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In first half of the 1900's Spain was one of the most underdeveloped countries in Europe. But Spain has made a remarkable industrial and economic recovery especially over the past twenty years. Today's Spanish economy is vibrant and quite diversified off its original agricultural base. It is now the seventh largest economy in the world. Motor vehicles & car parts are now the biggest export earners for Spain, although the food industry is still very important.
As official per capita income is still bellow the EU average, the economy benefits from very large EU "convergence funding". This is basically a transfer of EU funds to enable Spain to grow faster than other EU countries, and therefore gradually reach the EU average. Much convergence funding has gone into infrastructure developments. Over 2500 Kms of motorways have been opened in the last three years, a new high speed train line built to Seville, new airports built at Barcelona and all the major tourist centres and new ports constructed.
Extremadura too seeks to improve its economy and increase her trade and tourist industry.
Tourist Industry
Spain's number one industry is tourism. 46 million tourists visited last year more than the 40 million total population. Spain's goal: to increase tourism to 100 million visitors by the year 2005. This would mean more than 2 visitors for every citizen each year. Think of the cultural impact this will have on the Spaniards. Many Spaniards believe they are up to the task. Aznar's government has formed a national tourism council to market Spain overseas, along with an inter-ministry commission that coordinates development efforts, and another national agency that links central and regional governments. The regional tourism boards form the vanguard of the new campaign.
Of all the countries in the world, Spain is second only to the United States of America in tourism and competes each year with France for coveted second place global tourist destination. Spain's gross tourist income (11% of GNP) is more half of the dollar income of all the 50 United States (Florida, Hawaii, New York, California, Texas etc.) This is a significant accomplishment for a country which is just bigger than the state of California. Tourism has turned the entire Spanish economy around.
As recently as 25 years ago, the Balearic Islands were among the poorest regions in Europe, their people eking out a living from subsistence farming and the small pottery industry. But now the people of the archipelago have one of the nation's highest per-capita income. While Spain has always attracted visitors to its shores, the Balearics helped usher in the era of "sun and sand" tourism. The Balearic Islands' Minister of Tourism José María González credits the islands' entrepreneurs with the success. "The birth of the tourism industry was inevitable, because there is an established base of businesspeople here who are willing to start enterprises," he says. The Islands, especially the largest -Mallorca- are home to Spain's largest hotel chains, which have expanded to other regions within Spain and abroad.
Spain's "sun and sand" golden formula draws millions to her beaches and islands. But unfortunately landlocked Extremadura only receives 1% of the nations tourist income inspite of the fact that Badajoz is Spain's largest boarder town with Portugal located on recently completed Madrid-Lisbon highway. The worst tourism problem is that Extremadura is unheard of internationally. The land which sent out daring discoverers to the New World is today undiscovered by the rest of the world.
The forgotten "Land of the Conquistadors" has been largely unsuccessful in drawing visitors to her world-class tourist attractions such as the Roman archeological treasures in Mérida, the medieval city of Cáceres, one of the world's finest wildlife refuges at Montfrague, not to mention all the colorful local traditions, festivals, Holy Week celebrations and Badajoz carnival. The greatest economic impediment Extremadura faces is that it is virtually unheard of outside of Spain.
Extremadura's traditional sluggish agrarian culture had been one of the most impoverished in Spain. A Spanish documentary film of the Hurdes mountains villages in northern Cáceres entitled "A Land without Bread" captured the desperate plight of the region. Remote villages were isolated and could only be reached on horseback as late as in the 1970's
Spain's general economic boon and European Union's convergence funding has brought needed economic relief to Extremadura. Today with a much improved network of national roads, with the large scale construction of modern apartments building, and with nationally funded public and university education. Extremadurans now enjoy technological and social benefits on a par with the rest of western Europe. Nevertheless Extremadurans still suffer from almost one-third unemployment and are just learning how to market their cultural and historic treasures to the rest of the world.
Economic sectors (1997)
Agriculture: 11.7% of the active population (6.6% national average) Industry: 7.6% of the active population (16% national average) Construction: 9.1% of the active population (7.7% national average) Services: 42.3% of the active population (48.8% national average) Unemployment: 29.2% of the active population (20.8% national average) Extremadura is a region which is very rich in natural resources, but with a low level of industrialization which keeps it from obtaining the full benefit of its natural resources. The average monthly income per worker in 1997 was 190,483 pesetas, second lowest of any region in Spain, and 80.7% of the national average. Average trimestral expenditures per person in 1997 were 175,535 pesetas, the lowest of any region in Spain, and 78.2% of the national average. From 1930 onwards Extremadura has been losing ground economically compared to the rest of Spain, with a regional GNP 5.2% of the national total in 1930, 3% in 1940, 2.6% in 1955, and 1.7% in 1979. By 1988, this trend had been reversed slightly, with 1.85% of the national GNP.
Extremadura, in contrast to the rest of Spain, has a positive commercial balance, exporting more than it imports. However, both exports and imports play a very insignificant role in the Extremaduran economy, with only .22% of the imports, and .51% of the exports of all of Spain. Amount of money spent on gambling (1996): Extremadura 60,132 million pesetas (1.9% of national total, compared to 2.7% of population total)