Spain approaches the end of 2014 with encouraging signs that activity is picking up and that the imbalances which aggravated the crisis are on the way to being corrected. At the same time, it would be unwise to ignore the huge challenges ahead if the country is to move to a sustainable, intelligent development model.

The goal is to adopt a pattern of progress that combines, in balanced fashion, the following three vectors:

• Growth anchored on competitiveness and also protective of the environment.
• A job creation pace capable of absorbing the enormous build-up in unemployment.
• Public policies geared to tackling the gravest risks of social exclusion while delivering high-quality services.

These are tough challenges, but only by meeting them can we hope to win back society’s trust in the possibility of collective improvement, seriously damaged in these years of economic and institutional crisis.

The 2014 BBVA Foundation-Ivie Report, fourth in the series initiated in 2011, sets out to define the key features of this new development model, to examine the obstacles in the way of its objectives and to identify levers that can aid progress.