Blog post from Robin Whalley.
Recently, I travelled to Spain for a few weeks, basing myself in Barcelona.
On the day that I arrived there was a large demonstration of over 100,000 people protesting about the general economic environment, unemployment, the cost of living and police oppression.
Here are some interesting facts.
The unemployment rate in Spain as a whole is almost 22%, but in some regions, such as Catalonia, the rate is more like 50%.
There is no welfare state. Policemen were everywhere. There are THREE police organisations - La Guardia (Civil Guard), the National Police (La Policia) and the Municipal Police. All are armed.
The inflation rate in Spain is 3.1% but has been as high as 5.3% in July 2008.
In Jnauary 2011, house prices were forecast to fall by 24% over the ensuing 9 months.
Banks are lending up to 107% mortgages with fixed rates of interest for 3 years at 3.5%. Average house prices are slightly less than in New Zealand but with these lending policies is there any wonder they have a problem?
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