The Spanish economy grew by 0.9 percent in the second quarter of the year, according to advanced data published on Friday by Spain's Statistical Office (INE).

The figure is 0.1 percentage point higher than that of the previous quarter and it is the highest since the third quarter of 2015. So far, Spain's economy has been growing for 15 consecutive quarters.

On a year-on-year basis, the country's economy grew by 3.1 percent, the INE said, which will confirm this data and provide more detailed information about Spain's economic growth on August, 24.

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said that the Spanish economy would "probably" grow by "at least 3 percent" this year.

Rajoy said that, given this data, it could be possible for Spain to reach the 20 million employed people by 2020.

Rajoy highlighted that Spain has been growing for four years and emphasized that thanks to the reforms carried out by the government the country was "more competitive, dynamic and stronger".

"We have problems and some of them are serious, but we can deal with them with a stronger and more recovered country," he said.