Why Is Southern Spain So Poor?
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#Spain #Economy #Poverty
I've been many times to south Spain and it looks everything but poor. I'm italian and I 'm so jealous of their great infrastructures, their nice, clean and well kept cities and villages. I wish we could look at least near to them!
giusto dell autostrada gratis potresti essere geloso perch'è del resto non mi pare proprio
You do i've been to Napoli
And finally, I've only been once to southern Spain and I can guarantee you that it looks richer and with better infrastructure than the North of England
Trust me is not.
@ava-he9li
créeme si lo es
@ava-he9li
yes yes it is
@ava-he9li Went this winter and it absolutely is
South Spain is not that poor as statistics tells us. There is a lot of "uncounted" money in circulation!
so the mafia is more active in the south?
Very very exagerated title for clickbait
Economists rely on statistics and most of them talk out of their @rse most of the time!
I agree. Wages are lower and jobs hard to come by but people seem to get by nicely. Andalucía doesn’t seem poor. It doesn’t seem specially rich either. Much of it is remote with poor physical connections. But a lot of Spain is like that and that’s down to topography. The main issue with Spain generally and also France and Portugal is that young people don’t want to live in remote regions such as the Sierra Nevada. They want to be in Palma or Malaga or Barcelona. It’s understandable but it’s a shame.
@@Benito-lr8mz Looking at spains GDP it's not clickbait. They're poor asf for where they should be.
South of Spain actually is pretty amazing, with amazing airports, high speed trains, highways, clean, beautiful vibrant historic cities, Michelin star restaurants, ski resorts... It's not as wealthy as Basque Country or Madrid but I wouldn't call it "Poor"
That’s what tourists see
@ava-he9liNo. Es la realidad.
Andalucía es la tercera economía de España.
video DESACTUALIZADO A DIA D HOY .
Andalucia 2 región más rica de España
If andalucia and Spain is what poor looks like then I don’t want to be rich, I’ve seen how it is to live in major US cities and I don’t think that’s higher standard of living tbh.
VisualEconomik be like
Today: Why are you so poor
Following day: why are you so rich
😂😂😂😂😂very true
😂😂😂😂😂very true
Clickbait sells clicks
There is one very important aspect that must be mentioned: logistics
Spain is a very mountainous country and It is divided from France and the rest of Europe by the Pyrenees mountains with only 2 Highway connections through the mountains : one in Catalonia and one in the Basque Country.
Therefore til the 90s transport of goods from the South of Spain to the European markets was very difficult . Today the ports of Valencia , Algeciras, Cartagena, Malaga even Huelva are all operating container ships and the Port of Valencia is more important than Bilbao or Barcelona. Huge fleets of frigo trucks have been created in Andalucia, Murcia, Valencia are running around all of Europe. Sadly, there are no real rail and road connections between Aragon (region located behind the Pyrenees in between Catalonia and the Basque región) and France which would change the regional political and economical balances in Spain completely.
It sounds like the Pyrenees could use a tunnel. Maybe two or three of them.
@@eitkoml true, something like a Toulouse-Saragossa line
in the Alps almost at all major routes base tunnels are built right now, from France to Turin in Italy, the Gotthard in Switzerland, the Brenner Base tunnel connecting Bavaria, Austria and Northern Italy and yet another one in the East, the Semmering Base tunnel, that will connect Czechia, Slovakia and Eastern Austria with a faster route to Trieste.
All I know is, Andalusia has the rest beat on nice cities. Granada, Sevilla, Cordoba, Nerja, Ronda etc.
It's because of the Islamic rule that lasted there longer and gave unique architecture and monuments like Al Hambra
However the heart of the Spanish empire was in the center and north for centuries so they focused on building the economy of those regions while they ignored the south
Had they used more resources from the Americas on the south it could've flourished better than today
Franco dictatorship didn't help either
And yet property is soo cheap in Cordoba compared to big cities in the north, or even Valencia
The heart of Muslim Spain was in the south, though. Why couldn’t they stay ahead with this head start?
@@laughinggiraffe9176
Who are you talking about ?
Mijas with their donkey taxis is also something unique to visit.
Southern Spain might have been relatively rich under Muslim rule but that was no longer the case after the reconquista. That's actually one of the reason why so many conquistadors and colonists came from Andalusia and Extremadura. They were so poor that it was better for them to seek new fortune or a new life in the Americas.
Same with Southern Italy! Many South Italians migrated to the Americas
Funny that the video shows otherwise. Only in late century XIX and XX Andaluzia became one of the poorest regions, until then it was one of the wealthiest.
@@redstream1237Muslims left Italy almost 800 years before unification. 😂
This video is ridicule Iam Spanish your argumenta is a nonsense ; says this un 2024 in a country with equal System redistribution of money interregional in constitution and the great developed in last décades in South Spain the video is rancid and obsolete
@@Benito-lr8mzdo you live in the Southern Spain or Northern Spain?
Spain has the best life expentacy of Europe. Industrialization doesn't mean better quality of life.
This is utter nonsense.While Southern Spain is not as wealthty as the north it certainly isn't as poor as the way you are painting it and certainly is no where near being the poorest in the EU. I live in Extremadura and live very very well. The standard of living is high. Better than many other EU countries.
