Tourism in Spain

This week I am going to talk about tourism in Spain, however i will try not sound like a brochure and try to keep it relative to Macroeconomics. Spain has always been a very profitable country in their tourism. The tourism boom really took off for Spain in the mid 1950's. The tourist industry has greatly increased since this time. In 1950 Spain had less then one million tourists, however over the years this number has skyrocketed to 50 million in 2003. The tourist boom had a significant, and not always completely beneficial, impact on the Spanish economy. Although this growing activity was a welcome source of foreign currency and created new employment opportunities, it also diverted capital investment and construction efforts away from more stable economic activities to a sector dutiful to seasonal fluctuations, the whims of fashion, and worldwide economic conditions.
Although this growth in tourism had some hidden negative effects on the Spanish government, nevertheless in 2003 net tourism accounted for 10% of total GDP. Spain had the highest net GDP in the world a few years ago in 2003. The United States had higher gross revenues, but its tourist expenditures exceeded revenues by a considerable margin.
Today the tourist industry in Spain has seen a decrease in numbers due to the global recession. Last summer Spain saw a 6.1% decrease in summer visitors. The country is among the top three in tourism in the world, measured by both arrivals and income earned. Since Spain has become reliant on their profitable tourist market , Spain's government approved a $1.42 billion aid plan to help the tourism sector ride the economic recession. Hopefully Spain will be able to sustain their tourism through these difficult times of recession and see an increase back to where their numbers use to be.

Spain imports/ exports

This week I am going to spend some time on Spain's imports and exports. Spain's trade is very significant to it's economy because it accounts for more then half of the countries total GDP. Spain has gone though times of high trade deficit over the past years. In 2009 Spain's trade deficit reached 77.5 billion. There are a few factors that contribute to this deficit. leading factors to this deficit are predominantly the nation’s increasing reliance on imported petrol and decreased market competitiveness. In addition, the strength of the Euro has also had an impact on the trade deficit. Since Spain has adopted the Euro, exports have steadily declined due to increased prices of exports.

Spain's major exports include motor vehicles, machinery, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs,and medicines. The net exports for 2009 were $215.7 billion. This number was decreased by 70.2 billion from the previous year. Some major imports in Spain include mechanical and electric machinery, and iron and steel. A lack of resources in the nation, particularly oil, has created a wide spread gap between Spain's imports and exports. Spain’s imports were valued at $293.2 billion in 2009, which was a considerable decline from the 2008 level of $415.5 billion. Spain's major partners in trade for both exports and imports are from the EU region.

The spendings of Holy Week

It’s hardly penitence when it comes to the economy of Holy Week in Spain. The people of Sevilla, Spain, spare no expense when it comes to making the Easter processions of holy week the most elaborate and grand in all of Spain. This week is a major tourism week for Spain, and specifically for Sevilla. The hotels and restaurants are filled to the brim as well as the streets with tourists and locals celebrating the festivities of holy week. This year Sevilla brought in an estimated 160 million € from the processions of holy week. This amount does not even include the added value to the city in tourism promotion.
Each Brotherhood spent an average of 73,000 € to prepare their thrones for the processions. What is a Brotherhood? The Brotherhoods are associations of members of the parish who organize themselves to celebrate holy week with processions. Every Brotherhood dedicates itself to a certain scene, e.g. the burial of Christ, the taking of Christ’s body off the cross, the flogging of Christ by Roman soldiers, the judgment of Christ by Pilate, etc. As such, they also perform specific functions during the holy week. For example, the Brotherhood of Death and Resurrection of the Lord will be the one to first announce resurrection on Saturday midnight. And the three grenadier Brotherhoods dedicated to the Virgin will take to the streets on Friday of Pain – the day commemorating the Pain of the Mother. Put together in one procession, they develop the whole story of the Passion before your eyes, in a sequence of frames.
Some other major expenses of holy week include the cost of the carvings and statues, the floral decorations of the "palo", and the tunics worn by the brotherhood. The maintenance of the statues and carvings used in holy week average a spending of about 5.2 million € a year. Although many of the tunics in Sevilla are either purchased on the black market, or sewn by families, an average of 600,000 € is still declared each year from tunics. Then their is the high cost of the floral decorations mainly used to decorate the "Palo". Each brotherhood spends an average of 2,200 to 4,000 € a year on flowers used to decorate the "Palo". The processions of Holy Week are highly important to the culture of Spain as well as to their tourist industry.