Environment at a Glance: Spain
Table of contents
The OECD Environment at a Glance Country Notes are designed to support transparent, evidence-based information. They provide concise and descriptive overview of progress across major environmental issues, including climate, air quality, freshwater resources, waste and the circular economy, and biodiversity conservation. They feature selected environmental indicators, building on harmonised datasets available on OECD Data Explorer. Differences with national data sources can occur due to delays in data treatment and publication, or due to different national definitions and measurement methods. See the Reader’s guide to the Environment at a Glance Country Notes for more information.
Spain covers 506 000 km2 and has a coastline of around 8 000 kilometres, making it one of Europe’s largest countries. Until 2008, its economy was among the most dynamic in the OECD. During the peak years, tourism and construction contributed more than one-quarter of gross domestic product (GDP) and one fifth of employment. This underpinned a large housing bubble and left the economy highly vulnerable to the global financial crisis of 2008-09. Following the implementation of a recovery programme, growth resumed in 2013. The economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic hit the economy hard in 2020, but it recovered in 2022. However, unemployment, inequality and poverty rates remain relatively high.
Population distribution is uneven, with high concentrations around Madrid and along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts. Spain’s national territory includes about 85% of the Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic, and the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in northern Africa.
Spain is characterised by strong geographical and climatic contrasts. Highlands, mountains and plateaus predominate on the mainland; 58% of the country is over 600 metres in altitude, making it the second highest country in Europe after Switzerland. About one-third of the country has an oceanic climate with frequent rainfall such as Galicia, but some areas including Andalucia regularly face severe drought.
Spain is one of the biodiversity hotspots in the world and among the most biodiverse countries in the European Union (EU). It includes four of the nine European biogeographic regions, and Spanish seas belong to the world’s large marine ecosystems.
Spain is well endowed in mineral resources, including iron, copper, lead, tin, quartz and salts, which have long supported economic development, notably in the Basque Country and Asturias. However, it has limited domestic energy resources, although it has important coal deposits.
Spain’s real GDP growth, energy supply and production-based (i.e. produced within the territory) carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have been growing at about the same rate during the first half of the 2000-10 decade. Following the 2008 financial crisis, energy consumption and production-based CO2 emissions have been relatively decoupled from GDP growth. Emissions have declined also due to the phase-out of coal, increasing use of renewable energies and improvements in energy efficiency. The per person production-based and demand-based (or footprint, i.e. including emissions incorporated in imported goods) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remain well below the OECD averages, and have steadily declined since 2007.
Following economic and demographic developments, total GHG emissions increased between 1990 and 2005. They then declined by 39.1% during 2005-2024. This reduction was driven primarily by changes in the energy mix, particularly the growing share of renewable electricity generation. In contrast, emissions from transport, industrial processes and agriculture increased in 2023-24. As of 2024, transport remained the largest emitting sector, accounting for 33.8% of total emissions (excluding the land use, land-use change and forestry – LULUCF - sector), followed by energy industries (13.8%), agriculture (12.4%) and manufacturing industries (12.3%). The LULUCF sector remained a net carbon sink, largely due to carbon sequestration by forests. As in most countries, CO2 was the dominant greenhouse gas, representing 77.9% of total emissions, followed by methane (15.6%) (Spain, 2026).
Spain’s energy mix is still dominated by fossil fuels, although the share of coal has been significantly reduced and replaced with renewables in the past decades. The share of renewables in energy supply and electricity production are above the OECD averages.
Emissions of most major air pollutants have been declining since 2000, but progress has been slower after the 2008-09 economic crisis. Emission intensities per unit of GDP and per person are lower than the OECD average.
Population exposure to PM2.5 concentrations is above the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of 5 µ/m3. Regional variation in exposure is high.
Although pressure on renewable freshwater resources has decreased in the past decades, water stress remains medium-high, with gross abstractions representing 29% of renewable freshwater resources in 2020. Abstractions per person remain among the highest in the OECD area, mainly due to agricultural irrigation. Abstractions per person for public supply is also high by OECD standards.
Almost 90% of Spanish households are connected to a wastewater treatment plant. Although the share of tertiary (advanced) treatment has increased considerably since 2000, it remains relatively low (about 60% in 2023).
Generation of municipal waste1 has remained relatively stable in the last decade, below the OECD average. Nevertheless, still almost half of municipal waste is sent to landfill.
Domestic material consumption per person has declined following the 2008 economic crisis but slightly increased since 2012. On the other hand, material productivity has increased and surpassed the OECD average, and Spain is developing policies to support a shift towards a circular economy. Like most OECD countries, non-metallic minerals make up the bulk of materials consumed, and the material footprint is higher than domestic material consumption.
