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In this green city, ancient medieval fortifications and military lands remade into spacious parks provide the Pamplonese with one of Europe's highest densities of green space. The city is known the world over for its summertime San Fermines festivals and ancient bull-running rituals, which bring hundreds of thousands of visitors to Navarre. But the extraordinary festivals immortalized by Ernest Hemingway in The Sun Also Rises are not the true heart of Navarre. Says Jésus Zabalo of SODENA, the Navarre economic development agency: "People know Spain as a place for holidays, fiestas and flamenco. Navarre is just the opposite. We are very serious and very hard working." Tudela, in the southern part of the province, has a population of about 27,000 and is home to such multinationals as SKF and Guardian Industries. Dotted throughout the province are 900 smaller towns and villages, two-thirds of them with fewer than 100 people. The profile of Navarre is thus one of a densely populated center surrounded by large areas of countryscapes, forests and mountains. Despite its diminutive size, Navarre swings plenty of clout among multinational industries and in world markets. Spain is western Europe's wonder boy, emerging as an important economic power in the last 20 years. But by many measures Navarre's economic indicators exceed those of Spain. Navarre's annual growth rate has exceeded European averages for many years. Navarre has the highest level of employment and Gross Interior (Domestic) Product (GDP) among Spain's Autonomous Communities. Steadily advancing, income per capita is now close to the European Union average and tops the Spanish average by over 16 percent. Within Spain, the only areas with higher GDP per capita are the Balearic Islands and Madrid. As a consequence, the Navarese spend freely on household hard goods, cultural promotion and leisure activities and enjoy a sophisticated health care system. If Madrid and Barcelona are Spain's financial and commercial heart, Navarre is its work-callused hands. Industry accounts for 35 percent of employment, one of the highest levels in Spain -- 60 percent above the national average of 22 percent.
Pamplona is Navarre's biggest industrial center, but Alsasua and Tudela have a fair share of firms. In southern Navarre the Ebro River Corridor is one of Spain's most economically active areas. Along this arc following northern Spain's most important waterway from Barcelona to Bilbao are such industrial giants as General Motors in Zaragoza and Guardian Industries in Tudela. In international influence, Navarre again tops Spain. Export-led trade -- 42 percent of GDP -- is double the Spanish rate. Navarre regularly chalks up a positive trade balance. Not so in the rest of Spain, which historically has recorded negative balances. The average contribution of exports and imports is one of the highest among Spain's autonomous communities, reaching 37.6 percent, against a national average of 19.6 percent. Over three-fourths of Navarre's exports feed into the European Economic Community.
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The industrial and technology expansion has been rapid. Just 30 years ago, agriculture contributed more to the economy than industry. By deliberate design, the regional administration focused on industrial development, rightly realizing that this small economy could not survive on services. The administration set up an Industrial Promotion Program in 1964, developed a strategy to attract industry and put in place the proper infrastructure to support industry. Today, dozens of industrial parks, vocational training and technology centers disperse industry throughout the province. The government invested in over four million sq. m. of industrial parks, siting them strategically near communications routes and equipping them with necessary services.