Stop Press - The Recession is Over

Today was the day we woke up to the news that the recession is over! Hmmmm - it conjures up many bizarre visuals: people rushing around telling each other, shouting it from the rooftops, queuing to get in the shops and spend, spend, spend. In reality will there be any change - no, I am sure not; certainly not in the short term.

Now dont get worried I am not about to go into financial analyst speak or political mode I just wonder about these things sometimes.

When we arrived in Spain in 2004 my research had been sketchy to say the least. I had presumed a few months off and then the nice little part time job that paid all the bills (after all they were not going to be substantial were they - its Spain - cheap to live). I wasn't even fussy - I was happy to work 2-3 full days a week or every morning for 3 or 4 hours. It was such a cosy little notion and I spent many months before coming to Spain daydreaming about it.

Lucky really that I hadn't a clue about the reality here in Andalucia. I think the reality is that this part of Spain has been suffering a bit of a recession for many years. Unemployment is high and I found that when I did go on a Spanish on-line job site that there were literally hundreds of applicants for each job no matter what the job was.

So the world recession only served to make a hard life harder for the Spanish in the south of the country. For instance our many Spanish neighbours. One pair of brothers have a lorry each (one lives nearly opposite and the other lives just down the track) and they delivered fruit and veg. I used to groan when at 5am the one lorry used to grind up the track past us and the big metal gates of the one opposite opened up with a loud rumble. Now I feel sad for them because there is no 5am noise or rarely as the two men have no work (although I don't miss the wake up call). They both have families and I wonder how they manage. Another family have the husband out of work for nearly a year and his wife works 3 jobs and looks after her parents one of whom has cancer and runs our water community (a thankless task if ever there was one).

So for the UK Recession has meant loss of jobs through downsizing or companies folding but they have had the good times and the good times will come back. I wonder how much things will change here when the recession is over in Spain!

That's it - sorry if it got a bit political!

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