Spain is one of the biodiversity hotspots in the world and considered one of the most biodiverse countries in the EU. Spanish coastal waters possess a high level of biological diversity, with the southern Iberian Peninsula being especially important in terms of endemic species. The country’s geographical diversity is extremely varied, consisting of landscapes and ecosystems that include intertidal zones, beaches, cliffs, dune systems, salt marshes, saline steppes, etc. Spain also covers four biogeographical regions (Mediterranean, Atlantic, Alpine, Macaronesian), comprising habitats that have favoured the development of a great assortment of vegetation types, to which a variety of fauna communities is associated. The country is also rich in freshwater habitats. Spain has the highest number of vascular plants (8 000-9 000 species) among European and Mediterranean countries. Its rate of endemism is between 20-25%. Spain also has the highest incidence of threatened endemic flora (CBD).
Spain has almost reached the 2030 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) target (under the Convention on Biological Diversity) to protect at least 30% of land area, although the share of protected areas designated under strict management objectives (IUCN categories I and II) is low2. More efforts are needed to achieve the same target for marine and coastal areas.
This section shows selected policy instruments based on data available for most OECD countries and does not provide a complete overview of countries’ policy mix to achieve their environment-related objectives. Interpretation should consider the country specific context.
Environmentally related tax revenue as percentage of GDP has been fluctuating around 1.5-1.6%, close to the OECD average but below the OECD Europe average. It stood at 1.5% in 2024. As in many countries, most receipts come from taxes on energy products and, to a lower extent, on motor vehicles’ purchase and use.
In total, 68.9% of GHG emissions in Spain were subject to a positive Net Effective Carbon Rate3 (ECR) in 2023. Explicit carbon prices in Spain consist of emissions trading system (ETS) permit prices and carbon taxes, which cover 33.8% of GHG emissions in CO2 equivalent. With roughly 31.4% of total GHG emissions, coverage is largest for ETS. Fuel excise taxes, an implicit form of carbon pricing, covered 44.1% of emissions in 2023. Direct fossil fuel subsidies cover 4.6% of emissions. About 58% of GHG emissions have a Net ECR above EUR 60 per tonne of CO2 equivalent, a mid-range estimate of current carbon costs. Net ECRs are highest in the road transport sector, which accounts for 26.7% of the country’s total GHG emissions. The Net ECR is on average negative in the buildings sector. The buildings sector accounts for 8.5% of GHG emissions (OECD, 2024).
The share of environmentally related government research and development (R&D) budget in total public R&D is quite high by international comparison, at about 3%. Furthermore, renewables accounted for about half of public energy research, development and demonstration (RD&D) during 2008-16, although the share drastically decreased in 2020-22.
In terms of environmentally related inventions, Spain remains a marginal player. Its trend follows quite closely the OECD area trend, with a growth during 2000-12 and a flattening of the trend afterwards.
Spain approved a new Law on Cooperation for Sustainable Development and Global Solidarity in 2023, which aligns its priorities with the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The law gives legal status to Spain’s commitment to allocate 0.7% of gross national income (GNI) to official development assistance (ODA) by 2030. Spain decentralised development co-operation represents 10.2% of Spanish ODA. Spain’s total ODA increased in 2025, representing 0.27% of GNI. Priorities include climate change, water and sanitation. The share of bilateral ODA for climate change (mostly mitigation) has fluctuated during the past decade but has increased considerably during the latest years, to reach 17.5% in 2023-24. The share for biodiversity has also increased considerably, to reach 20.1% in 2023-24, a very high value by Development Assistance Committee (DAC) standards (OECD, 2026).
References
CBD. (n.d.). Country profiles: Spain. Retrieved from https://www.cbd.int/countries/profile/?country=es#facts
OECD. (2024). Pricing Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2024: Gearing Up to Bring Emissions Down. OECD Series on Carbon Pricing and Energy Taxation, OECD Publishing, Paris. doi:10.1787/b44c74e6-en
OECD. (2026). Development Co-operation Profiles. OECD Publishing, Paris. Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/development-co-operation-profiles_04b376d7-en/spain_63702c87-en.html
Spain. (2026). Documento de inventario nacional gases de efecto invernadero. Ministerio para la transición ecológica y el reto demográfico. Retrieved from https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/es-nid-edicion-2026.pdf
Further reading
IEA (2021), Spain 2021 Energy Policy Review, IEA Energy Policy Reviews, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9aecb5bb-en.
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← 1. Data show a break in time series in 2004 and 2014: (1) Since 2004, the figure for municipal waste generated was computed after subtracting the amounts corresponding to (municipal) construction and demolition wastes and sludges (7% in 2004) ; (2) Before 2013, recycling data include separate collection of biodegradable kitchen and canteen waste and biodegradable garden and park waste treated in composting plants.
← 2. Notice that data is provisional, pending forthcoming updates.
← 3. Effective Carbon Rate (ECR) is the sum of fuel excise taxes, carbon taxes and tradeable permits that effectively put a price on carbon emissions. The Net ECR equals the ECR minus fossil fuel subsidies that decrease pre-tax fossil fuel prices.