One bad thing - this "a lot of things" is actually very small - at least in order to become the backbone sector of the Spanish economy as a country with a well-developed industrial sector. Spain even has its own oil, but it is so scarce that it covers only 10% of its needs - about 30 million tons annually. If Spain holds the first place in Europe and the ninth in the world in metal-containing ores, then in energy carriers it is just an offensive fortieth place in the world.
The Spanish economy is also characterized by a wide presence of foreign capital. Almost half of the metallurgical and machine-building enterprises belong to companies from France, Great Britain, Switzerland, and Germany, including, of course, American corporations (where without them?). The local oligarchy is also well represented - these are eight large financial groups that are engaged in both industry and banking.
A significant part of the economy is occupied by the port sector: in Bilbao and Barcelona, special oil ports in Tarragona, Algeciras and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, a special coal port in Gijon.
The road transport network brings together a dozen excellent new-generation highways that connect almost all regions and cities of Spain. Special express roads are laid along two sea coasts - both from the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea.
The railway history of this country is rich in events and achievements. Spanish Railways is 170 years old, it is one of the most “deserved” roads in Europe.
This fact does not prevent Spain from having magnificent modern electrified railway lines with high throughput and high-speed trains. Spain not only launches new trains, it also builds them. Famous Talgo trains can be found anywhere in the world.
Spanish Industry: Heavy and Light
Mechanical engineering in Spain is really serious. This is, above all. shipbuilding (a centuries-old sea power is no joke) with huge old shipyards in the north of the country in Bilbao, Gijon and Santander.
There are also new shipyards built in the northwest in Vigo, El Ferrol and in the east in Barcelona, Valencia and Cartagena. The south of Spain has never been an industrial region, but new shipyards also appeared there - in Seville and Cadiz. Such sectors of the Spanish economy as shipbuilding are the subject of special attention of the government, no matter what political forces are at the helm. Traditions are traditions.
Automotive industry in the country has specific features. The industrial automotive economy of Spain is characterized by many car manufacturing centers, which are based in different cities across the country - from Barcelona to Seville. But all of them belong to foreign companies and brands, such as, for example, the Volkswagen concern. In total, there are 17 assembly plants in the country, which bring very good income to the country and generate about 6% of GDP. Spain does everything: buses, cars of all types, including vans and SUVs, tractors, heavy and light trucks and even wheeled tractors. The largest volumes are carried out by the factories of Renault, Ford, Opel, Peugeot. There is also its own national brand Seat.
Export of manufactured cars is an extremely important item of total national export, it accounts for 16% of its annual volume. The profile “automobile” cities with large factories are as follows: Madrid, Vigo, Pamplona, Barcelona. The Spanish government has big plans for the construction of electric vehicles. But with this you need to wait and observe - it would not work, as with solar energy ...
Spain is strong in the manufacture of machine tools and industrial equipment for the light and food industries. Building materials, as well as equipment for the production of building materials, also belongs to the strategic sectors of the Spanish industry.
Light industry in Spain has a "good heredity." The descendants of great masters in the production of shoes and fabrics live here, which resulted in a developed textile industry with the highest quality products. You don’t need to talk about Spanish shoes - it has one of the highest “shoe” ratings in the world, and Spain holds a four percent share in world shoe exports.
Free economic zones
There are four such zones, they operate with tax, customs and various kinds of economic benefits. All of them are located in large sea port cities: Barcelona, Cadiz and Vigo, on the famous Canary Islands. The most famous and largest of them is the Free Economic Zone Barcelona with its branched structure:
- industrial landfill;
- “Free” warehouse;
- Free trading zone.
Barcelona's industrial landfill is located close to the seaport and airport. It is a powerful communication hub between the highways of Spain and Europe, has a special freight station with a railway container terminal.
In Cadiz, the free trade zone has been operating for a long time - since 1929. Its purpose, as well as all the functionality, is aimed at one thing - export. The Atlantic coast is a sea connection with all countries of the world. The SEZ of Cadiz includes:
- shopping center of international importance;
- office center;
- storage areas;
- industrial and port areas;
- terminal for containers - refrigerators;
- storage facilities with powerful industrial refrigerators.
The SEZ in Cadiz plays the role of the customs territory of the European Union, which provides customs and tax benefits for goods of third countries in the form of exemption from:
- import duties while the goods are in the zone;
- special taxes on import into the zone;
- VAT with its return upon import into the zone of goods and production of services for the processing of these goods;
- exemption from EU trade policy rules;
- legal import of any product with an unlimited period of its stay in the zone.
Both the multiplicity and excellent technical equipment of free economic zones is explained by the diverse structure of the Spanish economy and its high integration into the global economic process.
Spanish energy
As noted above, Spain’s economic performance depends on oil prices. The reason for this is the scourge of most European countries - poverty in terms of minerals. There is something in Spain, but this is so small that the volume of stocks plays practically no role in the development of the country's economy. There is a complete dependence of Spain in the global economy on foreign exports of energy carriers.
“There is a silver lining” - this is the most accurate illustration of the country's energy dependence, which has resulted in a magnificent and promising industry using high technology. “A lot of sun” + “little coal” = development of alternative energy and, in particular, solar panels and stations. The Spanish solar industry has an interesting and revealing story.
The fact that in Spain it is very hot and a lot of sun, everyone knows. It is clear that in such a climate, God himself ordered that alternative energy be developed in the form of solar stations. What the Spaniards did back in the 90s. The European Union took a hot part in this initiative - it was very interested in developing such an energy industry for the same reasons as Spain itself. The first stations worked on the principle of "photovoltaics" - the conversion of solar energy into electricity using photocells. Everything went fine, the stations began to grow like mushrooms after the rain - in gigantic territories, with batteries or mirror traps of solar energy. In Andalusia, the world's first round-the-clock solar station appeared.
Spanish Socialists and the Hot Spanish Sun
Unfortunately, politics could not be avoided here: the then ruling socialists had a hand in the solar industry. They positioned themselves as ardent environmentalists and, "to save nature," gave generous monetary incentives to owners of private solar stations to the right and left. . 20% – , « ». , . . , , 2012 , . : : 7,5% . .
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