This country profile features selected environmental indicators from the OECD Core Set, building on harmonised datasets available on OECD Data Explorer. The indicators reflect major environmental issues, including climate, air quality, freshwater resources, waste and the circular economy, and biodiversity. Differences with national data sources can occur due to delays in data treatment and publication, or due to different national definitions and measurement methods. The OECD is working with countries and other international organisations to further improve the indicators and the underlying data.
Environment at a Glance Indicators
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Spain
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Copy link to ContextWith an area of 506 000 km2 and a coastline of some 8 000 kilometres, Spain is one of Europe’s largest countries. Until 2008, the Spanish economy was regarded as one of the most dynamic within the OECD. During the peak years, tourism and construction contributed more than one-quarter of GDP and one fifth of employment and underpinned a huge bubble in the housing market. This left the economy very vulnerable to the global economic crisis of 2008-09 that hit the country hard. Following implementation of a recovery programme, growth resumed in 2013. Nevertheless, unemployment, inequality and poverty rates remain relatively high. The population distribution across the country is uneven with high concentrations around Madrid and along the 7 300 km of the Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines.
The national territory includes about 85% of the Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic, and the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in northern Africa. Spain is characterised by great geographical and climatic contrasts. Highlands, mountains and plateaus predominate on the mainland; 58% of the country is over 600 metres in altitude, making it the second highest country in Europe after Switzerland. About one-third of Spain has an oceanic climate with frequent rainfall (e.g. Galicia), but some areas (e.g. Andalucia) regularly face serious drought. Spain is one of the 25 biodiversity hotspots in the world and is considered one of the most biodiverse countries in the European Union. While the country includes four of the nine European biogeographic regions, Spanish seas, which occupy more than 1 million km2, belong to 3 of the world’s 49 large marine ecosystems.
Spain is well endowed with mineral resources (such as iron, copper, lead, tin, quartz and salts), which have long been an important resource, such as for the economic development of the Basque Country and Asturias. Spain is not endowed with large energy resources, although it has important coal deposits.