Charlemagne: Mediterranean rivals

摘要

Both have centre-left coalition governments. Both are committed to European integration. Both are firm supporters of the draft European Union constitution. Both have low fertility, high immigration and declining competitiveness. And both are Latin, Mediterranean and used to taking siestas. But now Spain and Italy are converging in a new way. For much of the past decade Spain's economy has been growing at around twice the EU average. At this rate, officials beam, Spain will surpass Italy in terms of GDP per head by 2009. If you account for the black economy (Italy does, Spain does not), Spaniards might be richer already. Yes, such claims should be treated with scepticism: in the mid-1980s, Italy boasted loudly and prematurely of overtaking Britain. But Spain's economy is already as big as Canada's (which is, like Italy, a G8 member). And if you add in demographic trends—an immigration boom is more than offsetting a shrinking native population—then the prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, is surely right to assert that Spain will soon join Britain, France, Germany and Italy in the club of Europe's big five countries.