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España tiene una tasa de paro muy alta.

España tiene una tasa de paro muy alta.
Spain has a very high unemployment rate.
From Lesson 434:The economy in the news (la tasa, la reforma, la banca)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about España tiene una tasa de paro muy alta.

Why is paro used here instead of desempleo for unemployment?
Both words mean unemployment, but paro is much more commonly used in everyday Spanish in Spain, especially in standard phrases like tasa de paro (unemployment rate) or estar en paro (to be unemployed). In Latin America, desempleo is usually preferred.
Could I use grande instead of alta to say the rate is big?
No, in Spanish, rates (tasas), prices (precios), and levels (niveles) are described as high (altos) or low (bajos), never big (grandes) or small (pequeños). Since tasa is a feminine noun, it must be alta.
Does tasa always mean rate in the sense of a percentage?
It frequently means rate in statistical contexts, like tasa de natalidad (birth rate) or tasa de paro. However, tasa is also heavily used to mean a fee or administrative tax paid to the government or an institution for a specific service, such as a university enrollment fee (tasas universitarias).
Why isn't there a definite article before España, like La España?
In Spanish, most countries do not take a definite article unless the name includes a political title like Republic or Kingdom (such as el Reino Unido), or if the country is being specifically modified with an adjective or time period (like la España moderna). Unmodified, it is simply España.

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