ABSTRACT
Introduction Since the 1980s, Spain has emerged as a major economic actor and player in Latin America. Between 1992 and 2002, Spain invested $96,000 million in Latin America, accounting for half of the European Union investment in the region. This was a dramatic development. Until very recently Spain had been a net importer of capital. The modernization of the Spanish economy, a process that started in the late 1950s and culminated with the accession of Spain to the European Union, was the starting point. It led to a surge in the inflow of inward foreign direct investment (FDI), technology transfers, and increases in the domestic savings rate, which contributed to the transformation of the economy. Therefore, the timing was not accidental. It coincided with the transformation of the Spanish economy that followed access to the European Union and the economic reforms in Latin America after the “lost decade” of the 1990s.
