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Spain Regional Concentration
Spanish industry has long been concentrated in a few
areas.
Traditionally, the major industrial areas were in
Barcelona and
surrounding Catalonia, the northern region of Asturias and
the
Basque provinces, Madrid, and to a lesser extent the
mineral-rich
southwest.
Catalonia had a concentration of processing and
engineering
industries, rather than basic industries. It was the
dominant
area for food and textile industries, and it was a center
for the
production of electronics. Tarragona's industrial
capacity, based
on a large oil refinery and a petrochemical complex, was
growing
rapidly. Catalonia also had a highly developed machinery
industry, including the country's largest automobile plant
and
extensive railroad foundries and workshops, as well as
diesel,
electrical engineering, and various industrial equipment
plants.
The northern coast and the Basque region were centers
of
basic industry because of their coal and iron ore deposits
and
their port facilities, used for raw material imports.
Spain's
major iron and steel works were located in the northern
region,
as were a number of engineering industries, shipbuilding
facilities, and chemical plants.
Madrid was a major manufacturing center, producing,
among
other items, automobiles, electrical equipment, and
aircraft. Its
location in the center of both Spain and the poorly
endowed
Meseta Central would seem to make it a poor prospect for
industrial development; however, its large population,
transportation facilities, and governmental role
stimulated its
evolution as an industrial center. By contrast, some of
the
country's industrially and agriculturally poorer provinces
lay in
a vast arc separating Madrid from the northern coast and
the
Catalan areas.
Data as of December 1988
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