Understandably, the Spanish have had a long affair with the EU. Quite apart from the material aspect of all the bunce received, there’s been the emotional aspect of a the link with the post-Franco nascent democracy. So there was never going to be an abrupt volte-face once things began to go economically sour here. But there has been a marked increase in the number of articles critical of Germany generally and of its less-than-fraternal attitudes to her southern EU partners in particular. Most recently there was an analysis of Germany’s growing relationship with Russia and the negative implications of this for an EU common energy policy. One’s used to seeing this sort of stuff in the British press, of course, and maybe it appears in the French press as well. But it’s an interesting new development here. Evidence of maturity, one could say. As well as irritation.

A couple of interesting Galician statistics recently reported:-
1. Last year the number of civil marriages exceeded that of church marriages for the first time, and
2. More land here has be re-categorised in the last ten years than in all of Galicia’s previous history. I’m guessing this has gone primarily – if not exclusively – from ‘rural’ to ‘urban’. Meaning, of course, that it can now be built on. One wonders why. And how. But one has one's suspicions.

On a road out of Pontevedra they recently built a roundabout to force cars to slow down on a dangerous stretch. It certainly worked at 2.30 on Sunday morning, when a BMW M3 hit it and then bounced off a nearby wall. The police say they suspect the 29 year-old driver was driving somewhat above the 40kph limit. One person was killed and two seriously injured. All that was left of the car was the rear end, from the foto of which I could see its six highly polished exhaust-pipe ends. Which look pretty but are not very useful when you hit a brick wall. Not for the first time, I wondered how a young man gets to own such a car in this ‘poor’ region of Spain.

Which remind me . . . It’s been a regular complaint of hoteliers and restaurant owners over the years here in Galicia that young Spanish people are simply not interested in taking on temporary summer jobs. Hence the number of South Americans working along our coast. It’ll be interesting to see whether tougher times force parents to tell their kids to get out and work, as they routinely do in Anglo-Saxon countries. But I wouldn’t bet on it. I guess it’s more likely unemployed adults will take on the jobs.

I spoke too soon, of course, about the electricity company. This month’s estimate is 50% more than it should be and bears no relation at all to my consumption over the last ten years. If I thought I’d get a decent answer - or any answer at all - I’d ask them how they arrived at it.

Finally . . . My friend Alfie Mittington has dropped me this line on the Spanish economy. I feel he’s a tad extreme with his views and wonder how Moscow, for one, will react. But I must admit to a certain pessimism myself on the prospects for good, sustainable growth here over the next ten years. Possibly the famous 10-20% of the population who work at least as hard and as well as anyone in the world will pull us through. Or perhaps the enormous - and arguably more efficient - black economy will do the trick. Vamos a ver.

Meanwhile . . Heeeere’s Alfie!


Dear Colin,

Only this morning I got around to reading the El Pais article you recommended the other day. I’ll leave aside the question of whether international image, self-image and the ‘feel’ of things is really so important to a country’s prospects. What I winced at, however, is the notion, voiced by most of the spokespeople quoted, that ‘we didn’t do all that badly during the last 30 years’.

This self-congratulatory pep-talk surely goes down well with the ‘collectively depressed’, and up to a point it is, of course, deserved. But the dark sides of this Spanish Wirdshaftswunder do not get mentioned and, since they spell trouble for the decades ahead, it’s not redundant to mention a few of them. Such as:

1. The Spanish Wirdshaftswunder was fuelled, not only by hard work, hard decisions and good investment, but also by billions of annual subsidies out of the pockets of Northern taxpayers, by way of Brussels. As Kanzler Schröder once quipped in response to some grinning self-praise by Mr Zapatero: Give me so much free money every year and I can also build a booming economy out of zilch. Or words to that effect.

2. For all the booming GDP, the tripling average income, the conquering Spanish multinationals and the ever-lasting applause, 20% of Spanish adults AND 25% OF SPANISH CHILDREN live below the poverty threshold. I did not make this up. Neither did the opposition. These are numbers from the UN and other international monitoring bodies. This after 35 years of democracy, 20 years of Socialist rule, and 15 under the True Believers in Trickle-Down Economics! Shameful!

3. In Spain efficiency is below zero; corruption, nepotism and favouritism omnipresent; impunity near total. This one I did make up myself, but I invite anybody to deny it. A country which has no justice, no honesty and no efficiency will never truly thrive.

4. Spanish education is the worst in Europe except for Northern Moldavia or some such operetta republic. It is forever the plaything of ideologues; run by the lazy and the untalented (Ooops! They might throw me in jail for this insult to teachers!); while the simple acquisition of skills and knowledge is treated as a secondary priority. This inspires great hope for Spain’s future in the world of the Knowledge Economy.

5. The Spanish Miracle over the last 30 years was made possible by a blatant slash-and-burn attitude towards the environment. As Greenpeace calculated: on the Spanish coast alone, the equivalent of some 7 soccer-fields are being ploughed under concrete every day. In places like Andalucia and Valencia, the greater part of the coast-line is already ‘developed’. This is not merely appalling; it also means that, once the economy tries to pick up again, you’ll have trouble finding new areas to slash and burn!

So does it make sense to hold your breath until the crisis blows over, and then to go back to business as usual? Personally I feel that a nation not only gets the government it deserves, but also the economy. Spain is ‘living in interesting times’. 

Alfred ‘the Great Provoker’ Mittington

Author of ‘Adam Smith and the Stealth of Nations’