Southern Portugal faces a similar problem, the only difference is that Portugal as a whole is a more peripherical country, more centralised, making wealth regional inequality more nuanced than in Spain.
less settlements means less trade which means poverty & nothern spain was closer to europes core.
trade balance between middle east and europe changed when new trade routes were discovered
In 2024 with great comunications in South Spain aparte the title of video is very exagerated i have seen many times North and South of Spain Iam Spanish
finally, an intelligent answer
True, and it's not just Spain, look at the UK, the south part of it is richer and likely because it's closer to richer regions in Europe, or Italy, the north is richer and again, it's closer to richer regions in Europe.
So it does seem like the richer regions are to a given country, the more likely it's going to have a knock on effect, something we are very likely going to see with the eastern EU countries, as they become richer, it will have a knock on effect to other countries further east as well as existing countries to the west in the EU, we also see the same in Germany where the west is richer then the east, but that's for other reasons being divided during the Cold War, it's also likely as the eastern EU countries continue to develop, it will have a knock on effect on Eastern Germany which should boost economic growth.
Maybe a rebalancing of wealth is needed when it comes to countries like the UK and Spain because clearly, there's a big advantage to the south of the UK and the north of Italy, which makes it much harder for the other side to compete because of geographic.
As for Spain, I never got a sense of the south of Spain being poor, in fact, this is the first I've heard of it and thought all of Spain is quite well off.
lot of stuff seems to flow near gibraltar area though... not all accounted in official taxes though :D
@@paul1979uk2000 UK is a bit of a different issue. The issue in the UK is that all the power and industry has been essentially centralised to London. This is why even places in the south are poor, as they do not have good connections to London. This is being slight resolved with Manchester getting lots of investment, but it will fail if the gov does not create good infrastructure for the regions around Manchester.
For Spain, it's a bit more difficult. The poverty of the south stems from the natural growth of industries in the area's that Franco had prioritised. As the southern regions actively were underdeveloped during that period and the natural divide that grew from that, it's now not as simple as rebalancing the wealth. Industries need to be built out of the existing services the south can offer and once these have been developed, you can look at rebalancing the wealth. There is also the issue of climate change, which means extreme weather can affect the growth of these industries.
Spain is pure Magic. Nothing like that in Europe. Otherwise nothing of Europe in exotic places around world. So....pure Magic.
Portugal is better. Central Italy is better. Southern Poland is better.
@@leosharman8630Portugal sucks
@@leosharman8630no, no and no
@@leosharman8630 no
@@leosharman8630 Portugal en su conjunto es más pobre que Andalucia estadísticamente hablando. No sé porqué dices tantas tonterías……
Southern Spain is not one of the poorest places in Europe
It is.
@@IkerAndoni89No, it is not and the Basque country is very poor compared to many European countries like Sweden or Austria😂
@@themechanictangerine The Basque Country is richer than some Dutch, Swedish and Austrian regions. Southern Spain is even surpassed by Slovenian and Polish regions. Be knowledgeable instead of being so lame.
@@IkerAndoni89 No it is not, no parts of the Netherlands or Austria are poorer than the Basque country and their GDP per capita as a whole is much higher than the Basque Country. You even see some Basques emigrating to the Netherlands and other rich European countries, you see no Dutch or Austrians emigrating to the Basque country, not even Southern Spaniards emigrate there in large numbers like before
@@IkerAndoni89 Thanks to the taxes of the rest of the Spaniards
The Mississippi Delta is the poorest region of the US.
In the modern era.
@@zico739 Since the south lost their slaves.
It used to be the richest and the region was home to one of the largest public companies in history. It may be the poorest region in the US now but it alone powered the US honestly until the US decided to institute the US dollar and had a civil war. The US economy was powered by slavery but not anymore so the Mississippi is poor and the descendants are bitter.
Their slaves?
@@giacobbeperales5926 Freed after confederacy lost civil war.
I love Southern Spain, Every year I go with the car to Morocco from The Netherlands and Southern Spain is by far the most beautifull area in Western Europe, The food is nice the people are friendly and the nature is beautifull. Cost of living is cheap and the architecture very similar to Morocco. I feel at home
Besides the religion Spain and Moroco really look alike. But the religion is a very big diference, Spain has been the armed arm of the catholic church for centuries and the islam is very strong in Moroco. Even our people look alike, if you search the name of the president of spanish far right parti, Abascal, he has an arab name cristianized, Ab-Hascal. He look arab and even has distant kinship with a morocan football player Adil Rami. The family of Abascal lost the war and one part choose to stay and be christians and the other left the peninsula.
@@adrian208 morocco and spain look nothing alike
Spain is not a poor country. Best health care in the world and highest standard of living with 10s of 1000s leaving the United States for a better life.
Southern Spain is rich AF, but they don't declare that money. Nowhere on Earth I've seen so many people living a nice life without working a for a single minute any day lol
Where have you been pal?
The climate is another contributing factor. The heat of the south would have had an affect on workers in the pre-air conditioned era compared to the cooler north west climate.
Iam Spanish the South no is hell all year lol in Granada for exemple more times in year has a tempeartures down 0 degrees celsius
@@Benito-lr8mzpero eres de España. Estamos hablando de los musulmanes y árabes q pertenecían allá antes. Estaban más adecuados a los rayos del sol semejantes a como los suecos florecen sin mucho sol.
@@kendellfriend5558Los musulmanes nunca pertenecieron allá. Los musulmanes llegaron e invadieron.
