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CATALUNYA
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GEOGRAPHY AND DEMOGRAPHY
Catalonia is situated in the north-east corner of the Iberian peninsula, bordered by France and Andorra to the north and the Mediterranean to the east and has an area of 31 930 square kilometres, a population of 6.506.440 inhabitants and a density of 202,77 hab/sq km. The massif of the Pyrenees, whose highest peaks are in Lérida province, divides the region from France. Barcelona is the most populated city of the region and its capital. The region comprises four provinces (Gerona, Tarragona, Lérida and Barcelona), and its official languages are Castilian and Catalán. |
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INFRASTRUCTURE
The region has good communications with central Spain via Aragón and with south and south-east Spain via the Mediterranean motorway, which links up with the southern French motorway system. It also has good air and sea links, the latter mainly via the port of Barcelona being one of the largest in the Mediterranean. A modern high-speed system of trains links Barcelona to Madrid. The airport of Barcelona is a very important national and international stopover, and the Gerona's one is growing quickly. However, the radial model existing in Spain involves some imbalances and difficulties for a higher development of some regions, as is the case of Catalonia. |
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ECONOMY
The region GDP is 19% of the national one. The region's per capita GDP (around 20.183 EUR/hab) is one of the highest in Spain. The structure of Catalonia's gross value-added shows the importance of the industrial sector, which generated 35.5 % of the total gross value added of the region in 2000. In contrast, the agricultural sector is much less important (only 1.7 5 of the gross value added of the region), while the services sector share is slightly under the national average (62.8 % of the gross value added of the region). The region's external trade, both with the rest of Spain and with other countries, shows a good export performance. |
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LABOUR MARKET
The employment rate in the region is around 70.3 % and is higher for men (80.6 %) than for women (59.7 %). The unemployment rate is around 7%, largely under the Spanish national average. The sectoral employment distribution rate is as follows: 63, 16% services, 34,43% industry and 2,44% agriculture. |
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RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
The total spending for research and development is 1,34% of the regional GDP, divided into: 0,44% for the public sector, 0,12% for government, 0,32% for university and 0,88% for the private sector. |
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DATA RELATED TO REGIONAL STRUCTURAL FUNDS MECHANISMS
The region, for the period 2000-2006, belongs to EU objective 2 funds (1,036.4 MEUR from ERDF and 256.7 MEUR from ESF). |
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REGIONAL PROGRAMME OF INNOVATIVE ACTIONS (RPIA)
The Regional Programme of Innovative Actions was approved on the theme “EeuropeRegio: information society for regional development” and had a budget of 6 millions euros. The programme was named "INNOVC@T-SI" and it ran between 2002-2003.
The programme looked to experiment with the use of ICT in SMEs. In particular it aimed to:
- Create telecentres and promotion of telework in rural and remote areas;
- Develop an hyper-map of predictive analyse in economic, social and infrastructure data;
- Create pilot experiences for spreading telecommunication infrastructures and broadband services in Pyrenees areas;
- Create a network of virtual communities of technologist and enterprising.
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