The Construction Crash

As I walk around the city is appears to me that many shops and businesses on the streets have closed. Empty buildings which used to be banks, shops, restaurants, cell phone dealers etc are some of the places which one notices. Then if you turn your head up to the sky and you look at the unfinished skyscrapers, office blocks and apartment buildings, the gravity of the economic crisis in Spain becomes more apparent. But on the whole, the economic crisis does not seem very evident here. The city is still flooded with people are sitting in bars and eating at restaurants. The nightclubs are still as popular as ever and still charge hefty prices to enter and for consumations (drinks).

It seems to me like the Spanish are reluctant to change they way they are living and are not going to sacrifice things they enjoy. To heck with the economy. Life must go on... the way it was before. Then on the other hand, I have never seen so many homeless people, beggars, drunks and unfortunate people who sit about on pavements, in shop doorways, at  train stations or anywhere else they can find a place to sleep. It is quite surprising to see the level of poverty here. I am told that the poor and homeless here do not want to live in the shelters provided by the government as they do not want to conform to the rules in these shelters - like : no drinking, no drugs etc.

Hospitalet is an area near where I stay. There are many new buildings in the area - complete and incomplete. Some of the buildings boast extremely modern designs but other are not even near complete. So many people lost their jobs and their incomes when all the building work came to a grinding halt. I wonder if these buildings will ever be completed or if they will stand empty for years to come as this economic crash is not set to let up for a while.

Interesting Building in Hospitalet

Building on the left is unoccupied, building in the middle is a hotel.

Not one of these buildings is occupied. Its just a shell. Nothing inside.