Not for those reasons but climate is a factor, the main one is Oak forests, essential for naval construction of huge galleon fleets. If in times of the spanish empire your region is comisioned with building 2 galleon fleets, your region will get a giant stream of paid work and wealth.
Advantages of hotter climate such as fruits and veggi farming were not in place then because the technology for fresh produce trade didnt exist, refrigeration. Now for example what used to be the poorest region in the south of Spain (Almería) is the richest in the south thanks to fruits/ veggi farming and trade. Posible today with refrigeration, but not in the past.
The north had some advantages during the Spanish Empire times that acumulated wealth and power during centuries:
- Abundance of Oak forests for building galleon fleets.This meant huge comissions and huge amount of labour and wealth.
- Coal mines in the north for industrialization later on, but also for cannon artillery manufacturing.
- Textiles manufacturing monopoly granted to catalans .Catalans got the first position because at the beggining textil trade was a land business connected by land routes and Catalunya was the closest to Europe. Second Napoleón destroyed textil manufacturing facilites in the south and central áreas of Spain together with tabacco, chocolate and similar industries, he wanted to anex the North of Spain to his personal Empire so he destroyed the other regions. So the Monopoly was granted with the idea of helping the best remaining industry having a really competitive region in that sector in a global economy .
- Racial laws granting priviledges for Basque people to apply for power positions "hidalguía universal" essential for overseas administration and politics. This was a type of one-drop racial law , you had to prove pure spanish ancestry for power positions within the Empire. Basques were considered pure spanish with no doubt by law due to the Reconquista centuries earlier.
So while the south was the main force of the Empire at the beggining because It had the Admin Office of American territories and overseas trade in Seville (Andalucía) and the main departure port for naval expeditions in Palos (Andalucía) together with locally recruited sailors and soldiers...as the centuries went on, the north got the upper hand. They acumulated wealth and power and they got reinvestment
Amazing that Spain, heartland of the great Spanish Empire, was so fragmented and disconnected even during its zenith.
The north had some advantages during the Spanish Empire times:
- Abundance of Oak forests for building galleon fleets.This meant huge comissions and huge amount of labour and wealth.
- Coal mines in the north for industrialization later on, but also for cannon artillery manufacturing.
- Textiles manufacturing monopoly granted to catalans .Catalans got the first position because at the beggining textil trade was a land business connected by land routes and Catalunya was the closest to Europe. Second Napoleón destroyed textil manufacturing facilites in the south and central áreas of Spain together with tabacco, chocolate and similar industries, he wanted to anex the North of Spain to his personal Empire so he destroyed the other regions. So the Monopoly was granted with the idea of helping the best remaining industry having a really competitive region in that sector in a global economy .
- Racial laws granting priviledges for Basque people to apply for power positions "hidalguía universal" essential for overseas administration and politics. This was a type of one-drop racial law , you had to prove pure spanish ancestry for power positions within the Empire. Basques were considered pure spanish with no doubt by law due to the Reconquista centuries earlier.
So while the south was the main force of the Empire at the beggining because It had the Admin Office of American territories and overseas trade in Seville (Andalucía) and the main departure port for naval expeditions in Palos (Andalucía) together with locally recruited sailors and soldiers...as the centuries went on, the north got the upper hand. They acumulated wealth and power and they got reinvestment.
Also the coal and iron mines necessary for the start of the industrial revolution are located in the North.
Yet one of the largest mining Trusts on earth is called Rio Tinto, after a river in Andalusia, where copper and other ores were mined.
ur so handsome
@@ekesandras1481during centuries the mines in the north were more important for building spanish wealth because they had iron ore and Coal for artillery cannon manufacturing, together with abundance of Oak forests for building entire galleon fleets. By the time industrialization came and the metals in RioTinto were important, copper for Steam boiler and Steam engines .... United Kingdom controlled those mines. RioTinto Corporation is or was an english enterprise that bought the mines in the 18th centuries. They had been almost abandoned because they were considered not efeicient, overexplotstion byb he romans. But due tu new 18th centuy technology and demand for copper they were interesting again.
So the English Rotchild bought them and exploited them and exploited underpaid spanish miners Until many years later when general Franco got them again in 1954.
The north had some advantages during the Spanish Empire times:
- Abundance of Oak forests for building galleon fleets.This meant huge comissions and huge amount of labour and wealth.
- Coal mines in the north for industrialization later on, but also for cannon artillery manufacturing.
- Textiles manufacturing monopoly granted to catalans .Catalans got the first position because at the beggining textil trade was a land business connected by land routes and Catalunya was the closest to Europe. Second Napoleón destroyed textil manufacturing facilites in the south and central áreas of Spain together with tabacco, chocolate and similar industries, he wanted to anex the North of Spain to his personal Empire so he destroyed the other regions. So the Monopoly was granted with the idea of helping the best remaining industry having a really competitive region in that sector in a global economy .
- Racial laws granting priviledges for Basque people to apply for power positions "hidalguía universal" essential for overseas administration and politics. This was a type of one-drop racial law , you had to prove pure spanish ancestry for power positions within the Empire. Basques were considered pure spanish with no doubt by law due to the Reconquista centuries earlier.
