Spanish lessons

摘要

JUST six years ago Spain seemed to be the European Union's biggest economic calamity, menacing the survival of the euro itself. As it goes on holiday this week, it is in much brighter shape. Thanks to structural reforms and some good fortune, it is enjoying a sustained recovery. Spanish politics has little of the xenophobia common elsewhere in Europe. Forty years after it became a democracy, on issues of personal liberty such as gay marriage Spain feels Scandinavian rather than southern European. Boasting the world's second-highest life expectancy, a good health service and world-class transport infrastructure, it is in many ways a great place to live.