Hank Levin reports: "I stayed at our home in Catalonia for two months, with a side trip to Oporto for a conference, before returning just now. Certainly, Christopher Jones has selected a problem area that Spain will have to cope with. I did notice more immigrants this year than last, although not the intensity that Christopher observed farther north. I think that the official count of immigrants is only about 7 percent in Catalonia, but the actual percentage is probably far higher because not all are registered. Registration is encouraged in order to obtain health services and schooling. Thus far the Spanish government has not done much to discourage undocumented persons other than allowing regions to refuse to provide free education after the compulsory period ends at age 16. Although workers are supposed to be documented, the black (underground) economy is so prevalent in Spain that it is not difficult for them to be hired off-the-books. Christopher does not mention Latin Americans, but we saw many, in the Barcelona region, especially from Ecuador and Peru. According to the newspapers, it appears that a high proportion of crime is attributable to immigrants. There is a certain ambivalence to the immigrants. It is recognized that most of them take jobs that most Spanish would not take. Further, Spain has the second lowest birthrate in Western Europe, way below the level needed for replacement to maintain a constant population. The immigrants have much larger families than the Spanish, providing potential future workers to support the pensions and health care of an aging population. Publicly there is not much criticism of immigrants except in those cases where their customs defy Spanish law. Privately I heard many concerns about immigrants, concerns similar to what one heard traditionally about the Gitanos. Mahgrebis are commonly called Moors, a word that is replete with negative historical emotions for the Spanish. As an outsider, my overwhelming feeling is that immigration is largely out-of-control, and the Spanish do not have a plan for addressing it in any fashion.
On other matters, we found that the most talked about topics were:
1- The commission hearings investigating the Al Quaeda train bombings, and the quick conclusion of the Partido Popular (AznarÂs party) of ETA responsibility. Police testimony stated that within hours the police had doubts that the bombings were by ETA. But, even three days later the Interior Minister was telling the media that ETA was implicated, despite considerable evidence to the contrary. Surprisingly, the former Interior Minister testified just this past week and hinted that he still believes that ETA was involved.
2- The Parliament has given approval to gay marriage and gay adoption, a very controversial subject with the PP and Church being outspoken in their opposition. This approval moved much more quickly than I expected, given the strength of the opposition.
3- There are daily articles highlighting traffic deaths due to speeding. In a very recent survey, more than 80 percent of Spanish drivers reported driving over the speed limit on a habitual basis. The government is now pondering some very serious sanctions, including easier license revocation for speeding and much higher fines as well as a public relations effort to reduce speeding (good luck on that one).
4- The concern on obesity has hit Spain. Although Europeans, generally, and the Spanish, specifically, comment on fat Americans, the statistical data for Spain look fairly similar. A very high proportion of the Spanish population is overweight, and a rising proportion qualifies as obese (morbidly overweight). It is a serious health issue. Visually, the pattern appears different from thay in the U.S. where we seem to have a more nearly even age distribution of overweight persons. In Catalonia, overweight among young women is rare. Indeed, anorexia is a problem and other eating disorders. But, starting in the late twenties one sees a bulking up among woman and by the thirties among many men. Boys also tend to be slender, but seem to bulk up later. In the U.S. there is a serious problem of weight among the young with a rising incidence of Type 2 diabetes that is less prevalent in Spain. One does not see the health club phenomenon in Spain that one sees in the U.S., at least in California and New York.
5- Prior to the election of the Socialist government, the PP had big plans to bring water from the North (Rio Ebro) to the South, especially to Valencia, Murcia, and Almeria. The anger in the North, especially Aragon and Catalunya, was palpable, and the issue was hotly debated politically and in the Press. The Zapatero government cancelled those plans and is pushing for desalinization as a solution. However, as I understand this, the energy costs will be substantial and there will be environmental problems as serious as with the Ebro diversions, just different problems. Apparently, desalinization to scale will require tremendous numbers of high tension wires which will demand Âright-of-way and create electromagnetic fields (an issue discussed previously by WAISers). It will also require huge investments in infrastructure for desalinization and transport of water. Nothing seems to be settled. This looks to me like Northern versus Southern California, déjà vu. Real estate developers and agri-business in the south of Spain are marshaling resources to get the water from the North.
Finally, other than the awful musical tastes of the young (as in the States), the loud noises of M80 (petardos) fireworks, and the excessive piercing of all parts of the face and body and display of tattoos of the youth, we enjoyed ourselves in Spain. As I mentioned in a previous message, the lifestyle seems much healthier and satisfying to us than what we observe in the U.S., with more focus on social relationships and somewhat less on consumption. One other observation. Although Catalunya has discovered recycling, the practice of throwing candy wrappers, gum wrappers, bottles, cans, and such persists. The Catalans blame it on the immigrants, but we saw plenty of cases of natives doing the lazy thing, even when refuse canisters were nearby. The recycling in our village was so complicated that no one fully understands it. Each night one puts out different types of rubbish: organic, plastics, glass, carton and paper, and metal. Three nights a week is devoted to organic; one night a week for the other things. However, if you get confused and put out the wrong thing, it sits there and gets a label attached telling you that you defied the regimen. Given the amount of wine served at meals and the beers and soft drinks as antidotes to the hot weather, bottles and cans accumulate rapidly, but must wait for proper disposal. Most homes that we visited had many sacks of all of the above waiting for the appropriate night".
