Location: Southwestern Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay, Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, and Pyrenees Mountains, southwest of France.
Geographic Area: 504,750 sq. km. (194,884 sq. mi.), including the Balearic and Canary Islands; about the size of Arizona and Utah combined.
Seifert Systems Invests in Energy Efficiency to Strengthen Operations
For manufacturers, energy is more than just another operating expense. It plays a critical role…
Learn More
Climate: Temperate: clear hot summers in interior, more moderate and cloudy along coast; cloudy, cold winters in interior, party cloudy and cool along coast.
Time Zone: Spanish mainland and Balearic Isles–local time is 1 hour ahead of GMT in winter and 2 hours ahead in summer. Canary Islands are on GMT.
Major Cities: Madrid (Capital, 5 million), Barcelona (2 million), Valencia (739,500), Seville (702,000), Zaragoza (603,000), Bilbao (358,000), Malaga (528,000).
Population: 39,996,671 (July 2000 est.)
Ethnic Groups: Basques, Catalans, and Galicians.
Languages: Castilian Spanish (official) 74%, Catalan-Valenciana 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2%. While an increasing number of business people speak English, product literature, correspondence and negotiations in Spanish provide a distinct advantage over competitors who use only English.
Workweek: Business hours in Spain are generally 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Banking hours are 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. during the week, and sometimes Saturday morning. Department stores are generally open 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Spanish workers have 14 paid holidays a year and a month’s paid vacation.
Type of Government: Parliamentary monarchy (Juan Carlos I proclaimed King November 22, 1975).
Head of State: President of the Government Jose Maria Aznar Lopez (since May 5, 1996). In a landslide victory, President Aznar won reelection in March 2000.
Currency: 1 peseta (Pta) = 100 centimos.
Exchange Rate: The Spanish peseta/euro rate was fixed on January 1, 1999 at 166.386 pesetas to the euro. The dollar-euro rate on August 27, 2001 was 1.095, or 182.2 pesetas to the dollar.
Current Economic and Political Conditions: As industrial democracies and NATO allies, Spain and the U.S. have excellent bilateral relations. Spain is one of the largest export markets for the U.S., with a $1.076 billion trade surplus in 1999. The U.S. ranks among the top ten-investor nations in Spain, with $1.87 billion direct investments in 1998. U.S. exporters will continue to face competition from EU countries and from Japan. Although U.S. firms must pay higher tariffs than their EU counterparts, they benefit from lower production costs. U.S. products are considered technologically advanced and of the highest quality. EU firms offer excellent financing support, after-sales service, and customization of products to fit local market needs.
Throughout the 1990s much of Spain’s economic policy focused on meeting Maastricht and Stability Pact targets so that Spain could become one of the founding members of the euro. These policies have provided continuing benefits of lower interest rates, which have promoted investment, construction, and consumer demand. In June 2000, the Aznar government announced a sweeping plan that aims to speed up deregulation of the economy, increase competition and boost economic growth and employment. The Bank of Spain forecasts 3.6% growth for 2001, but most private analysts think this projection is overly optimistic.
Spain has maintained its special identification with Latin America. Its policy emphasizes the concept of Hispanidad, a mixture of linguistic, religious, ethnic, cultural, and historical ties binding Spanish-speaking America to Spain.
