By joining the European Community on Jan. 1, Spain and Portugal have declared an end to centuries of economic isolation. Their tariff walls will gradually be dismantled, and the two countries will take on both the risks and rewards of in creased trade with their neighbors. For an assessment of what this change will mean for the economies of Spain and Portugal, TIME invited Jose Luis Leal, Spain's Minister of the Economy in 1979 and 1980, to the Madrid meeting of its European Board of Economists. His conclusion: Spain and Portugal might suffer a few short-run shocks from E.G. membership but...
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