Data from INE They do not leave much room for doubt: the R&D effort is going backwards at all levels in Spain. Certainly daunting. Global spending on research and development decreases in all sectors and in all Autonomous Communities, and it is public spending (the administration’s commitment) that does so most strongly. Only the AC of the Basque Country, despite the decline it is experiencing, is at average European levels. The rest presents a differential that is clearly worrisome. Locked in austerity and disinvestment, few rulers seem to see the importance of betting on a different future.
Today the data from the Active Population Survey in Spain (also published by the INE) have also been published, showing for the umpteenth time the worrisome employment situation and perhaps its media impact is making this other variable go unnoticed, if possible more significant than face, precisely, the future ability to get ahead and the model of social and productive system that is pursued. The R&D effort is a kind of leading indicator of future development. And it certainly looks pretty bad. R&D press release: here
EPA press release: here