So while the south was the main force of the Empire at the beggining because It had the Admin Office of American territories and overseas trade in Seville (Andalucía) and the main departure port for naval expeditions in Palos (Andalucía) together with locally recruited sailors and soldiers...as the centuries went on, the north got the upper hand. They acumulated wealth and power and they got reinvestment
Lack of water, reduces the amount of industry that is possible.
There was no lack of water in the south until recently.
Tell that to Israel and 500 year ago there was no water either
@@simetric6551 research and development can happen in dry places. But you need skills and capital, something that is more likely in places, that had water during the industrial revolution.
@Hession0Drasha yes that's true but you don't need to be an industrial power to be rich. You mentioned the industrial revolution and you think that's the only way to become rich, thinking about USA, Japan and Northern Europe but Australia is dryer than Spain and it doesn't have any significant industry, Australia is and has been a rich country since it was founded
Odd
I live in southern Andalusia and we have a water festival every year to celebrate its abundance.
Another factor was that the coal, tin and iron mines were mostly in the Northern areas of Asturias, the Basque country and Cataluna. Much like Sheffield in the UK and the Ruhr in Germany... Industry was based close to where the resources were to be found.... As to what kept Southern Spain poorer also, the Catholic Church had a larger impact in social life in the South than in the North during the 1800s. In the South, most education, both primary and university was by the Church, in the North, where there was more of an entrepreneurial spirit and more workers unions, due to mining and basic industry, literacy was much more widespread. During the Spanish Civil War, these areas were bastions of leftism and extremely anti religious
As somebody from Andalusia/Sevilla I can tell you while our salaries and bank accounts aren't very impressive. I've never ONCE felt "poor" I always have enough for a roof over my head,basic utilities and more than enough food to fill my stomach. the average income ($10K-$12K) a year looks like abject poverty on paper but most Spaniards live a very basic and contently calm lifestyle.
''In such a bad way" the most Brittish thing I've ever heard hahahha
Spain is one of the best countries in the World.
That might as well be the story of Brazil. Southern states have GDPs comparable to European countries, while northern states can be compared to southern African countries. The reasons were pretty much the same.
Industrialisation occured in Catalonia the the Basque Country in the 19th century because they was a bourgeoisie used to trade with abroad. In the South of Spain, it was still a Medieval society, with high nobility and poor peasants. In the North, peasants were free and owned their land.
Madrid only became a rich region after 1969, when the spanisg government invested all the public ressources in Madrid to industrialise it.
The north had some advantages during the Spanish Empire times:
- Abundance of Oak forests for building galleon fleets.This meant huge comissions and huge amount of labour and wealth.
- Coal mines in the north for industrialization later on, but also for cannon artillery manufacturing.
- Textiles manufacturing monopoly granted to catalans .Catalans got the first position because at the beggining textil trade was a land business connected by land routes and Catalunya was the closest to Europe. Second Napoleón destroyed textil manufacturing facilites in the south and central áreas of Spain together with tabacco, chocolate and similar industries, he wanted to anex the North of Spain to his personal Empire so he destroyed the other regions. So the Monopoly was granted with the idea of helping the best remaining industry having a really competitive region in that sector in a global economy .
- Racial laws granting priviledges for Basque people to apply for power positions "hidalguía universal" essential for overseas administration and politics. This was a type of one-drop racial law , you had to prove pure spanish ancestry for power positions within the Empire. Basques were considered pure spanish with no doubt by law due to the Reconquista centuries earlier.
So while the south was the main force of the Empire at the beggining because It had the Admin Office of American territories and overseas trade in Seville (Andalucía) and the main departure port for naval expeditions in Palos (Andalucía) together with locally recruited sailors and soldiers...as the centuries went on, the north got the upper hand. They acumulated wealth and power and they got reinvestment
CATALAN DETECTED!!! HA HA HA!!! Madrid was the capital of Spain since the reign of Philip II (1561), precisely when Spain was an economic superpower. In 1969 Madrid suffered economic ruin from that so-called government while Catalonia and the Basque Country were pampered by industrializing them ("SEAT", "ALTOS HORNOS"..etc). From Madrid and surrounding provinces, labor migrated to the Basque Country and Catalonia. And in Madrid the officials were having a hard time.
CATALAN DETECTED!!! HA HA HA!!! Madrid was the capital of Spain since the reign of Philip II (1561), precisely when Spain was an economic superpower. In 1969 Madrid suffered economic ruin from that so-called government while Catalonia and the Basque Country were pampered by industrializing them ("SEAT", "ALTOS HORNOS"..etc). From Madrid and surrounding provinces, labor migrated to the Basque Country and Catalonia. And in Madrid the officials were having a hard time.
It's common knowledge that the south is poor because of underinvestment from absentee landlords who didn't give a shit about the people. In fact they despised the poor. The landlords could remain very rich at the expense of the poor in a system that remained medieval until the 1960's. We shouldn't forget that there much of the north was in extreme poverty too. Galicians were amongst the highest quantity of emigrants in Spain. Plenty of poverty in the north. Read Bunuel's brilliant autobiography to understand how the region of Aragon during his childhood had seen no change since the middle ages.
Toledo is the border for me. Once you go south of that it feels like a different country. I love this channel and this isn't a bad effort to explain the disparity of wealth but it's so much more complicated. Any mention of Islamic Spain, whilst interesting, is pointless in this context as it really is ancient history. The comparative poverty of Andalucía and Extremadura cannot be explained by events 500 years ago. We're talking about a 500 year problem. The south remained poor because the landowning class hated the poor and treated them as animals to further their wealth. The peasants and any opposition to this way of life were punished in ways that would be considered war crimes today during the Civil War. After the war they were starved into submission, hence the massive amount of internal migration to the north.
