Spain

Spain's economy is a developed economy of a member state of the European Union. Catalonia and Madrid each produce about 20% of the country's GDP, while the rest of the regions, except for the industrialized Basque countries and Navarre, focus mainly on temporary and/or low-paid types of employment in the form of tourism, related services and agriculture, which, after the introduction of the euro in the country, suffer from low competitiveness.

The share of high-tech industries in the export structure is 2-3.5 times lower than that of the EU's leading countries. This is a consequence of the fact that Spain spends only 1.4% of its GDP on R&D — against 2% on average in the EU and 2.8% in the US. About half of these indicators are provided by the public sector, including universities, while in the leading countries, these costs were borne by the private sector. Despite the fact that the Spanish system of tax benefits for R&D is one of the most generous in the OECD and practically uniform for small and large enterprises, these opportunities are still poorly used.

Spain, despite the problems, occupies an important place in several areas of innovation, such as renewable energy, biotechnology, transport and industrial technology, small and medium-sized enterprises, which are a strong foundation for recovery after the crisis and changing the economic model. Also, the crisis drew attention to some of the strengths of the Spanish economy — for example, despite it, the volume of exports of goods increased by almost 12%. The presence of Spanish companies continues to expand all over the world, especially in Latin America and Asia, where exports have increased significantly.

Agriculture occupies a special place in the structure of the economy. It employs 2.3% of the working-age population of the country. Key indicators: Spain is the third in the world in wine production, the fourth in citrus fruits, and also provides a quarter of the world's production of olives and olive oil. The leading branch of agriculture is crop production. Wheat, barley, corn, rice, potatoes and sugar beets, legumes are grown. Viticulture — on the Mediterranean coast and in the regions of Castile-la Mancha, Extremadura. Vegetable growing (vegetables occupy 60% of the sown area): tomatoes, onions, peppers, eggplants.

Animal husbandry is successfully developing: goats and sheep are bred in arid areas, and cattle in the north.

Spain is among the top ten countries in the world for catching fish and seafood and processing them, is a major exporter of fresh fish and canned fish. The country owns the largest fishing fleet in Europe.

Spain is rich in minerals and the oldest industry is mining. In Europe, it is distinguished by the extraction of polymetallic and uranium ores, silver. Iron, lead-zinc, tungsten copper, titanium ores, gold are mined. Spain is one of the world leaders in mercury and pyrite mining. Also quartz, potassium salts, etc.

Mechanical engineering is developed, as well as the production of equipment for the chemical, light, food industry and the production of building materials. Of the branches of light industry, the textile and leather and shoe industries are of the greatest importance.

Installed capacity of generating sources - 109970 MW, including thermal power plants burning organic fuel - 45,821 MW; Electricity production-gross - 273258 million kWh, including thermal power plants - 117125 million kWh

Spain is one of the largest centers of international tourism. The main tourist centers are Madrid and Barcelona, as well as resorts — Costa Brava, Costa Dorada, Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol, Canary Islands.

The main partners in foreign trade are the EU countries, the USA, and Latin America.