How the world sees Greece
Opinion: Finally, Greece can look forward to the future Montreal Gazette Greece has turned the page: the Dec. 13 official decision by the eurozone finance ministers, giving the green light for the disbursement of the “mega tranche” of 52 billion euros, constitutes a very important step in the process of restoring confidence ... |
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 Press TV | Greek train operators strike over wage cuts, tax hikes Press TV The Greek government says the austerity measures, which since September have sparked numerous protests across Greece, are needed to tackle the country's debt crisis. According to the government, the third round of austerity measures in two years, which ... Greek metro workers begin 2013 with a strike Athens Metro workers strike over cuts |
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 Greek Reporter | Greece Welcomes New Year With Wishes for Exit from Debt Crisis Greek Reporter Greece Welcomes New Year Greece welcomed the New Year with wishes for a swift exit from the severe debt crisis which has brought hardship to Greek people over the past three years. Amid painful austerity and recession political leaders and citizens on ... Samaras says 2013 focus must be on improving economic, social 'reality' in ... |
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Daytona Greek Orthodox church plans Epiphany service at DeLeon Springs Daytona Beach News-Journal Divers Perry Kostidakis, 16, and Jimmy Pitenis, 14, jump into the cold waters at DeLeon Springs chasing a cross during the Epiphany service put on by St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church last year. News-Journal file. By Ray Weiss STAFF WRITER ... Tarpon Springs Readies For Epiphany |
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 euronews | Greek metro workers begin 2013 with a strike euronews Greek metro workers and train drivers have begun the new year with a 24-hour strike over wage cuts. Average public sector wages are due to be slashed by 20 per cent beginning in the first quarter of 2013. The industrial action is the latest in a series ... Athens Metro workers strike over cuts |
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 Aljazeera.com | Former Greek Finance Minister accused of removing family from 'tax cheats' list The Times (subscription) The former Greek Finance Minister was yesterday accused of cutting the names of three of his relatives from a list of suspected tax cheats that he was given to investigate. George Papaconstantinou received the “Lagarde List” from Christine Lagarde, now ... George Papaconstantinou, former Greek finance minister, faces prosecution Greek tax scandal deepens Greek gov't pushes for probe into Lagarde list scandal of former FinMin |
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 Famagusta Gazette | BoC says not selling Greek ops Cyprus Mail BANK OF Cyprus CEO Yiannis Kypri has denied press reports that the group plans to sell its Greek operations. He was commenting on reports that the Nomura Group, a Japanese financial services conglomerate, has approached the Central Bank governor ... Bank of Cyprus will not sell off Greek operations |
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Unemployment in Spain already stands at 26%. Crowds scavenge the streets at night for food. And life is about to get tougher still
Forget, for a moment, the Greek tragedy. The tale of social woe set to play out in Spain this year is both bigger and more important to the world. For the drama of rescuing the euro, or letting it sink, will be played out on Spanish soil.
That is not to say Spaniards will have it worse than Greeks, though Eurostat figures show only Bulgaria and Romania now have a higher percentage of people deemed at risk of poverty. Spain's economy will shrink, once more, by 1.5% – a dramatic enough figure, though one most Greeks would happily settle for. But Spain represents a quantitative leap in Europe's ongoing tale of misery. Its economy is five times bigger than Greece's – accounting for 12% of the eurozone. And there are almost twice as many Spaniards as there are people in bailed-out Portugal, Ireland and Greece together.
As Spain enters another year of recession, Europe's politicians offer only one remedy. It must swallow more of the harsh medicine of austerity. But will it survive the cure? And will the spiral of decline really come to a halt towards the end of the year, as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy promises?
Already the country's social fabric is tearing. Family networks keep the working class going as unemployment hits 26%. Fewer than half of those aged under 25 find work. Anecdotes of misery abound. Grandmothers with memories of the "hungry" 1950s cook up large pots of lentils to feed unemployed grandchildren. At night, small crowds gather outside supermarkets in poorer neighbourhoods of Madrid, seeking thrown-out produce. In middle-class neighbourhoods ghostly figures wander the streets rummaging through bins by night.
Middle-class friends face new dilemmas. How do you look after a now terminally ill 90-year-old aunt and her son with mental health problems, asks one, when both have lived off her €600-a-month pension? Another has given her spare room to a 57-year-old graphic designer friend who cannot find work and does not qualify for dole payments. How long will he stay? A doctor – and single mother – admits that she worked before Christmas with flu because she could not afford to take (unpaid) sick days. "I tried not to breathe over my patients," she says.
