After travelling many kilometre's, (so tempted to say miles!) around southern Spain, calling along the coast & many inland towns & villages & talking to some people, English, Spanish & "foreign" & physically seeing events as they are unfolding I am realising just why Spain has so many financial difficulties.
I have not been to Spain for over 25 years but have always had it on my mind to live their from about 40 odd years ago.
There are many countries in the world that are really wonderful to live, Thailand, "the Land of Smiles" is truly wonderful & if you can understand & overcome the scams & downright corruption there is little better. (get stopped by the police? make certain that there is money in your passport, it will disappear, the passport returned, so will the police). Parts of the south of USA, some South American countries, New Zealand, even South Africa etc etc. But for various reasons none finally compare with Spain.
Anyway to get back to the main reason of this blog. We left Malaga airport at about 11.30pm I found the A7 to drive Almacanta and immediately noticed the hundreds, nay! thousands even, of incomplete buildings, this caused me to wonder why? (The penny hadn't dropped - we in this sceptered Isle with blinkers on, unheeding the world!)
The A7 as most roads in Spain are truly wonderful, well made finished to a very high standard with many tunnels and superb bridges, or viaducts, to span the mountains and hills. Driving for the many hours across the Provinces & seeing the wonderful roads I thought of the millions, but more probably billions of Euros that they must have cost.
Then there were the thousands of incomplete buildings, some of them into 75% completion which had apparently just seemed totally abandoned. We stopped & looked at one, & someone approached & asked if we wanted to buy this huge incomplete complex. How much? "a euro if you pay off the debts" We quickly left.
Spain was spending money she did not have, she was like a kid with a credit card, buy it today & don't even think what will happen when it max'es out - & then losing his job.
We came across roads which had been started, huge pillers sunk & tunnels started & then just abandoned. There were signs directing you over to the other other side of the carriageway turning a superbly structered motorway into effectively a "B" road.
We spoke to people in the towns off the main way who were sitting on the roadside, the majority had totally lost heart & confidence & just didn't seem to care, the apathy is astounding.
I was now feeling so sorry for the country feeling so frustrated that I could do nothing. Just the size of it belays the mind!
I started to do some figures of my own & stopped when, almost frightened, I reached into the billions of euros. How can this have been allowed to happen & where has the money gone? Just where has the money gone??
I have read the rubbish on this & other sites blamimg Governments & regimes but the fact is it is done, the maxed out credit card must be repaid & I only see that taking 30, 40 or even 50 years if ever!