January 24, 2013 - SPAIN - Spain's unemployment rate has climbed to its highest level ever, the Spanish government said Thursday, as a painful recession takes a toll on the debt-stricken nation. The latest official figures show 26.02% of the population without jobs in the last quarter of 2012, with just over 55% of those aged 16 to 24 unemployed.
The unemployment rate is the highest in the country's history, according to the Spanish National Statistics Institute, with the total number of jobless people at 5.97 million. In 2007, before the global economic crisis hit, Spain had 1.9 million people unemployed -- 8.6% of the active population. By this time last year, the number had climbed to 5.2 million. In the eurozone, only Greece, which is facing a sixth year of recession, has a greater proportion of young people out of work. Spain, the fourth-largest economy in the eurozone, is suffering its second recession in three years, and its ailing banking industry has had to draw on the eurozone's bailout fund to stay afloat. But it has stopped short of following in the footsteps of Greece, Ireland and Portugal in requesting a full-blown sovereign bailout. Successive rounds of austerity measures have prompted angry public protests on Spain's streets. -
CNN.
WATCH: Spain's unemployment rate hits 26%.
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Catalan separatist merchandise is displayed at a
stall in Las Ramblas, Barcelona, Spain. (file photo). |
The parliament of Spain’s northeastern region of Catalonia has approved a declaration of the region’s sovereignty as a major step towards its independence from Spain. The non-binding resolution was passed on Wednesday by 85 votes in favor, 41 against, and two abstentions, the Associated Press reported. The declaration, which states that the people of Catalonia have a democratic right to decide on their sovereignty, sets up a potential showdown with the central government in Madrid. Catalonia, one of the most developed regions in Spain, already enjoys a wide degree of autonomy, but the country’s economic crisis has fuelled Catalan nationalism.
Growing Catalan separatism is a huge challenge for Spain's conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who is trying to avoid getting bailed out by its European Union neighbors.
Rajoy says a referendum on secession is unconstitutional and hurts all Spaniards, who are already suffering in a recession with the unemployment rate higher than 25 percent. The approximate 16 billion euros Catalonia pays Madrid in annual taxes is more than it gets back from the central government. In addition, the autonomous region owes around 40 billion euros in debt, which has forced regional authorities to introduce spending cuts in healthcare and education. Many Catalans believe their economy would be more prosperous on its own, complaining that a high portion of their taxes goes to the central government in Madrid. Catalonia, which consists of Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona, accounts for one-fifth of Spain’s economic output. Spain’s 17 autonomous regions manage their own budgets and are responsible for health and education policies and other areas of public spending. Battered by the global financial downturn, Spain’s economy collapsed into recession in the second half of 2008, taking with it millions of jobs. -
Press TV.
