Spain’s Service Economy and Transportation System
Spain’s Service Economy
The tertiary sector comprises activities designed to provide services to society. It is a heterogeneous sector that includes activities that are neither primary nor secondary. The causes of its growth are:
- Increasing living standards: Higher family income and purchasing power.
- Industry: Outsourcing and industrial development, especially since the 1960s, have boosted services like transport and finance.
- Rise in tourism: This has spurred growth in catering, trade, and transport.
- Increase in public services: Growth in sectors like health and education.
- Increasing incorporation of women into the workforce: This has led to the development of services such as childcare.
The service sector is diverse and can be classified in various ways:
- Public and private services.
- Services for sale: Such as trade.
- Services not intended for sale: Provided free or at prices that offset production costs.
- Intermediate services: For other economic activities, such as transport.
- Final consumption services: Directly related to people.
- Stagnant services: Cannot reduce the workforce without impacting quality or quantity.
- Progressive services: Can incorporate technical advances to save on production factors.
In Spain, the internal structure of the tertiary sector shows some shortcomings, with sectors dominated by more traditional and less productive activities.
Spain’s Transportation System
The transport system is the set of media that allows the movement of people and goods between geographic locations.
Characteristics of Spain’s Transport System
- Unfavorable physical environment: The rugged terrain with steep slopes hinders road and railway layouts.
- Radial networks: The land transport network is headquartered in Madrid and extends to borders and major ports. The airport network, centered around Madrid-Barajas, connects to all Spanish airports and major foreign ones. However, many peripheral airports require connections through the capital.
- Road dominance in passenger and freight traffic: Due to its accessibility to any point.
- Significant territorial imbalances in the network: Resulting in differences in accessibility between regions.
- Transport powers: The State controls international transport and has exclusive authority over land transport that crosses more than one autonomous region. Autonomous communities can assume jurisdiction over land transport entirely within their territory.
- Spanish transport policy is governed by the PEIT (Strategic Infrastructure and Transport Plan): Its objectives are to promote economic development, strengthen social cohesion, correct road dominance, increase quality and safety, and contribute to sustainable mobility.
- Integration into the European network: The Spanish transport network is part of the broader European network.
The EU’s transport policy aims to enhance integration among member countries by promoting trans-European networks. This policy’s repercussions in Spain include improved links with the EU, receipt of European funds, and actions to reduce environmental impact.
Road Network
The road network connects different towns and is a key infrastructure for accessibility. Its characteristics include:
- Radial design centered in Madrid.
- Competence over the network: The state network includes general interest itineraries linking the main population centers and connecting with the international network. The autonomous communities’ network addresses intraregional mobility and connects with the state network.
- Diverse technical characteristics of roads.
- Roads handle the majority of passenger and freight traffic.
- Clear imbalances in density, intensity, and accessibility: The highest density is in economically developed communities, the lowest in areas with lower economic levels. Traffic intensity is higher in the Mediterranean, Cantabrian, and Ebro regions due to higher urban densities. Accessibility is higher in industrial and tourist areas.
- The PEIT aims to provide a high degree of accessibility across the territory: By building a high-capacity network connecting all provincial capitals and completing unfinished axes.