Agriculture, Public Administration, and Tertiary Sector in Spain
Agricultural Production in Spain
Cereals and Plants: Corn is very important in the Atlantic region. In dry areas, barley, wheat, and grapes are common. Irrigation is mainly devoted to wheat and barley and is rotated with sugar beet, potatoes, or fodder. The high demand for water in rice cultivation is restricted to coastal lowlands and hortalizas in Valencia. Potatoes and vegetable crops have spread in the form of irrigation in the interior of the peninsula (lettuce, asparagus, and beans). Fruits, along with vegetables, are the bulk of Spanish agricultural exports and the base of the canning industry. Citrus fruits are particularly important. Bananas require constant high temperatures and therefore occur almost exclusively in the Canary Islands.
Spain’s Autonomous Communities
The Spanish public administration is structured around municipalities and provinces or islands. The management and administration of the municipalities are handled by the municipalities themselves. The provinces are managed by the provincial councils, and the islands are managed by the Councils (Canary Islands) or Consells (Balearic Islands). The provincial government is also defined as a local authority with legal personality, resulting from the grouping of municipalities and territorial division for the performance of state activities.
The Autonomous Communities consist of various organs, producing the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the state:
- Legislature: Elected by universal suffrage.
- Government: Executive and administrative functions, whose president is elected by the Assembly and appointed by the King, accounting for the direction of the governing board.
- Superior Court of Justice: In the territory of the autonomous region, subject to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
Numerous state competencies have been transferred to the Autonomous Communities, in areas such as education, health, or employment.
Livestock
Livestock farming is the exploitation of animals for meat and other products (milk, leather, wool, etc.). The most common farming practices are cattle, swine, sheep, and goats. Intensive livestock farming attempts to obtain maximum benefits in a short space of time, with the concentration of livestock (stables), the mechanization of production processes (milking machines), and reducing the time of breeding. In contrast, traditional extensive systems occur in natural ecosystems, without spatial concentration. Yields are low and generally do not cause environmental damage.
Tertiary Activities
The more developed countries concentrate a greater percentage of employment in the tertiary sector, especially in the production of wealth in services, up to 75% of GDP in the U.S., and a majority in all countries of Western Europe, Japan, etc. Developing countries have a high percentage of employment in the tertiary sector, although the abundance of domestic workers, small itinerant traders, and multiple businesses within the limits of the informal economy produces a low and unaccounted wealth.
Trade
Today, the EU still has a certain mastery in exports and imports, estimated at nearly half of world trade. The United States is the second-largest player in international trade, although it shows a trade deficit that has become chronic and is, today, one of the major obstacles to economic development. On the other hand, Japan shows a positive balance of payments. The case of China is unique because it has made a surprising burst into international markets. Trade demonstrates an increased concentration of activity in the hands of a small group of countries: the 24 most developed countries dominate the world at present, with over 80% of global imports and exports, and focus on four areas: Western Europe, the United States, Japan, and the countries of Southeast Asia.
Transport
The density of the transport network is very different in developed and developing countries: Asia, Latin America, and Africa have no more than 10% of all paved roads. In developed countries, there is a greater density of roads and railways and better equipment, such as in Europe, North America, the Southern Cone countries, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
Tourism
Tourism has become one of the poles of economic development through increased purchasing power, the revolution in transportation, increasing free time, the appearance of new motivations, and the release of the circulation and mobility of people. This is a business with a high value and productivity, which is concentrated in a restricted area of the world: Europe takes two-thirds of tourism flows, while America (mainly the USA) accounts for one-fifth. At the other extreme, Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East barely account for 3%. More than half of the revenues go to rich countries, which would amount to adding the market share controlled by tour operators in developed countries.
Changes in tourist destinations have been remarkable in recent years. Traditional coastal tourism was prevalent until 1980, while today there is greater diversification, such as winter tourism, mountain tourism, shopping tourism, business tourism and conferences, and rural tourism.