I have family in the north and was married in Bilbao but I have a home 2 km from the coast east of Malaga in the south. Two very different worlds. One is mainland Europe and the other is Mediterranean. The north has industry and a recognisable EU kind of way of life. The south, despite its poverty, is life and generates life. It's why the people of the north flock to the south. In my experience I have to say that the people of the south are happier than the people of the north.
Quality comment here.
I love informative comments like this. Always great to get an insider perspective.
If people are happier in the southern half, what keeps you from traveling south of Toledo? I'm sure the festivals and holidays there are fun
Sounds like you have a place somewhere behind Pedregalejo. I lived there for a year 24 years ago. I'd love to be able to do it again. I agree with all you points by the way.
He explained how the different social structures between the north and south led to the south's poverty. That emerged during the Reconquista. The south's horrible social structure where a few aristocrats owned all of the land was also transferred to the western hemisphere from Mexico and Cuba all the way south to Argentina. The Portuguese did the same thing in Brazil too.
I read it was initially absentee landlords. The north of England housed the mills and the coal mines and those who worked in them. As soon as they could the owners moved south. Closer to London and where the weather was better. The land richer. It still suffers.
so north of england welcomes climate warming. stick it to the southerners :D
You should also make a video about why southern Italy is so poor
Very similar explanation. In fact, southern Italy was latifundist and touristic with slavery economy since the roman era, when the north was already very "industrial".
The problem in southern spain is submerged economy
That happens everywhere in Europe not just Spain!
Not in Germany or England
Same as why south of Italy and France are poor, the hood.
@danghoangluong2942 it's the opposite in England, and it's literally Western. East in Germany, countries tend to be divided economically. Sometimes, they create patterns, not always North and South
South France is richer@@cx3929
@@reggie69.I have a sense that the regions that are closer to richer regions are richer for it, so the south of the UK being closer to the rich European mainland, the north of Italy for the same reasons, the west of Germany and so on, and it kinda makes sense that more economic development will happen closer to richer regions.
Almost every economic problem is caused by wealth inequality or concentration of power in the hands of power. Surprisingly it's like we never learn from history
richness by culture: judaism > confucianism > protestantism > catholicism > eastern orthodoxism > islamism
Protestantism....they were starving to death until early last century in Northern Europe. And where are the beautiful and monumental cities of Southern Europe there with all their culture and history. Nowere to be seen. Children were working in coal mines in Great Britain until not so long ago. By the way, the richest area of Central Europe as Belgium, Germany and Austria were Catholics too.
If you really think this can all be simplified down to a snarky TH-cam comment, you’re not really worth arguing with
Facts
I’d say Catholicism is above them all, since they’re those who accomplished the most.
Last time I checked… Malaysia, Brunei and Saudi Arabia are wealthier than Ireland. In the US, catholic Connecticut is wealthier than protestant West Virginia. Looks like your assumptions don’t apply here
Proximity to richer (France) and poorer region (Morocco). This is seen all over the world, rich neighbors make you rich, poor neighbors make you poor.
Yeah I don’t think that works that way
The south of Spain is not such a poor land now, compared to the north (as when the economy was very rural), as if they were two different worlds. They are basically the same modern services. I live in the south of Spain and the high-speed train has just arrived here, an electric luxury car company has opened, and we have just developed the first Spanish space rocket, in addition to discovering genetic engineering techniques. The south is closing the gap rapidly, and that is happening throughout the planet: South-North.
The explanation for the historical delay is not the Islamists, nor Catholic Spain (Catholic Germany is rich) or the expulsion of the Jews (6 out of 7 Jews stayed in Spain, converted into converts and continuing with their businesses, after 1492)
The Arabs of the peninsula have no influence on poverty. Islamic Córdoba, in Spain, was the most advanced city in Europe in the 9th-11th centuries. Greater medicine, technology, culture, army, marble palaces, public baths, scientists, intellectual women. At that time Europe was ruined. Paris, London, Amsterdam, were wooden towns, with mud in the streets, diseases, fanaticism, poverty. The cold was a problem for development, as after globalization and industrialization the problem has been the heat, to compete with the great development of Europe.
Southern Spain, southern Italy, Greece, Portugal... In general, the southern regions of Europe historically have more problems due to the distance to trade with the rest of Europe, and the intense heat 5 months a year, and drought. A merchant from Andalusia or Sicily had to travel 40 days or more, by horse cart, in any century, to carry his trade to Germany or Belgium... A merchant from Catalonia or the Basque Country took 20 days. A French merchant crossed the border from Germany, Switzerland or Belgium, and returned home for dinner. That is not competitive for the south (and the same or greater problem has the Maghreb, or the rest of Africa) when the majority of the European population lives in fertile, green regions, with rain, and river routes, in Central Europe, irrigated by the trade of England and the Netherlands, and they are not peninsulas. While Spain had a huge reinvestment of 70% of wealth (80% in the 18th century), to turn Spanish America into a western region.
Now, with air conditioning, modern freight transport and Internet sales techniques, Spain, Greece and Portugal are closing the gap with the north. The south of Spain or Italy are closing the gap with the north of these countries. And Africa and other regions of the world are also modernizing, slower or faster.
