The renowned British newspapers Financial Times and The Times have devoted different articles this week to commenting on the positive evolution of the Spanish economy and even making some comparison with France in which the government of Emmanuel Macron does not do well. It is already known that Pedro Sánchez enjoys more compliments outside of Spain than in the interior, something that is also inherent to the Hispanic character. Criticizing the government is something gratuitous, and praising it always predisposes one to think that whoever does it is because they enjoy some perks.
But honestly, the results are there. The latest report from the Bank of Spain, which analyzes the first quarter of this year, concludes that there has been "a gradual strengthening of economic activity in our country" with "a favorable impact (...) that will be especially visible in 2024 and 2025”. And some examples are worth mentioning: job creation has grown to maximum levels in the month of March, and unemployment fell by 49,000 people; year-on-year inflation has gone from 6% in February to 3.3% in March and, finally, Spain has managed to reduce the deficit to 4.8% of GDP, two tenths below the commitment requested by the European Commission.
It seems that we do not remember now all the bad omens that had been predicted for the quarter that we have just passed. It hasn't been like that. And for this reason, it is not surprising that in the last Eurobarometer the percentage of Spaniards who now think that the country's economy is doing very badly has fallen eight points since the summer, which represents the greatest variation in the 27 EU states.
The instability in some banks and the war in Ukraine are more than important elements for this trend to change in the future. It would be a mistake to claim victory, but the aforementioned Bank of Spain report points out that "the global economic context seems to be showing incipient signs of improvement." Therefore, good advice is to take advantage of these days of Easter to rest, relax and think that everything is not so bad. The Spanish economy is resisting much better than expected, and the end of the world has not arrived.
