Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Edward L. ROMERO
embassy: Serrano 75, 28006 Madrid
mailing address: APO AE 09642
consulate(s) general: Barcelona
Flag description: three horizontal bands of red (top), yellow (double width), and red with the national coat of arms on the hoist side of the yellow band; the coat of arms includes the royal seal framed by the Pillars of Hercules, which are the two promontories (Gibraltar and Ceuta) on either side of the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar
Economy
Economy—overview: Spain's mixed capitalist economy supports a GDP that on a per capita basis is three-fourths that of the four leading West European economies. Its center-right government successfully worked to gain admission to the first group of countries launching the European single currency on 1 January 1999. The deficit-to-GDP ratio is 2.1%, the debt-to-GDP ratio is around 68%, and inflation is approximately 2%. Moreover, the AZNAR administration has continued to advocate liberalization, privatization, and deregulation of the economy and has introduced some tax reforms to that end. Unemployment, nonetheless, remains the highest in the EU at 20%. The government, for political reasons, has made only limited progress in changing labor laws or reforming pension schemes, which are key to the sustainability of both Spain's internal economic advances and its competitiveness in a single currency area. Adjustment to the monetary and other economic policies of an integrated Europe will pose difficult challenges to Spain in the next few years.
GDP: purchasing power parity—$645.6 billion (1998 est.)
GDP—real growth rate: 3.5% (1998 est.)
GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity?$16,500 (1998 est.)
GDP—composition by sector: agriculture: 3.4% industry: 33.3% services: 63.3% (1997 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.8% highest 10%: 25.2% (1990)