It was a nice history lesson but most of this, especially everything from before the industrial revolution, has no effect on the economy today. South is hotter and more arid so there's a lower capacity for population growth. It's also got more retirées, that alone explains a huge part of the difference. The rest is likely down to regulation/governance of regional governments.
¿Un inglés hablando de España? ¿De qué me suena, a qué huele?
What about Southern Italy? Greece? Georgia? Portugal? It looks like warm sea climate somehow makes ppls over relaxed.
Better weather = more time to spend outside. It's no conspiracy why the Northern European countries perform better economically
It's simply because southern Italy is much further from commercial routes in Europe. In fact it was very rich when the Mediterranean was the centre of the world. Overall though southern Italy is a much more stress free society compared to northern Europe, as shown by having one of the lowest amount of m*rders and r*pes in Europe, and one of the highest life expectancy
@@Bolognabeef As you may or may not know.. Southern Italy is a very close-knit community, which means everyone knows everyone else. People know their police officers, which means that further harm may come to you if you say anything against them. This is why the mafia has also been able to operate without any scrutiny there. So yes, the number of REPORTED crimes may be down, but I wouldn't say that they're much safer than in the north.
@@rmmvw Israel: Hold my Galil
It's a normal thing in practically every country in the world
the economic division south north or east west
Only very small countries do not suffer from divisions
It's the same in Italy, in France, in Belgium, in England and Germany, on the contrary, the southern part is richer than the northern part
in Russia the western part is richer than the eastern part, while in China the eastern part is richer than the western part
it is normal that where there is more opportunity for trade, along the border areas or where there is a lot of water, societies and large urban centers develop which over time become more and more numerous and will end up concentrating wealth there
I guess the situation is a bit similar to Northern and Southern Italy. Madrid is just at the border it seems.
The regions of the south of Spain are heavily subsidized. They have no incentive to develop their economies.
Muchísimo menos que las del Norte. Infórmese bien.
Es usted un desactualizado . video el vídeo también DESACTUALIZADO A DIA D HOY .
Andalucia 2 región más rica de España
6:23 there seem to be an error in the description of the infographic
There seems to be much variation in that scatter plot. Perhaps would be good to add an R^2 value and the assoiated P value as well as the slope. As presented I don't find the data convincing.
As usually in the north/south question, the answer is water.
Plenty water in the North of England where it is considered to be the poor region compared to the rich south.
I live in southern Andalusia and we have a water festival each year to celebrate its abundance.
Also my local town is ( in Arabic ) known as the land of springs.
No shortage of water here.
Basque is so rich because of the worker cooperatives there, like Mondragon Coop. Before that it was very poor.
Y al concierto económico que es una discriminación positiva.
I would think that proximity to the rest of Europe also matters.
That's what I think and not just with Spain, we also see the same thing with the UK, Italy, Germany and other countries, the regions in those countries that are closer to other rich regions in Europe, seem to do far better economically.
Considering this seems to happen in a lot of countries and not just in Europe, it can't be by chance, and it makes sense, more trade, business and growth is usually going to happen in regions that are closer to other rich regions.
What you describe to have happened in the Spanish South is very similar to what the tech barons and billionaires do these days. So, is a dystopian future inevitable?
Southern Spain feels wealthy compared to Portugal.
Europeans Trying to blame everything on islam and communism like they didnt do anything
Claro el comunismo y el Islam no tienen nada que ver, mira como a mejorado Irán desde los años 70 con un régimen islámico comunista, dos canceres juntos muerte segura.😂😂😂
Spain is one of the most developed countries in the world with the 15th largest economy in the world how is that poor? This video makes no sense! Ive been to southern spain it is not poor Spaniards live very well!
Because they waste all their money on espadrilles and cigarillos. And possibly armadillos too
It's a shame because in Andalusia, where I'm from, up to 8 times more children with high IQ are born than any other region of the country except Murcia, which is also in the south and talent has been wasted for many years.
Video desactualizado.
A 2025
ANDALUCÍA ES LA 2 REGION MAS RICA DE ESPAÑA
It doesn’t have skyrocketing unemployment, it has actually been decreasing. Investment has also increased…
If i were to choose one word, it would be "complacency".
VisualEconomik has a 100% mispronunciation rate for Spanish names.
Yep completely
Please visit southern Spain and tell me about it's poverty. Probably the region with the highest quality of life in the world.
If you are funcionario, high qualified salary man or expath with remote job, richman of any kind, retiree, rentist... not for the average young people with 50% of unemployment.
@@Darknight73457 Tell me you’ve never been to southern Spain without telling me. Teens don’t work cause they can afford not to while getting their education. Their parents can afford their university while they focus on studying. Food there is way cheaper than in the rest of the country and so is everything else. Yet the minimum salary is still the same. You can perfectly live with two minimum salaries which doesn’t really happen in the rest of Spain, at least one of the two parents would need to do some higher qualified job to reach the end of the month with their stomachs full
@@imb5128 yeah, quality of life is to live with two SMI, enjoy sun while eating peanuts with aceitunas and to need social aid even for study, oh yeah.
