Spanish construction sector activity fell by 0.7% on a monthly basis in July, compared to a slight increase of 0.2% for the EU as a whole, according to the latest figures from Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office.

July’s 0.7% fall in Spanish construction output is a big improvement on June, when it fell by 3.1%.

Nor was Spain the weakest in the EU for construction activity in July. Falls were bigger in the UK (2.7%) and Germany (2%).

But over 12 months, construction activity in Spain has fallen far more than in any other EU country, with Spanish building down 15.9% compared to the EU average of 1.5%.

The only other EU countries where construction has also fallen since July 2007 are Germany (-2.3%) and Portugal (-1.4%), in both cases posting falls significantly milder than in Spain.

Whilst Spain’s construction boom is clearly over, the same cannot be said for all other EU countries. Construction booms are now in full swing in new EU members such as Rumania (+28.4%), Slovenia (+17.9%), Bulgaria (+16.4%) and Poland (+16.1%).