Spain .. "In huge crisis"

luvpump

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9232293/Spain-in-huge-crisis-as-unemployment-hits-record-levels.html

Yet another nail in the coffin of the Euro, but how many more nails will it take to end it ? .. Could this happen in the u.k ?

shortchanged_2

Spain is now a greater risk to the Eurozone than Greece ever was.

Spains economy is 5 times that of Greeces. Lets hope the Germans and the IMF have enough in the kitty to bail them out.

I wonder if this is why the IMF has asked for a further 10 billion from the UK. :think:

Thrugelmir

Sitting here in the UK we shouldn't be smug.

Our own recovery and future prosperity depends heavily on the Eurozone. If the EZ is in recession then the odds stack heavily in favour of us being caught up in the storm as well.

coastline

What we dont know about Spain is the make up of their adult population....just like here if you dont know where to look...but one of the benefits of the internet is its now at your fingertips..
So Spain has an unemployment rate of 25%...but this may include some of the parts we split into groups...
The UK...we have 2.5m on the dole...1.5m are claiming money..
We have over 3m on sickness benefit...we have 2m on further education...uni etc ...which is up from a few hundred thousand in a decade...
We have millions early retired on final salary pension...which wont be happening in the future as these schemes are being phased out..
So back to our real figures not working...nearly 10 million people under 65 yo...30% of the adult population...published every month...

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/april-2012/index.html

Thrugelmir

coastline wrote: »

What we dont know about Spain is the make up of their adult population....just like here if you dont know where to look...but one of the benefits of the internet is its now at your fingertips..

Was in central Spain last autumn. The situation is pretty dire. Obviously so. The one thing that struck me was the number of small businessess up for sale. Obviously struggling just to make a living wage.

michaels

What is amazing is how well a lid is being kept on social unrest / rises in political influence of extremist parties.

coastline

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Was in central Spain last autumn. The situation is pretty dire. Obviously so. The one thing that struck me was the number of small businessess up for sale. Obviously struggling just to make a living wage.

Yes I heard a few years ago...property for sale...and the shutters down..
A guy I know who ran a pub / restuarant has returned home...the tourists arent spending like they did before..

coastline

michaels wrote: »

What is amazing is how well a lid is being kept on social unrest / rises in political influence of extremist parties.

The longer things go on worldwide the more unrest we'll have...people arent afraid today to speak out....I can see the army needed in some places...hopefully we'll have a solution shortly...but it doesnt seem as though any governing body have an alternative plan at the moment..

Thrugelmir

coastline wrote: »

Yes I heard a few years ago...property for sale...and the shutters down..
A guy I know who ran a pub / restuarant has returned home...the tourists arent spending like they did before..

I was in non tourist areas. Retail is still very much independents rather than chains. So it was bakers, florists, cafes etc.

A._Badger

coastline wrote: »

The longer things go on worldwide the more unrest we'll have...people arent afraid today to speak out....I can see the army needed in some places...hopefully we'll have a solution shortly...but it doesnt seem as though any governing body have an alternative plan at the moment..

I have always said that one of the things we need to bear in mind before handing over so much self-determination to our EU 'partners' is how recent and fragile is the relationship to democracy of so many of them.

Easily within living memory, many were dictatorships of one form or another and many of their serving politicians and officials were either direct participants in totalitarian governments, or were raised under systems which they might not regard with the contempt most Britons would.

You don't need to be 100 to remember Spain under fascist rule, or Greece under the generals. Nor do you need to be a Jeremiah to see that sort of thing happening again.

vivatifosi

I wonder if this could lead to further calls for regional independence for the Basque Country (historically the richest region of Spain) and Catalunya: also historically one of the four richest regions and with better employment prospects than many areas as it does have a fairly strong manufacturing base.

There's also an interesting parallel with Scotland, given that the two largest banks in Spain historically have been Santander and Bilbao (both Basque HQ'd).