1. The Economic Growth of Spain: A Very Long-Term Perspective

This chapter provides two introductory pieces to the whole book: a geographical overview of the natural constraints of Spain, and a quantitative overview of Spanish economic growth over the last three centuries. The quantitative overview examines the growth patterns of the Spanish population. It then shows what has been, in broad terms, the economic evolution of the country in the very long term, resorting to GDP per capita, and its comparative performance—convergence or divergence—taking, first, Western Europe as a standard, and afterwards, the whole world. Later on it pays attention to alternative measures of well-being, as heights and human development. A final section of the chapter is devoted to the long-term movements of the major nominal variables—prices and exchange rates—as well as their fundamental determinant, the quantity of money.