Where would you rank Spain in a league table of the world’s largest economies? Having been in 16th place 10 years ago, it now sits at number eight, according to World Bank research. Last year, Spain also joined an elite group of the 10 countries that boast the most dollar millionaires; according to a wealth report produced by investment bank Merrill Lynch, there are now 148,600 of them.
All in all, Spain’s once-derided economy has comprehensively outperformed expectations in recent years. And the buying power of Spanish companies has consequently rocketed, with their legal advisers profiting nicely from the M&A boom; last year the top 15 Spanish firms were involved in a total of 235 M&A deals, with a gross value of E933bn (£618bn). But will this economic success come at a cost? Observers of Spain’s decade-long boom say wages have failed to keep pace, suggesting that growth of between 3% and 4% is unsustainable.
