The New Restrictions Are Another Blow To The Spanish Economy
The new restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in Madrid and Catalonia, the regions that are the engine of the Spanish economy, have exacerbated the country's already bleak forecasts for economic growth.
The New Restrictions Are Another Blow To The Spanish Economy
The new restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in Madrid and Catalonia, the regions that are the engine of the Spanish economy, have exacerbated the country's already bleak forecasts for economic growth.Together, these two regions account for about 40 percent of the Spanish economy. They are home to most large companies and a pillar of key sectors of the economy, such as tourism and the manufacturing sector.
"We will die of hunger," hundreds of restaurant operators chanted last week during a protest in the Catalan capital Barcelona against the closure of bars and restaurants for 15 days to prevent a further increase in new infections in the region.
The measure was introduced shortly after a partial lockdown in Madrid and satellite cities in early October to curb the second wave of the pandemic.
How the Spanish economy will collapse
If the restrictions remain in force in both regions for longer, it will have a "very negative impact" on the economy, said Inigo Fernández de Mesa, deputy head of the CEOE group.
The current situation corresponds to the group's more pessimistic forecasts at the beginning of the pandemic in March, when in a possible worse scenario, it predicted a decline in Spain's gross domestic product (GDP) by 13 to 14 percent this year.
The government has also lowered its forecast for the eurozone's fourth largest economy and expects it to fall by 11.2 percent in 2020 instead of the 9.2 percent it estimated in April.
The International Monetary Fund, meanwhile, predicted that the Spanish economy, dependent on tourism, would decline by 12.8 percent this year, the worst result among the so-called Western countries.