WHY CATALONIA MEANS SO MUCH TO SPAIN
ECONOMIC HEAVYWEIGHT
Contributing 19 percent of Spain's GDP in 2016, Catalonia rivals Madrid for the distinction of being the richest region in the country. It is fourth in terms of GDP per capita with 28,600 euros ($33,600), after Madrid, the northern Basque Country and neighbouring Navarra. GDP per capita in Spain overall is 24,000 euros. Like in Madrid, unemployment is also lower than in the rest of the country: 13.2 percent in the second quarter of 2017 compared to 17.2 percent nationally.
TOP EXPORTING REGION
Catalonia is by far Spain's top exporting region, with a quarter of all goods produced there sold abroad in 2016 and in the first quarter of 2017. It attracted some 14 percent of foreign investment in Spain in 2015, in second place after Madrid, which received a huge 64 percent, but far ahead of all the other regions, according to the economy ministry's latest data.
CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
Since the 1990s Catalonia has invested in research, particularly in bioscience -- genetics, neurosciences, cell biology -- and the sector now represents 7 percent of its GDP. With many cutting-edge hospitals and research centres, including in the nuclear sector with a particle accelerator, the region says it is number one in Europe for pharmaceutical companies per capita. New technology is also very present in Barcelona, which every year hosts the Mobile World Congress. Catalan universities are among the best in the country: of the top five Spanish universities in the widely-watched annual ranking compiled by the independent Shanghai Ranking Consultancy, three are Catalan.
SPAIN'S TOP TOURISM DESTINATION
With its capital Barcelona and Costa Brava beaches, Catalonia is the Spanish region that most attracts foreign tourists and the trend is on the rise. More than 18 million visitors went in 2016, or a quarter of all foreigners who came to Spain. Its airport is the country's second biggest after Madrid.
Debt the weak link
Catalonia's debt represents 35.4 percent of its GDP, which made it the third most indebted region in Spain in the first quarter of 2017, after Valencia and Castilla La Mancha. At the end of June, its debt stood at 76.7 billion euros. Ratings agencies have given it a low, speculative grade, which means Catalonia is not able to borrow directly on financial markets. So it depends on loans emitted by the Spanish state.
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF INDEPENDENCE
The issue is much debated among both camps, who generally present widely different figures, often based on different methodologies and hypotheses. If independence were to happen, Spain's economy ministry claims that Catalonia would leave the European Union, its GDP would fall 25 to 30 percent and unemployment would double. But some economists believe that the newly-formed republic would stay in the EU, predicting its GDP would remain stable in the short term and rise 7 percent long term. Catalonia's government also says the region would no longer suffer from what it calls a "fiscal deficit", given that the region pays more in taxes to Madrid than it gets back.
Comments