UNIT 9: THE SPANISH ECONOMY

1. AGRICULTURE IN SPAIN

1.1. The characteristics of agriculture.

The aim of this modern agriculture is to grow produce for sale on the market, focusing

on the best suited, most profitable crops in each region.

There is a wide range of crops cultivated in Spain, the most widespread are: cereals,

legumes, grapes, olives. fruit, vegetables, industrial plants and fodder, Organic farming

is also becoming increasingly important.

1.2. Livestock farming and forestry

Livestock farming accounts for a large proportion of overall agricultural production. It

tends to be intensive, stable farming, and use animal feeds and on the improvement of

breeds.

Cattle provide milk and meat; sheep provide meat and cures meat products; and poultry

meat and Cured and eggs.

Forestry has resources, due, to the lack of forests by intensive deforestation. Today, it is

specialised in certain hardwood species and conifers. Different products are obtained

from these trees, such as wood, cellulose, resin and cork.

1.3. The problems in the primary sector.

The problems faced by Sector are Very include ageing of population, of surpluses of

Some products, such as cereals, wine, milk or beef, lack of competitiveness of some

small farms, and the deterioration of the environment due to the use of chemical

products.

to resolve them, public administrations apply different policies: increase funding aimed

at rural development; impose production quotas', promote new crops; encourage

agricultural consolidation; increase areas of fallow land and forest, etc.

2. SPANISH AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPES

2.1. The oceanic agricultural landscape

This landscape is in the north and north-west of the peninsula. is characterised by land

and an Climate, numerous small enclosed by hedges, and disperse settlement.

Agriculture is limited to the bottoms or valleys and is specialised in horticultural crops

and plants for fodder.

Cattle farming is the most Common agricultural activity, in the mountainous regions is

generally extensive and on natural pasture land, whereas on the coast and near the main

cities intensive cattle farming is more common. Forestry is also an important activity.

2.2. The Mediterranean agricultural landscape

This landscape is found in the peninsula to the south of the oceanic areas, in the

Balearic Islands and Ceuta and Melilla. It covers a large area and is divided into interior

and costal landscapes.

The Mediterranean interior landscape

The interior of the peninsula characterise by flat land at high altitudes, a continental

climate, and the predominance of large fields and concentrated settlements.

Agriculture varies greatly. Non -irrigated land is used for extensive crops, especially the

Mediterranean trilogy, while on irrigated land there is intensive cultivation of industrial

plants and fodder.

Traditional livestock farming of both cows and pigs is extensive. Intensive livestock

farming.

The Mediterranean coastal landscape.

This area includes the Mediterranean Coastal Strip, Guadalquivir valley, Balearic

Islands, Ceuta and Melilla. It is Characterised by low altitudes and a mild Climate, with

little precipitation. The fields are generally small and the settlements are disperse.

Agriculture use intensive irrigation. The main crops are vegetables, fruit, and tropical

fruit in areas with warmer temperatures

2.3. The agricultural landscape of the Canary Islands .

The Canary Island are by uneven volcanic land and a subtropical Climate. There are

Sharp Contrasts in size of large farms and Small farms in the interior, Settlement is

disperse in general.

The agriculture of the coast specialises in single-crop farming for export, cultivation

under plastic and tropical fruits. In the interior, agriculture tends co be mixed farming

for self-consumptions, focussing On Vines, potatoes and wheat,

There is very little livestock farming, due to the poor quality of the pasture, although

extensive sheep and goat farming and intensive pig and poultry farming does exist.

3. FISHING ACTIVITY IN SPAIN

3.1. Characteristics of the fishing industry.

The fishing has undergone a profound transformation. It includes traditional, small

ships, an offshore and high-seas composed fleet, composed of large, modern Ships

equipped the technologies.

The majority of species caught are. Other species of great value are the mollusc

crustaceans and cephalopods.

Fishing production is used primarily for human consumption of fresh fish. However,

some of the fish caught undergoes industrial transformation: freezing, canning, salting

and the production of oils and fishmeal.

3.2. Fishing grounds and regions

Today, Spanish fleets fish in national, EU and international fishing grounds, especially

those of the Atlantic and Indian oceans. To fish internationally, the EU negotiates and

signs fishing agreements with the corresponding countries, main Spanish fishing region

is Galicia, in the Atlantic coast of Andalucía, the Canary Island and considerable way

behind these, the Mediterranean.

3.3. Problems with fishing

The most notable problems related to fishing are the small and ageing fishing

population the excessive size of the fleet in relation to the resources of the fishing

grounds which leads to the exhaustion of some species, due to overfishing.

To resolve these problems, public administrations have taken different measures:

subsidies to young fishermen and women, scrapping the oldest ships and transferring

others to mixed fishing companies, establishing fishing quotas for threatened species,

etc. It also encourages fish farming, particularly of species with a high market value

bream, bass. mussels, etc.

4. SPANISH INSDUSTRY I. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.

4.1. Mineral resources

Mining was an industry in Spain up the end Of 19th Century IO Of mineral deposits.

Today, however, is as Some of these deposit have been and mining costs have increased

greatly.

Although Spain still extracts non metallic minerals, industrial rocks and fuels , Spanish

industry relies on large volumes of mineral imports.

4.2. Sources of energy

Spanish energy consumption is based on traditional energy sources, which means it is

necessary to make costly imports.

