If your only points of reference are, say, English and French, Spanish might seem unusually phonetic, but most languages are written equally or more phoneticall

If your only points of reference are, say, English and French, Spanish might seem unusually phonetic, but most languages are written equally or more phonetically than Spanish is. English has had a long written tradition with lots of time for pronunciation to diverge from spelling without consistent or successful spelling reforms. Many other languages haven't been written for long enough for these divergences to take place, or have had spelling reforms in the meantime.