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Spaniards leading a national surge in global business and politics, culture and the arts. As the country prepares for a pivotal election, TIME examines its striking creative burst
In its former colonial domains in Latin America, many observers predicted the conquistadores in business suits were going to get their comeuppance with the sharp decline of most of the continent’s economies, especially Argentina’s. Spain’s largest company, Telefónica, invested heavily in the region — in Brazil alone pouring in almost $25 billion in cash and equipment between 1998 and 2002. Along with other big investors, Telefónica caught a cold when Latin America sneezed, but by holding firm, Spain gained more of that added value called presence. “It has been in Spain’s interest to have a great big company it can use as a beachhead in South America,” says Andrew Hazell, a Madrid-based American who has been a consultant for Telefónica and some of its rivals.
One recent report predicts the region’s 19 Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking economies will grow this year on average between 3.5% and 4%, figures to turn European governments green. Most of the other Spanish players there — the banks, power, petroleum, construction companies — are now reporting profits and forecasting more. And this Spanish invasion is generally welcomed by the natives. “We think the Spanish investment in Latin America is very good,” says Demetrio Sodi de la Tijera, a Senator with Mexico’s Partido de la Revolución Democrática (Democratic Revolution Party). “They understand us better, and the fact that we share the same language, values and ideas is a plus.”
The Spanish voice is being heard. Wherever you look — food, film, music, business, architecture, sport — there’s a Spaniard gesticulating
Aznar’s Popular Party talks about a second transition in Spain, the first having been the change to parliamentary democracy after Generalissimo Francisco Franco died in 1975. The new paradigm shift is to a Spain economically strong, confident enough to plant its feet before the big players in Europe — even France and Germany — and form its own alliances, particularly with Britain and the U.S. Justified or not, confidence has filtered down to the point where Spaniards are taking risks, pushing boundaries and showing that supreme sign of autoestima (self-esteem): occasionally laughing at themselves.
Part of this will to take on the world must be to do with willingness to take in the world. Last year 52.5 million tourists entered a country with some 10 million fewer inhabitants. Nature and natural hospitality also make Spain a magnet for those who want to stay. José Luís Suárez, who specializes in real estate at the IESE business school in Madrid, says of the expected 640,500 housing starts for 2003, about 100,000 are for foreigners. “The best weather of the whole Mediterranean and a very good infrastructure place Spain without a clear competitor,” he says.
He forgot to mention the food. Spanish chefs, long underrated beside their French neighbors, are increasingly hailed as right up there with the crème. Catalan Ferran Adrià is regarded by some critics as the best, especially when it comes to inventiveness and food science. He and other Spanish chefs, among them Basque Juan Mari Arzak, showed off some of their skill — and humor — at the International Gastronomic Fusion Summit in Madrid in January. Before packed houses, Arzak used a coffee machine to turn out “lobster espresso,” which at least sounds fluffier than his “ham coffee.” Adrià took a candy-floss machine to make what he calls a mummified version of red mullet, which might follow his “melon caviar” or “mango spaghetti.” “I spend €300,000 a year on research,” Ferra recently told TIME. “I could drive a Ferrari, but I think the money is better used this way.”
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A Meeting Of Minds [Jul. 15, 2002]
European Union leaders meet in Seville to look for common ground on everything
Gaudí Mania [Apr. 26, 2002]
The work of controversial architect Antoni Gaudí is getting a fresh look as Spain marks the 150th anniversary of his birth
Bust In Madrid [Dec. 21, 2001]
A well-established al-Qaeda cell may have been directly involved in planning the U.S. terrorist attacks
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