ABSTRACT
Spain has a market economy operating in a highly interventionist welfare state. Long considered to be peripheral to Europe economically and geographically, it is rapidly gaining parity with European norms according to standard economic measures such as gross domestic product (GDP) and income per capita. Some of its 17 autonomous regions exceed European averages. Since Spain's entry into the European Union in 1986, much social, economic and environmental policy and actual performance has been driven by a concerted effort at full-scale integration into the European scene. Spanish pride and the desire to overcome isolation during the Franco era and prior monarchies play key roles in this catch-up effort. Since 1980,' Spain's economy climbed from fourteenth to eighth place globally.