España está en la mierda, y Andalucía ni te cuento. Un desempleo juvenil del 50% es un auténtico drama social, por mucho que lo hayamos asumido como normal. A partir de ahí, que cada uno se engañe como quiera, pero para mi felicidad y CALIDAD DE VIDA es lo que hay en Finlandia, donde apenas nadie tiene problemas para llegar a fin de mes o irse de vacaciones en verano a donde les salga de la p...
Some argue that the East German region was poor before communism. That trope is only a simplistic convenience.
The south of Spain has been screwed over by the government in Madrid for nearly ninety years. That's why it's so poor. That's also why there is so much undeclared wealth in Andalusia.
Spain is little nowadays but it has a trully diverse society and regions. You can cross a line and change complitely the looks of the people, their caracter and even the language. This is a product of so many wars and invasions. The history of Spain could be mythical if Hollywood decided to make movies about them. If Great Britain could become the world power it was, it was because Spain declined in a resounding manner similar to the fall of the USSR but at its time. But otherwise, English would hardly be the global language and history would have been very different. Above all, more authoritarian and less tolerant, since Spain has always been characterized by sinking the losers in wars. In any case, Spain is still that country that is better to have on your side in a war and that does not have nuclear weapons. It's like in the Second World War, there were many agents interested in having Spain participate on their side. If, for example, Spain had helped Germany, the invasion of Africa would not have been possible and Germany would surely not have lost the Western Front. Even the United States itself did not want to fight a war with Spain because they knew that although Spain had helped them obtain their independence, it could also take it away from them, until they discovered that it was better to fight with a weak Mexico.
no eso no es verdad, no ves a nadie andaluz o catalan y sabes de donde son por sus rasgos fisicos
The north had some advantages during the Spanish Empire times:
- Abundance of Oak forests for building galleon fleets.This meant huge comissions and huge amount of labour and wealth.
- Coal mines in the north for industrialization later on, but also for cannon artillery manufacturing.
- Textiles manufacturing monopoly granted to catalans .Catalans got the first position because at the beggining textil trade was a land business connected by land routes and Catalunya was the closest to Europe. Second Napoleón destroyed textil manufacturing facilites in the south and central áreas of Spain together with tabacco, chocolate and similar industries, he wanted to anex the North of Spain to his personal Empire so he destroyed the other regions. So the Monopoly was granted with the idea of helping the best remaining industry having a really competitive region in that sector in a global economy .
- Racial laws granting priviledges for Basque people to apply for power positions "hidalguía universal" essential for overseas administration and politics. This was a type of one-drop racial law , you had to prove pure spanish ancestry for power positions within the Empire. Basques were considered pure spanish with no doubt by law due to the Reconquista centuries earlier.
So while the south was the main force of the Empire at the beggining because It had the Admin Office of American territories and overseas trade in Seville (Andalucía) and the main departure port for naval expeditions in Palos (Andalucía) together with locally recruited sailors and soldiers...as the centuries went on, the north got the upper hand. They acumulated wealth and power and they got reinvestment
Much FEWER, not much LESS. Bloody hell
Why this region is so poor? Have you ever tried to get something done in southern Spain? Culture is your answer 🙂
The more south in Europe you go the poorer it gets 🫤
That is wrong, Greece is richer than most of the other countries in the Balkans. Spain is richer than most of the former Eastern bloc countries.
But, that was a nice theory.
no it just coinciden
East Russia is poor
East Turkey is poor
And in Spain ITS south
In my country eastern part is so poor i live in Indonesia
All I know is that across the sea, it gets even worse 😂
More amixture with North Africans in the south
the uk:
I think Spain should try to reduce unemployed Andalusian youth professionals by encouraging them to immigrate to Latin America and the Philippines and become entrepreneurs.
Is that really a solution? Isn't there large scale immigration from many of those countries because they are economic basket cases / their educated youth are leaving because of lack of opportunities in their own countries? The question is why don't more educated Spanish unemployed find jobs elsewhere in the EU? Isn't that the purpose of free movement of labour within the EU? Or why doesn't the Spanish government reform the structural problems in Spain that makes employers reluctant to hire someone long term?
Every country has a poorer zone where hard working real products are made, such as food.
Armancio Ortega Zara founder and billionaire is also from the north in Acarunya
A Coruña, you didn’t even get close
Coal was in the north.
is there a lack of natural resources in southern spain? like coal or iron ore. a lot of industry tended to develop where these resources were located.
Its warmer
Gibraltar is even warmer and it's two times well here than the wealthiest parts of spain per person
because its the UK@@reggie69.
The árabs thrived yet the whites couldn’t. Interesting
@dreadhead5719 while it's true, Gibraltar manages itself completely independently. The only thing the UK controls in Gibraltar is literally the military, so it might as well be considered independent,
the UK economy shouldn't even be compared to Gibraltar, though
, as Gibraltar is also two times Richer than the UK,
I'm only saying it because people are saying such simpleton stuff like because it's warmer and rubbish that can be easily debunked by just using your brain why is Southern England so much wealthier than everywhere above it in the UK when the north is colder
I was actually going to say Singapore, but I remembered Gibraltar is literally under Spain.
@@reggie69. Gibraltar is tax haven.
that'a really a good one!
I would rather live in Sevilla than in Barcelona and Madrid any day
Thank you ever so. Your excellent videos provide a clear and objective overview.
Your gestures are precise on the intent.
Your accent is light therefore comprehention is great!
Keep it up. You are a gift to intelligence!
