FOREWORD

I never thought that I would become a blogger. I was deeply convinced that I had nothing interesting to add to the current flooding of available information. But I changed my mind.

It was in Paris last week when I attended the annual conference of the European trade union related institutes. The meeting was mostly focused on the impact of the economic crisis on EU member states and I spoke on the Spanish situation. I tried to explain as clear as possible the outcome of almost three years of budgetary cuts in the lives of most of Spanish people. I tried to link macroeconomic data –GDP, public debt, bond spread…- with loosing of quality in health or education as well as weakening of workers’ rights.

After dinner, having a coffee, some attendants to the conference told me how astonished they were. They didn’t imagine such an awful situation in Spain nor did they know the large number of demonstrations, strikes o social protests which took place every day in the country. They were convinced that problems were mostly limited to the economic field.

That’s the reason why I’ve decided become a blogger (at this point everybody have already realised how horrible is my English, sorry!). So my goal is to sketch some facts of the Spanish everyday reality beyond GDPs, deficits or public incomes. Small events which may be are the signal of future social fractures. I fear that nowadays not only the welfare state is threatened but the whole democracy. I hope not to be so pessimistic in the future.

Miners on strike attack to the police.
Asturias, June 2012