City Ville Guide

Political Status
Spain has a constitutional monarchy with two legislative assemblies, the Cortes and the Senate.
The King is Juan Carlos de Borbon y Borbon, who has been ruling since 22nd November 1975.
The Cortes has 350 members elected for a 4 year term of office by direct general election.
Follow

Geographical Situation
Spain is divided from the rest of Europe by the Pyrenees and separated from the African continent by the Straits of Gibraltar.
Follow

Economy
Over several years now the Spanish economy has been rapidly growing, encouraged by the dynamism of investment and internal consumption.
Economic growth in the year 2000 reached 4%, whereas 3.7% was forecast.
This was due to the high level of exports (+15% in March) and the constant internal demand.
Follow

Agriculture
Spanish agriculture is not very productive. It employs 8.3% of the working population but only represents 3.3% of the GDP. The government has undertaken major restructuring to adapt to the new needs of the internal and external markets, for the moment we can only see the first effects. Financial investment has been considerable, backed up with an effort at competivity and a more aggressive commercial approach.
Follow

Industry
35% of the labour force are employed in the industrial sector which represents about 35% of the GNP. Industry can be broken down into the following sectors :
electrical energy, iron and steel industries, textiles, shoes, toys, ship building (in the Alicante region), fish canning, car building, special steels, computer materials, aircraft frames and chemicals.
In 1999 all these branches of industry grew by 3.8% (even more in the car and textile sectors) and employment rose by 3.1%.
Follow

Other sectors
Services : The tertiary sector employs 54% of the country's labour force and earns 60% of the GNP.

Since the end of 1998 when it was liberalized, the telecommunications market has been booming.
The CMT (the commission of the telecommunications market) was set up in early March 1997.
Follow


Climate
Average temperatures (max/min)
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Madrid .. 8/1 11/2 15/5 18/7 21/10 27/15 31/17 30/17 25/14 19/10 13/5 9/2
Barcelona .. 13/6 14/7 16/9 18/11 21/14 25/18 28/21 28/21 25/19 21/15 16/10 13/7
Palma de Majorca .. 14/6 15/6 17/8 19/10 22/13 26/17 29/20 29/20 27/18 22/14 18/10 15/8
Follow

Working in Spain
There are different kinds of work permit :
- Permit A, valid for seasonal work for a period under 9 months
- Permit B, valid for a year, renewable, but in the same geographical region
- Permit C, renewable and valid for 5 years.
Labour Exchanges are called Oficinas de empleo or the Instituto Nacional de Empleo (INEM) :
They offer several services for people job hunting : enrolment, job offers and information about employment ...
Follow

Formalities
If you are a member of a European Union country you only need a valid identity card or passport.
Residence permit :
As Spain is a member of the European Union there is no special formalities for other Europeans. You can enter, leave, ...
Follow

Health
Hygiene in the country :
There is a good level of hygiene and no particular diseases.
Follow

Connections with France and internal transport
Air France, Iberia, Euralair and Air Inter leave daily from Orly Sud to Madrid and Sevilla.
The flight lasts approximatively 1 hour and 40 minutes.
Follow


Airports
There are numerous projects under way concerning the infrastructure which is insufficiently developed both compared to the growth in the economy and the airline traffic.
Follow