Spain recovery drives up trade deficit 53%

Spain's trade deficit swelled by more than half in 2014 as economic recovery spurred businesses to import and consumers to buy cars and appliances, the government said Monday. Although exports by Spanish companies reached an annual record, internal consumption caused imports to grow even more strongly, the economy ministry said. This year's deficit figure "comes in a context of rising imports linked to the economic recovery", the ministry said in a statement. The recovery dro