'No Job Land' film shows Spain's crisis misery
A seven-minute video documenting the devastating effects of the economic crisis on three families in Madrid has become a hit on internet social networks despite painting a bleak picture of life in Spain.
Freelance journalists Olmo Calvo, Eva Filgueira, and Gabriel Pecot produced the clip which follows the stories of three people affected by Spain’s high level of unemployment.
Out-of-work residents of the Spanish capital explain how their families rely on handouts to help them survive now that their benefits have run out and no work is available.
One of them, unemployed welder Enrique Gonzalez, explains that his income of €820 per month doesn’t cover his €905-per-month mortgage payments let alone the monthly bills.
The families are worried about being evicted, feeding their children and paying for basics such as clothes and medicine.
But rather than sit at home feeling helpless, they join a protest group and set up tents on a city park.
Their demands for “social justice and a decent job with decent rights” are heard, but only briefly; police swoop on the site and evict the protesters after just four days.
The video includes footage of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, currently embroiled in corruption scandals in which he is accused of having received thousands of euros in illegal payments, claiming that the crisis is coming to an end.
His words, “Dear friends, this year will be better than last but worse than the following, and pessimism is in retreat in our nation,” are contrasted with images of homeless people sleeping in the streets and looking for food in bins.
More than a quarter of Spaniards, and more than half the people aged 16-25, are currently unemployed.
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Freelance journalists Olmo Calvo, Eva Filgueira, and Gabriel Pecot produced the clip which follows the stories of three people affected by Spain’s high level of unemployment.
Out-of-work residents of the Spanish capital explain how their families rely on handouts to help them survive now that their benefits have run out and no work is available.
One of them, unemployed welder Enrique Gonzalez, explains that his income of €820 per month doesn’t cover his €905-per-month mortgage payments let alone the monthly bills.
The families are worried about being evicted, feeding their children and paying for basics such as clothes and medicine.
But rather than sit at home feeling helpless, they join a protest group and set up tents on a city park.
Their demands for “social justice and a decent job with decent rights” are heard, but only briefly; police swoop on the site and evict the protesters after just four days.
The video includes footage of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, currently embroiled in corruption scandals in which he is accused of having received thousands of euros in illegal payments, claiming that the crisis is coming to an end.
His words, “Dear friends, this year will be better than last but worse than the following, and pessimism is in retreat in our nation,” are contrasted with images of homeless people sleeping in the streets and looking for food in bins.
More than a quarter of Spaniards, and more than half the people aged 16-25, are currently unemployed.
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