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Sunday, April 12, 2009

One Solo Crane

Lonely Crane


Once upon a time, not very long ago our skyline was a very busy place. One could have turned 360 degrees and everywhere you would have seen construction cranes dotting the horizon. You could have been forgiven for thinking that they were tv antennas. Here in Spain, as a measure of how hard the economy has fallen our skyline is all but bereft of the familiar sight of those giants standing watch over us.

The building boom that began ahead of the change to the euro gathered pace and had the beneficial effect of taking all those unemployed people off the streets. Spain had never been so safe for instead of breaking into homes men have had legitimate work.

Then, a little Building Society in England when bust, leaving depositors lining up at its doors demanding their money. Little did anyone know that that was the thin edge of the wedge. Bankers have been quick to point fingers at the United States, declaring that the problems started there. Certainly the scope of the crisis there is enormous, but how did it involve institutions around the world?

The construction industry was the engine that drove Spain hard. Spaniards came to realize benefits they could not have dreamed of. Suddenly everyone was driving a top of the line car, with summer and winter homes. The top jobs were reserved for locals, and the ladies were turned out in only the best.

Pop! Bang!! Boom!!!

That was the sound the Spanish balloon made as it burst, making for the worst statistic within Europe. So far, four million are out of work. Many foreigners who came to get a piece of the pie have simply returned home. However, those illegal would-be immigrants still come in droves hoping against hope that Spain holds a better life them. A few do succeed and the word gets back home and that brings even more to place an ever-heavier burden on social services. Somehow the word needs to get to Africa that there really isn’t anything better here for them. The special shame is that so many lose their lives along the way in vain.

As I write this the downward spiral continues at an increasing pace. The knock-on effect is taking its toll as one after another companies are forced to close. One way we know when things are on an upward spiral is by seeing the new shops and restaurants and bars that open offering new and exotic experiences. Fancy design furniture shops; travel agencies send people farther afield, and fashions soar in their imagination. Those things are gone now, or well on their way out.

I passed a young woman sitting on a doorstep recently. I have never seen such despair up close as she showed me. She looked up and our eyes met and I was shaken by what I saw. I have no real idea of what her problem was. It need not have been money, or even the effects of illegal drugs, I only know that I have been seriously affected. I think she was saying with her eyes that she wanted to die, there and then.

It’s very difficult to say how long these sad times might last. There is so much over inventory in ready-to-move-in houses that have absolutely no buyers, and the promise of possible buyers recedes with every new person laid off. Now would perhaps be a good time for young people to consider joining the military, and the government might consider an aggressive programme of road and bridge building. The traditional cornerstones of the economy are in serious trouble, and the day that they emerge into the light will probably be a long way into the future.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael