While Spain Struggles, The Basque Region Shines

For decades, most of the news out of Basque country was horrible. Since the late 1960s, this region in northern Spain has been infamous as home to the ETA separatist group, which killed more than 800 people while fighting for Basque independence from Madrid.

But two years ago, the separatist group declared a final cease-fire and the attacks have stopped. Now the country is becoming known for something else: its booming economy.

Machines meld molten steel into train cars at one of the region’s most successful companies, CAF, which makes trains for Amtrak; the Washington D.C., metro system; and light rails in Sacramento, Pittsburgh and Houston.