Spain's economic activity in the third quarter was similar to that seen in the second and overall looked better than the performance in the rest of Europe, said Economy Minister Luis de Guindos on Monday.

"The third quarter is very similar to the second quarter and this contrasts with Europe", de Guindos said to reporters in Madrid.

In September the Economy Minister said he expected the Spanish economy to contract by around 0.4 percent in the third quarter.

(Reporting by Blanca Rodriguez; writing by Jesus Aguado, editing by Tracy Rucinski)