International Market Development

International market development | Comprehensive analysis of Spanish economy and market conditions

Author : Bozhou Marine

Update time : 2020-12-08 11:30:48

In this article, we mainly introduce the basic situation of the Spanish market. Including: geographic location, major cities, population conditions, ethnic groups, major festivals, natural resources, major industries, infrastructure construction, GDP, foreign exchange reserves, employment, prices, corporate income tax, personal tax rates, etc.

The Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España; English: The Kingdom of Spain), referred to as Spain, is located on the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe, at the junction of Europe and Africa, bordering Portugal in the west and the Bay of Biscay in the north It borders France and Andorra in the northeast, and Morocco in Africa across the Strait of Gibraltar to the south. The territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean and Ceuta and Melilla in Africa. The country is a mountainous country with a total area of 505,925 square kilometers and a coastline of approximately 7,800 kilometers.

Spain is a developed capitalist country and a member of the European Union and NATO. As of October 2020, the economic aggregate ranks fifth in the EU and 13th in the world.

Capital

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. It is also the capital of the Madrid Autonomous Region. Its location is in the middle of Spain, with the Manzanares River running through the city. The population of the city is about 3.4 million, and the population of the metropolitan area is about 6.271 million (2010), both ranking first in Spain.

Madrid is also Spain's commercial center and "headquarters economy" center. Located in the middle of the Meseta plateau of the Iberian Peninsula, in the intermountain plateau basin at the southeast foot of the Guadarrama Mountains, 670 meters above sea level. The south can be connected with the Strait of Gibraltar, which is limited to one water on the African continent, and the Pyrenees in North Vietnam can reach the hinterland of Europe. Therefore, the geographical position is very important. In history, it is known as the "gate of Europe" because of its strategic location.

Madrid is also the tourist and cultural center of Southern Europe, with rich historical and cultural relics, complete modern tourist facilities and developed service industries.

Main City

Madrid

The urban area covers an area of 607 square kilometers, and the urban population is approximately 3.2 million. With a history of more than 400 years, it is the political, cultural, economic and financial center of the country. Communication and transportation are developed. The city’s 13 subway lines are 226 kilometers long, and the annual passenger volume is more than 625 million passengers; modern buildings and cultural relics contrast each other. The city has the University of Madrid, which ranks first in Europe, 36 ancient art museums, and more than 100 Museums, 18 libraries and more than 100 sculpture groups.

Barcelona

The second largest city, the largest industrial and commercial city and port. The urban area is 91 square kilometers and the population is 1.75 million. It is the national textile, chemical, pharmaceutical, machinery, paper, automobile, and industrial center, with more than 5,000 large and small factories and enterprises. The Port of Barcelona is an important comprehensive port in the country, with a total throughput of 42.98 million tons in 2009 and a container throughput of 1.8 million TEU.

Sevilla

With a population of 650,000, it is the capital of the province of Seville and the capital of the Andalusian Autonomous Region. It is the fourth largest city in the country and the largest city in the southern region. It is also the only city in Spain with an inland port. It is the economy, trade, tourism and culture of southern Spain. Important town. The city has industries such as automobiles and machinery, and the University of Seville is also here.

Córdoba

With a population of 285,000, it is the capital of the Kingdom of Cordoba established by Mahbudraman I. It has been one of the main cities of Islam until the beginning of the 11th century. It is now an industrial city and a distribution center for agricultural products such as wheat, olives, and grapes nearby.

Segovia

It is the capital of the province of the same name, with a population of 50,000, and one of the historic cities in Spain. Its strategic position is very important, and it has been a battleground for military strategists in the past. The city's rise and fall have had an important impact on Spain's economic and cultural development.

Jet lag

There is a 7-hour time difference between Spain and the country, and the time difference between April and October is 6 hours during the daylight saving time period and the domestic time (12 noon Beijing time is equivalent to 6 a.m. Spanish time).

Population and ethnicity

As of January 2019, the total population of Spain is 46.73 million, mainly Castilians (ie Spaniards), and ethnic minorities include Catalans, Galicians and Basques.

Language

Spain has four main languages. Except Spanish, which is the official language of the country, the other three are regional official languages:

Spanish (also known as Castilian) is common throughout Spain, accounting for 74%.
Catalan (also known as Valencian), used in Catalonia, Valencia, and the Balearic Islands, accounts for 17%.
Basque, used in the Basque Country, accounting for 2%.
Galician language, used in Galicia, accounting for 7%.

Spaniards generally use the official language of their country in economic and trade exchanges. Government officials and businessmen engaged in foreign affairs generally speak English or French. There are 500 million Spanish-speaking people in the world, making it the third most spoken language in the world and the second most spoken language in the country.

Main holiday

There are many festivals in Spain. In addition to national festivals, each autonomous region, province, and town has its own patron saint festival. The main national holidays are:

New Year: January 1
Three Kings Festival: January 6
Holy Week: April every year, the time is variable
International Labor Day: May 1
Assumption Day: August 15
National Day: October 12
Halloween: November 1st
Constitution Day: December 6
Christmas: December 25

Folk-style festivals include Carnival, Valencia’s Faya Festival (Fire Festival), Seville’s April Festival, Madrid’s San Isidro Festival (also known as Bullfighting Festival) and so on.

Natural resources

Spain's main mineral reserves: 8.8 billion tons of coal, 1.9 billion tons of iron, 500 million tons of pyrite, 4 million tons of copper, 1.9 million tons of zinc, and 700,000 tons of mercury.

The total forest area is 15 million hectares. The forest coverage rate is 30%, and the output and export volume of softwood ranks second in the world.

