Spain's capitalist mixed economy is the 14th largest worldwide and the 4th largest in the European Union, as well as the Eurozone's 4th largest.

The centre-right government of former prime minister José María Aznar worked successfully to gain admission to the group of countries launching the euro in 1999. Unemployment stood at 17.1% in June 2017,[157] below Spain's early 1990s unemployment rate of at over 20%. The youth unemployment rate (35% in March 2018) is extremely high compared to EU standards.[158] Perennial weak points of Spain's economy include a large informal economy,[159][160][161] and an education system which OECD reports place among the poorest for developed countries, along with the United States.[162]