International (Spain)

1.  International trade is a very important component to Spain’s economy since it makes up roughly half of their GDP. Spain is the 22^nd largest exporter and 19^th largest importer worldwide. Spain’s main trade partners are primarily within Europe, consisting primarily of France, Germany, Portugal, and Italy. In recent years, Spain has been suffering from a trade deficit of around 80 billion dollars, which as had a significant impact on their economy.

Spain’s top importers are: Germany, France, China, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, and the UK, respectively. The imports from the top 3, Germany, France, and China, make up 33% of Spain’s total imports. The largest and most significant items being imported to Spain are: road vehicles and industrial machinery (Germany (-2%, $10652 million)), fuel (Nigeria (0%, $7578 million) and Saudi Arabia (-2%, $7506 million)), and basic food and food products (France (0%, $6128 million)).

Spain’s top exports go to: France, Germany, Portugal, Italy, the UK, and the United States. The top 3 export markets are France, Germany, and Portugal, accounting for around 45% of the total exports. The main exports to France are road vehicles and transport equipment (9%, $18329 million) as well as basic food and food products (6%, $9511 million). Road vehicles are also heavily exported to Germany (2%, $8984 million) along with basic food and food products being exported to Italy in high amounts (7%, $5819 million). It can be noted that road vehicles and food products are Spain’s major exports.

2. Current Exchange rates of the Euro compared to the United States Dollar:

United States Dollar per Euro:

1.38 (2014)

1.35 (2013)

1.25 (2012)

1.36 (2011)

1.32 (2010)

1.33 (2009)

1.46 (2008)

1.83 (2007)

1.21 (2006)

3. Spain’s location promotes immigration from all over the world since it is a peninsula that has borders with the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, Northern Africa, and France. 14%, or around 6 million residents in Spain were born in a different country. 4.1 million of the 6 million foreign-born residents were born outside of Europe. Of the 6 million foreign-born residents previously stated, 1.5 million are from Latin America, 750,000 from Morocco, 2 million from other European states (Romania, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, etc.), 150,000 from China, and some more are from various other regions, particularly the Pacific Islands. In recent times, Spanish emigration has risen by about 44% (around 45,000 compared to 28,000 previously). This was due to Spain’s high unemployment rate which caused many citizens to go to other surrounding European countries.

4.         After the end of Spanish dictator Franco’s rule, Spain’s foreign policy affairs increased, making them more connected to the European Community. Spain has had a particular strong connection with other Spanish speaking countries, attempting to link Iberian commerce, language, culture, and history to Latin American countries. Spain has also begun to increase its relationship with Sub-Saharan Africa partially because of the problem of illegal immigration to the Canary Islands. Spain also has strong relations in the Middle East and supports Arab positions on Middle East issues as they are a large exporter of oil and gas to Spain. They are also successful in maintaining relations with bordering countries Portugal and France as well as another close European country, Germany. Currently, Spain is attempting to broaden their relations with East Asian countries such as China and Japan. In terms of conflicts, Spain’s two biggest disputes are between Portugal and Morocco. Most of the conflicts that Spain has with these countries are due to land disputes that have been going on for a long period of time.