Major industries

Wind power industry

Spain is rich in wind resources. According to preliminary calculations, Spain's available land and ocean wind energy is 40,000 megawatts. In recent years, the Spanish wind power industry has developed rapidly, and Spain has become the second largest wind power country in the world.

At present, Spain has more than 550 companies engaged in wind power equipment production, sales, installation, maintenance, wind power development, wind power technology and financial services, and wind power feasibility studies, with more than 30,000 direct employees and more than 70,000 indirect employees. people.

Spain’s main wind power equipment manufacturer is Gamesa. It is Spain’s largest wind power equipment manufacturer, with a share of about 18% in the international market, ranking second in the world, second only to Denmark’s Vestas. Production of wind turbines ranging from 660KW to 2MW.

Solar industry

Spain ranks in the forefront of the world's solar power generation field and has become the center of the photovoltaic solar panel industry. Spain not only has a base for manufacturing and exporting photovoltaic cells and solar panels, but also a base for the production and export of inverters and solar power equipment components. The space energy research center "ALMERÍA Solar Platform", the largest European experimental center for applying solar energy to industrial technology, was built in Spain. The European laboratory responsible for certifying photovoltaic solar cells used in space is also located in Spain’s National Institute of Aerospace Technology.

In terms of solar energy utilization, Spain's ISOFOTON (ISOFOTON) Co., Ltd. has an internationally leading R&D capability, and its production scale ranks seventh in the world.

Other important solar companies in Spain include Guascar and Amomix. The two companies have jointly built a solar panel assembly plant with an annual output of 10 MW; Solúcar Energía Energy has two projects under construction, one is a solar tower and one is 11 MW. The solar power station in China is equipped with a saturated steam central receiver; the other is a 1.2 MW photovoltaic solar panel plant with a dual-axis tracking system and a 2X dual-energy system.

Machinery and equipment manufacturing

Spain is the third largest producer of machine tools and automotive engines in the EU. For a long time, the country has been in a leading position in machinery and equipment manufacturing, technological transformation and integration. Today, Spain occupies a prominent position in the aerospace machinery manufacturing and packaging machinery manufacturing industries. Milling machines, EDM machines and packaging machines that can fill and seal bottles at one time are all leading industries in Spain. The high-speed sorter made in Spain has been used in bottling production lines by two companies, "Coca-Cola" and "Pepsi". The internal and external grinders produced in West China are also favored by some companies. Spanish companies cooperated with Japan's Miitsubishi Corporation to produce the world's largest tunnel excavator with a diameter of 15 meters that can withstand ground pressure. The longest band saw in the world is made by Spain's DANOBAT company, which also produces grinders for power generation equipment and wheel shafts.

Characteristic Agriculture

In 2005, Spain’s agricultural output value was 32.7 billion euros, accounting for 3.5% of its GDP; it exported 22.8 billion euros of various agricultural products, accounting for 20% of its total exports; imported 23.5 billion euros, accounting for 10% of its total imports. The main crops in Spain are: barley, rice, wheat, corn, acid fruits, olives, etc. Since Spanish agricultural products mature about a month earlier than central Europe, they are relatively competitive in intra-EU trade. Fruit and vegetable exports account for about 30% of intra-EU trade exports.

Infrastructure

Railway

The total mileage is 15,300 kilometers, including 4,817 kilometers of high-speed railway, ranking first in Europe and second in the world, second only to China. The high-speed rail has an average speed of 203 km/h, second only to China.

Highway

The total length is 166,003 kilometers, of which the total length of expressways is 17,021 kilometers, ranking third in the world, second only to China and the United States. Passenger traffic was 1.358 billion person-times and 5.5 million freight vehicles.

Water Transport

Passenger volume and freight volume were 31.4 million passengers and 470 million tons respectively. There are 53 main ports, the most important of which are Barcelona, Bilbao, Tarragona, Algeciras, etc. The port throughput ranks third in Europe, second only to Germany and the Netherlands.

Air Transport

There were 1.99 million flights, passenger and cargo volume of 263 million passengers and 1.011 million tons respectively. There are 105 airports nationwide. The main airports are Madrid Barajas Airport, Palma de Mallorca Airport and Barcelona Airport.

Economic recovery growth was interrupted

In 2019, Spain's gross domestic product (GDP) is approximately 1.25 trillion euros, ranking 13th in the world, with an annual growth rate of 2%, maintaining a leading edge within the EU, and significantly surpassing the growth rate of the top four EU economies.

The Spanish National Bureau of Statistics released a report saying that due to the impact of the epidemic, the Spanish government expects GDP to fall by about 9.2% in 2020.

Foreign exchange reserves increased slightly
Due to Spain's economic recovery in recent years, foreign exchange reserves have increased slightly.

The unemployment rate has long been the highest in Europe

In Spain, affected by the epidemic, the female unemployment rate rose from 16.9% to 17.1% in June, while the male unemployment rate rose from 14.2% to 14.4%. No matter which way of calculation, Spain always has the highest unemployment rate in Europe.

Prices have continued to rise in recent years, and inflation rates have fluctuated significantly

From 2016 to 2020, the Spanish consumer price index CPI increased rapidly, and prices continued to rise.

From 2011 to 2020, Spain's inflation rate fluctuated significantly. It once fell to a negative number in 2015 and fell to a negative number again in 2020. The economic growth rate has dropped significantly.

Corporate income tax 25%

In 2020, the Spanish corporate income tax rate is 25%.

Personal income tax 45%

In 2020, the Spanish personal income tax rate is 45%.

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