Oil, Natural gas, coal, Hydroelectric energy, Nuclear energy

Alternative energy sources still account for a relatively small proportion of

consumption, although wind, biomass and solar energies have recently increased their

production.

4.3. The industrial sectors

The most important traditional sectors are the steel industry. The transformation of

metals, electrical appliances, shipbuilding and the textile, Leather, footwear and

furniture industries. These play a major role in industry due to improved technologies,

the modernisation of facilities, increase in competitivess and the diversification

production.

The dynamic industrial sectors are represented by the automotive, chemical, food and

construction Industries. The majority of them have developed under the control of

foreign multinational, as they are activities that require major investments.

5. SPANISH INSDUSTRY II. DISTRIBUCION AND PROBLEMS

5.1 The distribution of industrial areas

Industry is mainly in Barcelona and Madrid. The headquarter of large national and

multinational companies and technology industries, are also based in these cities.

Other important industrial areas are located along the river Ebro, on the Mediterranean

and along the Cantabrian coast.

Industrial regions of the Ebro Mediterranean, National and multinational firms have

set up here to reduce costs or take advantage of the resources from the surrounding

area.

Cantabrian coast is a industrial area. lt was specialised in steel production and

shipbuilding.

The areas with least industrialisation are found in the interior of the

peninsula, in the two archipelagos and in Ceuta and Melilla.

5.1. The problems of industry

Spanish industry continues to have some problems which have to be resolved in order to

ensure its competitiveness on the world stage. The most notable the in occupied

population most companies are small medium size, the use of obsolete technology, the

lack of technology, the lack of investment in and developed compared to other, and

damage .

To resolve these problems, varied measures are taken: policies to support SMEs,

promoting the use of advanced technologies,iIncreasing spending on R&D, preventing

environmental problems or rehabilitating areas in decline.

6. THE TERCEARY SECTOR IN SPAIN I. COMMERCE AND TRANSPORT

6.1. The growth of the service industry

The tertiary sector has grown spectacularly in Spain. Contributed of the gross domestic

product.

There are various reasons for this growth: the increase in the standard of living, which

demands numerous and specialises services; the growth of welfare state, consequents

increase in social and increased demand for by industry and tourism.

The creation of the autonomous communities and Spain’s entry into the EU have also

contributed to this growth, as they have increased the number of jobs in regional and

European administrations.

6.2. Commerce. Domestic and foreign trade

The majority of trade in Spain is traditional small shops; however, these are suffering

as they face growing competition from large retail outlets, such as hypermarkets,

department stores and shopping centres, which in decades have increased their market

share at the cost or the traditional retailers.

Foreign trade has increased as a result of the incorporation into the European Union

and economic globalisation. The vast majority of exchanges are carried out with the

other European Union countries, followed by the United States, Japan, China and some

countries of the Middle East and Latin America.

The most notable imports are Capital goods' and energy products. The biggest exports

are Capital goods, motor vehicles and foodstuffs. The trade balance is in deficit, we

import more than we export.

6.3. Transport. Characteristics and networks

The Spanish transport system uses mad transport above all for both passengers and

freight. The land and air networks are both radial in nature, with Madrid and the centre.

The quality and density of the network varies in different areas.

Land transport is most widely used, and is based on two networks: the roads network

and the railway network.

Road is the main form of transport for passengers and goods.

Railway transport is used for the transfer of goods and passengers over short and

medium distances.

Water transport is used for international heavy goods traffic, which is concentrated in

the ports of Algeciras, Barcelona and Valencia. Passenger transport is limited to routes

between island or across the Strait of Gibraltar, us it is concentratreted in the ports or

Canary Island, Balearic Island, Algeciras and Ceuta.

Air transport is the most competitive from of international passenger transport. The

main airports are Madrid, Barcelona. Palma Malaga and Tenerife.

7. THE TERTIARY SECTOR IN SPAIN II. TOURISM

7.1. The favourable factors of tourism

A series of favourable factors have influenced the development of tourism since

1960, .These factors include: proximity to other European the climate and the cultural,

artistic, folklore and and political and compared to other nearby .

7.2. Types of tourism

The main type of tourism in Spain is sun and sand tourism, concentrate along the

Mediterranean coastline and in the Balearic and Canary Islands. Other types, which are

growing, are mountain tourism in the ski resorts, ecological tourism in the countryside,

rural tourism, cultural tourism in cities with important historical heritage and also

business tourism.

Foreign demand comes from European countries in search of sun and sand in the

summer. Domestic demand comes mainly from Madrid, Catalonia and Andalucía; it

includes various types of tourism and is better distributed across the year.

7.2. Repercussions and future prospects

Tourism has had both positive and negative consequences for Spain.

The positive consequences are the generation of income and employment, which

allowed the promotion of Other economic activities and the development of transport

infrastructure.

The negative consequences are the seasonality of employment, the rise in prices, of

and the environmental damage caused by on a massive Scale, pollution, production of

production of waste and over-use or water..

To ensure the future of the sector, certain problems must be resolved, such as the

control of business by foreign tour operators, the low-to- medium level. Of the majority

of the tourism and the concentration of tourism in the summer.

As solutions to these problems, the sector is seeking to promote domestic tour operators,

provide high quality tourism and developed new, less seasonal forms of tourism. A

commitment to sustainable tourism is also necessary, making sure the development of

the sector is compatible with care of the environment.