A GLOWING BUT FACTUAL SKETCH OF THE SPANISH ECONOMY
Aerial view of Abengoa Solar’s Solnova Solar Power Station in Seville. The two towers and reflective
mirrors in the background are the PS10 and PS20 solar power plants. The latter
is the world’s tallest commercial solar power plant.
A Sketch of the Spanish Economy by the U.S. Embassy in Madrid
Photos supplied by GUIDEPOST from various sources
Within the framework of “economic statecraft,” one of the newest tools of US diplomacy, the US embassy in Madrid recently offered some interesting facts about certain aspects of Spanish trade and commerce relative to the United States’, and vice versa.
These bare facts could actually clue in firms from both sides of the Atlantic who want to import-export goods and services and attract investors.
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One of the popular brands of Spanish olive oil. (Photo: R. Maramba)
Spain is the top export destination of U.S. almond exports, importing over $300 million in almonds, mainly from California.
Spain is the 11th largest investor in the U.S., with an investment stock of $48 billion in 2011.
Spain is the world’s largest olive oil producer and the United States is the largest olive oil importer in the world.
Subsidiaries of Spanish-owned firms employed approximately 74,600 people in the United States as of 2010.
Spain ranked second globally in terms of international tourism receipts in 2011, only outpaced by the US.
The Aena Group of companies, devoted to airport management and the provision of air navigation services, is the world’s leading airport operator in terms of the number of passengers (+200 million) it handles. (Image, PD per Wikimedia Commons. Author unknown.)
Spain ranks among the top ten countries in the world with the best infrastructure quality.
Seven out of the ten largest infrastructure companies in the world are controlled by Spanish navigation system.
Three out of five flights around the world are controlled by Spanish navigation systems.
The entrance to NASA’s Deep Space Communication Complex outside Madrid. (Photo: Hector Blanco de Frutos, CB BY 2.5)
Spain is participating in NASA Mars Science Lab “Curiosity” mission with key communications and environmental monitoring components that were designed and built in Spain. This is the latest part of the Spain-NASA relationship which began in the 1960s with the development of a Deep Space Communication Complex where many of the Apollo moon mission communications came through, and where +100 personnel currently work on supporting 40+ deep space missions.
Abengoa’s PS10 Solar Power Plant, commissioned in 2007, is the world’s first commercial solar energy power tower. Located outside Seville, Spain, PS (“Planta Solar”) 10 produces electricity by concentrating solar radiation from 6000+ large movable mirrors onto a 350 foot high tower.
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Images
Featured image (Abengoa Solar power station)/Abengoa Solar, CC BY1.0 via Wikimedia Commons)
Quote mark by Oakuss 53, CC BY-SA4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
