Trade in Spain # Comercio en España

Trade means to sell or buy natural products or artificial products. People can trade whatever they want, always
if it's accepted by law, from oranges to boots. At the moment trade is the most important source of money. It's
originary from the Ancient Age, since the coin was discovered (around 7th century BC) and it has developed
until what it is now.
Trade is a big bussiness for Spain. Traditionally, Spain is an agrarian country. The 13% of inhabitants are
farmers. The most ordinary fields are cereals, vineyards and olive tree fields. Potatoes and pulses are also
common. The most developed products on the latest years are fruits and market garden products such as
carrots, tomatoes, lettuces, cucumbers, peas, onions, peppers... They're, generally, very valued by other
Europe countries, because these products can only be produced on the Mediterranean coast. Fruit trees, like
orange trees, mandarine trees, apple trees, lemon trees, pear trees and peach trees, are also quite important
here. Oranges are exported to many Asian, American and European countries... But once I heard that oranges
are imported here from Israel. They are a different type of oranges and they're cheap because of their origin.
In Canarias, an archipelago which belongs to Spain, bananas point out. They're really delicious and are also
exported to other countries, and to the Spanish Iberian peninsula zone.
Livestock farming has grown in the latest years. That's because of the genetic improvement, health
improvements and the better nutrition. The most traditional livestock farming is ovine, which produces meat,
wool and lactics (milk, iogurt, cheese...). The most important farming places are Meseta and Ebre. There are
about 18 million sheeps in Spain. Bovine farming abounds in Galicia and Cantabria and there are about five
million animals of this kind. It's been specialized in meat and milk. Pig and polultry farming are also
important. Some of the less important kinds of farming are beekeeping, horse farming and rabbit farming.
These products are exported to America and Northern Europe, and we can find several types of food produced
from each kind of animal. For example, from the pig, we can get chorizo, butifarra, salami, cured and boiled
ham, steak and much more... We can also get other products like leather bags or coats from cows and pigs.
Forests resorts are low. Wood is taken mostly from the north and coork is taken from Andalucía, Extremadura
and north of Catalonia. Day after day, we're waisting more and more paper and other materials taken from
trees and I think it can be one of the reason of the disappearance of forests here and around the world.
Spain has always been a fishing country. It has developed a lot since the 30s, but since 1975 it hasn't been as
profitable as before. The main fishing zones are Galicia, Cantabria, Golfo de Cádiz and Canarias.
Mining industry is an intense activity in Spain since some centuries ago, but nowadays it's getting worse
because of the bad condition of mines. Iron is produced in Granada and Bizcaia, lead in Jaén, pyrite in
Huelva, tin in Ourense... I think it was exported before more than now, because, as I said, it's each day worse.
There isn't much petrol in Spain, just 2 million tonnes, and that's mostly in Tarragona and Burgos. So, it has to
be imported from other countries.
Technology is not any product, but it also can be traded. It can be exported or imported from a country to
another. Spain has never been high−technology inventor. Most of the technology we have now is imported
from the United States, which is the most technological country in the world. Although Spain has also
invented some modern technologies actually.
Exterior trade is not very important for the Spanish economy. It has grown fast since Spain joined the CEE.
Most of the exports from Spain are made to countries in the CEE and, after those, America and Middle East.
The main imports are energy products and the main exports are agrarian products and manufactured products
(automobiles, footwear, machinery, quimic products...).
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