2007
Spain began to recover from recession in the mid 1990s. The country was confronted with extremely high unemployment, made worse by its rigid labour market and the return of large numbers of Spanish workers from recession hit countries such as France, Switzerland and Germany. By the late 1990s economic growth was strong, employment grew strongly, although unemployment remained high, as people returned to the job market and confidence in the economy returned. The last years of the 1990s saw property values begin to increase.
Spain joined the Eurozone in 1999. Interest rates dropped and the property boom accelerated. By 2006 property prices had doubled from a decade earlier. During this time construction of apartments and houses increased at a record rate and immigration into Spain increased into the hundreds of thousands a year as Spain created more new jobs than the rest of Eurozone combined. Along with the property boom, there was a rapid expansion of service industry jobs. By 2006, some regions, like Catalonia the Basque country and Madrid, were on the brink of full employment.
Read more about this topic: Economic History Of Spain, Boom 1997