Spain and the European Union-Russia Conflict : the impact of the sanctions

Political and diplomatic relations are fluid, but they are neither special nor truly strategic for either of the two countries. In fact, Spain does no appear to receive any significant benefit from its position. Until now, the impact of the EU-Russia sanctions on Spain has been moderate and highly concentrated in the agricultural sector. However, the consolidation and extension of the sanctions could have significantly negative effects, particularly in the fields of energy, railways and advanced technologies. Since the beginning of the last decade, Spanish exports to Russia grew continually until a peak value of 2.84bn in 2008. Though Russian tourism only accounts for 2.7% of total arrivals…