Spain's Surging Growth Figures Make It Europe's Star Performer

Arriba! Spanish GDP grew 2% in the year to Q4 2014, up 0.7% quarter on quarter.

Now by anyone else's standards that might seem a little on the modest side. But in the eurozone's current circumstances, that's excellent growth. Spain is the star performer of the big four euro economies.

Its growth rate now outstrips not only Germany, but the UK, where recovery has been much more obvious.

Spain's growth is a contested issue: To critics of eurozone austerity policies, it's a dead cat bounce: A small recovery after a much deeper recession isn't anything to cheer about. Unemployment is above 23%, a Greece-like number.

But it's the star pupil for structural reform fans: It made significant labor market reforms in 2012 to try to trim down its rigid employment laws, so it's touted as proof that hard (and painful) changes to inflexible economic systems pay dividends.

On the other hand, figures just out confirmed that Spanish prices fell 1.5% in December, making it one of the countries in Europe impacted most by Europe. Retail sales are rising at the fastest pace in 11 years, and some of that boom in consumption might just be down to falling prices.