Key Economic and Demographic Terms in Spain
Tourism and Accommodation
Occupation of Other Types of Accommodation: Tourist discount accommodation outside traditional inns, such as second residences and apartments, sees a discount rate that has grown recently. It is prevalent in certain tourist areas of the peninsula, offering limited choices beyond hotels and beaches, like those on the coast of Huelva.
Alternative Tourism: This refers to tourism that avoids peak seasons and mass tourism destinations, often found only on certain beaches. Alternative tourism typically involves individuals with a higher economic level than mass tourism.
Transportation
Regular Transport: Collective transport services making regular trips. Examples include commercial airlines, municipal bus services, and passenger rail services.
Carriage: Collective transport services that make irregular trips, such as companies specializing in tours to specific locations (e.g., islands).
Economic Indicators
Balance of Trade: A registry of imports and exports. In Spain, it’s usually deficient due to the high value of imports.
Balance of Payments: Indicates the set of economic transactions of a state with other countries. It is subdivided into:
- Current Account Balance: Accounts for income and payments for trade, income, and transfers.
- Capital Account Balance: Includes capital transfers to private and public entities.
- Financial Account Balance: Records direct investments and financial reserves of national banks, among others.
Urban Waste: Residues generated by urban areas. A distinction must be made between liquid and solid waste.
GDP (Gross Domestic Product): The sum of all goods and services produced by all active production sectors within a state for one year. GDP accounts for all wealth produced in that state.
Per Capita Income: An economic indicator obtained by dividing the national income by the population of a country.
Demographics and Population
Census: A headcount of a country’s population at a given moment. It provides information on the number of people in a place, composition by sex and age, marital status, educational level, profession, etc. In Spain, since 1971, it has been conducted in years ending in 1.
Registration: A municipal responsibility that records births, deaths, and changes of residence at the municipal level. Today, thanks to computerized data, registrations can be kept up-to-date.
Intercontinental Migration: Migratory movements that occur across continents. In Spain, between 1880 and 1930, there was a period of mass emigration to Spanish America, especially Argentina, Uruguay, and Cuba. During this phase, more than 3 million inhabitants migrated to these countries.
Return Migration: Occurs when migrants return to their place of origin for various reasons. In Spain, in 2009, as a consequence of the economic crisis, there was a return of Argentinians and Ecuadorians, especially to their countries of origin.
Mainland Migration: Migration that occurs for work or leisure reasons. An example is the daily displacement of workers from bedroom communities to cities, or vice versa. Another type is weekend movement involving people moving to their second homes.
Old Demographic Cycle: A demographic phase extending from the Neolithic period until the end of 1918 in England, and a little beyond the 20th century in Spain. It is characterized by slow population growth, with high birth rates but also very high death rates due to daily and catastrophic mortality.
Modern Demographic Cycle: This demographic phase extends from the early 1990s to the threshold of the 21st century. It is characterized by almost zero population growth, sometimes even negative. Birth and mortality rates are very low. Advances in medicine have enabled a considerable improvement in life expectancy, reaching up to 85 years for women.
Real Growth: The Spanish population grew very slowly from the 1970s to the 1990s due to the small number of births. However, from the 1990s, real growth has increased significantly due to the arrival of immigrants.