According to AETIC, a trade group for the electronics, IT and telecommunications sector, electronic equipment and component manufacturing in Spain recently fell by 13 percent. Growth in the industrial sector was sluggish at best. Philips Electronics Ltd., Samsung Electronics Co., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., automobile interior supplier Lear, telecommunications equipment maker Lucent, and Benetton SpA recently closed or announced plans to close some of their Spanish factories. Factory closures and layoffs have affected almost every Spanish province, whether rich or poor, industrial or rural. Catalonia, however, has experienced the worst of the closures, said Maite Costa, the Catalan government's secretary of industry and energy. "We are facing an authentic failure having maintained a production model without investing in technology," argued Antoni Ferrer of labor union UGT. Lower costs and also better financial and logistical conditions - i.e. greater competitiveness - have driven companies to places such as North Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia. Ironically, these are the same reasons that companies originally settled in Spain over the past 20 years.

This is just a sample of what you'll find in the complete Spain guide.