The north is close to Europe which is industrial and rich, the south is front of África.
People all over Spain live well and all regions have some of the highest life expectancies in the world, the south of Spain is not poor, plenty of golf courses and country clubs’ living the good life.
The same in Italy
Very interesting
Also regarding population density... What's portrayed here is not quite accurate. Lands between Madrid and the coast have a really low population density. Population is concentrated in Madrid and then in the coasts. Also, you're not considering that in the last half of the XIXth century Spain lost most of its colonies (Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, etc.) This also had a big impact in the south which was largely benefited by trade with the American territories.
Additionally, decision of developing industries in the north and neglecting it in the south was largely political and sponsored by Fascist dictatorship during XXth century.
industry vs agriculture
I think you got lost in the weeds and overlooked the obvious - the CAPITAL city ie the centre of trade where all the capital is located moved to the north.
This is BS. We're talking about the modern economy not middle ages. The answer is so simple. The north is closer to the EU economic centers where all the money is.
That's why Madrid doesn't like nationalistic movements in Catalonia and The Basque Country... they are in the North.
Its the same in italy and uk. South vs North
In the UK, the roles are reversed.
No Iam Spanish and this video is rancid anachronic and obsolete in 2024 the diferencies no is Big is ridiculuous the South no is hell lol in Italy the diference is big
“ The question is”
Ibiza Balearic Islands is in the Southern Spain but very RICH 🤑🤑 🤑🤑💸💸💸
Before the 1960s Balearic islands were like Sicily in The Godfather II. Very poor underdeveloped regions without industry. Nowadays they are rich due to tourism, but still having a huge mass of poor people working for badly paid jobs (sometimes just available in the good weather months) and high level of early scholar abandon.
@@Darknight73457Lol nothing to compare about Balearics and Sicily, there are much better infrastructures in Balearics and any mafia culture, and much more open-minded ideology than in Sicily 😂
@@f.g.e.3889 Baleares have great infrastructures and "acceptable" level of ocurruption nowadays, but in 1950 they were similar to Sicily.
South of Spain is not poor at all. We should forget about stupid statistics and GDPs that tell nothing at all.
If Andalusia and the South Drag Spain Down, give it back 😂, I think All countries suffer lack of wealth distribution
Seems like the south has more of a Mediterranean culture whereas the north has more of a Northern European culture? Southern Italy and Greece similarly don’t have great economies! Also interesting that southern Spain was where so many South Americans decamped from and brought along their culture to the new world, the estancia system setup in the new world led to outrageous inequality, where I live there were only two families that owned the land where 5 million people now live on!
The north is close to France , the South is close to Morocco.
And your point is?
Likely, economic trade.
Is Morocco or France more highly developed economically?
This is very timely, I'm going to Andalusia and Extremadura this year. I hear it's supposed to be quite nice, however, Granada and Caceres in particular.
Northern Cáceres is a hidden treasure off the more beaten paths (at least by foreign tourists). Granada is amazing too. Sevilla, Córdoba, Cádiz... too much to see in a trip.
La esencia de todo esta en la gente de todo el pais son especiales,no como en el resto de europa
Galicia like 👀👀👀👀👀
And southern mexico, southern USA.
Used to be that way in the Southern US. The US South has a larger economy than US North now. South Carolina has the second highest industrialization of any state after Indiana. Northern and Southern stats for the US have had a huge reversal over the past 50 years.
At 1:40, it's pronounced more like Al-mah-REE-ah, not Al-MAIR-ee-ah
This also explains Latin America.
Not really. Socialism explains Latin America.
@@marcv2648 No it doesn't. This is the kind of answer from someone who doesn't read history. Socialism hardly had a real influence in the economic history of Latin America up to the 21st century.
Yup Spaniards coming here was a mistake
@@jascrandom9855 and spain barely has any influence in latam for the last 2 centuries and you are doing worse than ever now
@@hanyu_dada It did for 3 centuries.
Because of southern admixture
Heat is no friend of economic development. Just compare northern and southern Italy, southern and northern Brazil, southern South America in general vs tropical Latin America, in Asia it’s a bit mixed but still Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia versus Japan, South Korea and China.
Not True. Southern China and Southern India is actually richer than the North. Southern Japan and Korea follow same trend. Same goes for Vietnam.
Southern Germany is richer than Northern Germany, southern England is richer than Northern England. Singapore, the Emirates are rich, Siberia is poor. Please don't study on memes
@@marcoac-sx6lq
Perhaps not the best examples.
Heat can absolutely make a difference but so can extreme cold. It's difficult to operate efficiently in both.
Access to water is important for both agriculture and industry.
Germany, England, Singapore and Emirates are all relatively homogenous when it comes to their internal climates so it's not a factor within their own boarders.
The climate is absolutely not the only factor but it can be an important one.
There's for an example a reason the UAE and Saudi Arabia were extremely sparsely populated before the oil came into the picture.
It has enabled them to make their countries more hospitable for larger populations in regards of cooling, desalination, import of food/goods and of course work opportunities.
UAE went from a population of just 75 000 in 1950 to the current 9,5 million (population increase of 12 556 %). Absolutely bonkers. =P
Saudi Arabia went from 3 million to 37,5 million in the same time period (population increase of 1150 %).
This might all come to an end the day the oil dries up which of course both nations are worried about.
Reverse Korea