Spain Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

pollution of the Mediterranean Sea from raw sewage and effluents from the offshore production of oil and gas and drought are negatively impacting water quality and quantity nationwide; air pollution; deforestation; desertification

Environment - international agreements

party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Climate

temperate; clear, hot summers in interior, more moderate and cloudy along coast; cloudy, cold winters in interior, partly cloudy and cool along coast

Land use

agricultural land: 54.1% (2018 est.)

arable land: 24.9% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 9.1% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 20.1% (2018 est.)

forest: 36.8% (2018 est.)

other: 9.1% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 81.6% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 0.24% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

note: data include Canary Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla

Revenue from forest resources

0.02% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 9.34 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 244 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 36.94 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 20.151 million tons (2015 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 3,393,428 tons (2015 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 16.8% (2015 est.)

Major rivers (by length in km)

Tagus river source (shared with Portugal [m]) - 1,006
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 4.56 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 5.5 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 18.96 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

111.5 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Geoparks

total global geoparks and regional networks: 16

global geoparks and regional networks: Basque Coast UNESCO; Cabo de Gata-Níjar; Cabo Ortegal; Central Catalonia; Courel Mountains; El Hierro; Granada; Lanzarote and Chinijo Islands; Las Loras; Maestrazgo; Molina-Alto; Origens; Sierra Norte de Sevilla; Sierras Subbéticas; Sobrarbe-Pirineos: Villuercas Ibores Jara (2023)