Spain Business
Spanish regional growth in line with immigration
By h.b.
Apr 29, 2008 - 8:06 AM

The three areas of Spain to see the most economic growth in the years 2000-2007, Madrid, Murcia and Andalucía, have seen so thanks to foreign immigration. It’s the conclusion of a new study by FUNCAS, the Spanish Foundation of Savings Banks which looked at economic activity in 17 of the country’s autonomous regions. The study found a clear correlation between a population increase because of immigration, and economic growth.

Eight regions of the country saw above average growth last year – they were Aragón, Galicia, Murcia and Extermadura, followed by the Basque Country, La Rioja, Madrid and Cataluña.

Areas to show the least economic growth were the Baleares, Asturias, the Basque Country, Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla-León.

However more evidence of the slowdown was found in the data for the last year, 2007, where the regions of Andalucía, Cataluña, Madrid and Valencia saw a fall in confidence.