Anecdotal evidence of Spaniards' suffering is backed by hard figures. When crisis struck in 2008, families began to save madly. Four years later savings rates are tumbling again – too many families are having trouble getting to the end of the month. Average household disposable income has already dropped, in real terms, by almost 10% since 2008. In poorer regions such as the Canary Islands, Andalucia and Extremadura, almost a third of the population is below the at-risk-of-poverty line, according to the National Statistics Institute. In a damning report, Oxfam says that previous crises in Latin America and Asia point to serious long-term damage if austerity measures remain in place. "Poverty and social exclusion may increase drastically," it says. "By 2022, some 18 million Spaniards, or 38% of the population, could be in poverty."
Rajoy's year-old conservative government no longer calls the shots, if it ever did. In 2012 it tried to obey Brussels and Berlin, raising taxes and chopping spending on health, education, social services and almost everything else. Pensioners and civil servants became poorer. Yet early figures suggest that, by the time money borrowed to bail-out banks is included, the deficit remained above 8%. In 2013 Rajoy promises to do better. And that means even more cuts.
With a quarter of this year's budget to go on servicing debt, Spain itself now needs a bailout. In 2013 it looks set to test the new "soft" bailouts now on offer from eurozone partners. That will be a make-or-break moment in the euro crisis. If it works and helps set Spain on the road to recovery, the euro is safe. If it does not, there are few solutions left. A soft bailout will be less painful than those inflicted on Greece, Portugal and Ireland – because it comes with a European Central Bank (ECB) promise to buy Spanish bonds in order to keep borrowing costs down. But it will still come with one chief condition – more austerity.
Restricted by the euro straitjacket and unable to devalue its currency, Spain is on the slow, painful path of internal devaluation. That means Spaniards must become poorer – accepting lower wages, lower pensions and worse public services. That way, they are told, their economy can become more competitive, making cheaper goods to consume itself or sell to the rest of the world. "We can only get out of this crisis by working more and, unfortunately, earning less," said former employers' federation leader Gerardo Díaz Ferrán two years ago. He was not, of course, talking about himself. Díaz Ferrán's own companies have since gone bust and the workers sacked. But prosecutors claimed Díaz Ferrán stole money from his companies first – ensuring himself a high-end lifestyle that included a Rolls-Royce and two luxury apartments overlooking New York's Central Park. In 2013, Spaniards will undoubtedly find out more about the former leader of Spain's most powerful business lobby – a man who allegedly paid no income tax in 2009 or 2010. But his grim recipe for the future still holds.
Spaniards are more likely to fret about jobs, incomes and the shrinking value of what they own. Last year, some 800,000 people lost their jobs. In 2013, unemployment will rise further as another half a million or more jobs are lost. A new labour law offers workers in companies with falling revenues either wage cuts, sackings or both. And house prices will continue to tumble in a country where 80% own their homes. Prices dropped 15% last year – the biggest fall since a housing bubble burst in 2008. The stock of houses up for sale is growing thanks to foreclosures. A rash of suicides among those about to lose their homes saw new legislation introduced to protect the most vulnerable at the end of last year.
"Things are improving in Spain," Mario Draghi, the powerful ECB boss, said before Christmas – according to Spanish translations of his words. "2012 was a year of painful gains. And 2013 should also be one." The pain, at least, is guaranteed.
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Greece welcomes New Year with wishes for exit from debt crisis Shanghai Daily (subscription) Despite gloomy forecasts by experts that 2013 will be also difficult for Greece, Athenians and foreign visitors sent their messages for brighter days to come from the pedestrian road under the illuminated Acropolis hill. As the City's Philharmonic Band ... |
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Golden Dawn second top searched item on Greek Wikipedia 2012 DigitalJournal.com Golden Dawn (Chrysi Avgi - Χρυσή Αυγή) was the second most searched item on Greek Wikipedia in 2012 after Greece. Additionally the website of ultra-nationalist party Golden Dawn attracted more Internet traffic than any other Greek political party. The ... |
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Heavy rain causes floods in Southern Greece Focus News Heavy rain causes floods in Southern Greece. 31 December 2012 | 17:14 | FOCUS News Agency. Home / Southeast Europe and Balkans. Athens. Heavy rain has caused floods in Southern Greece, killing at least one person, announced the local media. |
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