Spain, because of the varied climate of her several parts, is capable
of producing almost all the edible fruits and grains known to both
temperate and tropical regions. Though there are some desert areas, a
great portion of the soil is abundantly productive, and were
agriculture pursued with the same skill as it is in other
countries--in England and Scotland, for example--Spain would be one of
the richest agricultural regions on the globe. But not only is
agriculture very inefficiently pursued, but the country is also
sparsely inhabited (only 90 to the square mile, as compared with 270
to the square mile in Italy) and only one fourth of it is cultivated.
As a consequence only those products are raised in Spain in which,
because of her advantages of climate, etc., she has least competition.
The principal commercial agricultural product is WINE, the vine being
cultivated in every province in the kingdom. Six hundred million
gallons of wine are raised annually, which is more in value than the
total quantity of grain raised. Only one fifth of this, however, is
exported (principally to France), and even of this the greater portion
is wine of inferior grade, used for mixing. The remaining agricultural
products of Spain exported are chiefly oranges, lemons, grapes,
raisins, nuts, olives, and onions. Of these over $15,000,000 worth go
to England annually. England and France, indeed, enjoy the great bulk
of Spain's foreign trade, but of late years Germany and the United
States are taking a small share of it. The MINERAL WEALTH of Spain is
enormous, and as the mines are often controlled by foreign capital
they are worked with energy. The iron ore of the Basque provinces of
the north and the copper ore of the district about Cadiz have been
renowned for ages. Thirty-five million dollars' worth of copper, iron,
lead, silver, and quicksilver are exported to Great Britain annually.
There are manufactures of cottons, woollens, linens, and silks, but
none of these can be said to be very prosperous, although during the
last twenty-five years, owing to a high protective tariff, the
quantity of raw material used in textile manufacture in Spain has
doubled. Spain produces excellent wool, but her woollen manufacture is
unable to use it all and one fourth is exported. Similarly, although
Spain is especially rich in iron-fields, she gets about one third of
the hardware she needs for her own consumption from England. The total
area of Spain's COAL-FIELDS is estimated at 5500 miles, but hitherto
little coal has been mined, partly because it is somewhat
inaccessible. Four million dollars' worth of coal is annually imported
from England. Whole mountains of ROCK SALT exist, but little is mined
and none is exported, although bay salt obtained in the south is
exported to the fishermen of Cornwall. Another important export is
ESPARTO GRASS, which is sent to England to be used in paper-making.
And still another is CORK, although Portugal, which adjoins Spain, is
the chief seat of the cork-producing industry. MADRID (470,000) is the
capital and largest city. BARCELONA (250,000) is the chief seaport of
Spain and the chief manufacturing centre. VALENCIA (145,000), in the
southeast, and SEVILLE (135,000) and MALAGA (115,000), in the south,
are the principal seats of the fruit export trade of the country.
CADIZ (65,000), Spain's principal naval seaport, has a famous export
trade in sherry wines. The total population of Spain is 17,500,000.
[Illustration: Spain compared in size with California.]