MADRID, Spain—Derided as “Club Med” nations during the European debt crisis 15 years ago, the economies of Spain, Greece and Portugal are now outperforming their northern peers thanks to a rebound in tourism.
The three nations had to endure harsh austerity measures in the early 2010s imposed by their European Union partners, who were quick to blame their fiscal laxity and lack of competitiveness for their economic woes.
But “the situation has changed” since the Covid-19 pandemic ended, said Zsolt Darvas, an economist at Bruegel, a Brussels-based think tank.
“Today, those countries are growing faster than the European Union average, they are no longer seen as black sheep.”
Spain’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 2.5 percent last year, while Portugal’s economy grew by 2.3 percent and Greece by 2.0 percent. AFP
