This is clearly explained, in just a few paragraphs, by Jaime Terceiro, an illustrious Spanish economist and member of the Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, who in a speech at the end of last year stated:
‘It is repeated over and over that our economy is growing almost four times faster than the European average with an employment level that reaches its maximum values. This is true, but it should also be noted that this growth is mainly achieved through the incorporation of more labour force into the job market, especially foreign labour. Thus, from the last quarter of 2019—the year before the COVID crisis—until the third quarter of this current year 2024, GDP has increased by 6.6%, and employment by 9.3%. These figures alone highlight a decline in productivity per worker.
Meanwhile, per capita income has only grown by 1.4% during the same period, which represents five times less than GDP growth, and real wages have lost purchasing power. Low-productivity sectors such as tourism are not immune to this ‘way of growing’ in our economy, which makes it difficult for us to compete with countries that have higher wage levels.’
