Economic Situation in Spain

17 Sept 2011
Today, a Fulbrighter from Madrid came for a visit! Her school is currently on strike and won't be starting up again until Thursday next week. The secondary schools in Madrid are striking because of educational cuts made. As of today, 19,000 teachers are protesting from 320 different schools. If you can read Spanish, check out this article in El mundo: http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2011/09/20/madrid/1316484346.html.
The last 6 months have been particularly tough for Spaniards. In May, a large scale (peaceful) protest broke out in Spain--beginning in Madrid and spreading to other major cities. Organized largely by social networking sites, civilians (belonging to various political parties) came together to protest against the current government and their failure to do anything about rising unemployment (21%--one of the highest in the EU), political corruption, etc. While the protests have not had the effect that Spaniards would like, it did unite Spaniards of all different backgrounds and show that people are fed up with the political system.
In the last month, the Pope visited Spain--which sparked more protests in Madrid. Hosting the Pope and World Youth Day has cost Spaniards $71 million--though the Vatican says that much of this cost is covered by pilgrim registration fees. Given the current economic situation in Spain (like Greece and Portugal), hosting this event angered many Spaniards--who would rather spend that money helping those who are unemployed. These protests even reached as far as Alicante. While out walking around Alicante, I saw some grafitti that said "Yes to the pope's visit." However, you could clearly see where the "no" had been crossed out.

On a more positive note, while our Fulbright friend from Madrid visited, we took her to see some of the highlights in Alicante. First, we went to the Mercado (market). This is a gigantic farmer's market! It runs every day (except Sunday), and people come in with fresh fruit, vegetables, breads, meat, fish. We bought a little snack (an orange and a pastry) to take with us to munch on at the beach!

We spent a couple hours at the beach--enough time for my back to get burned! Then, we had to take our Fulbright friend to the train station! While waiting for her train, we did a little shoe shopping and I actually managed to find a pair of shoes that I liked! I've been in desperate need of some shoes because all the shoes I brought from the US either hurt my feet or make my feet feel too warm for Alicante. What I really needed was some sandals!