Spain surpassed the four million unemployed in the month of April, 800,000 more than in January of this year. It is the highest amount in the history of Spanish democracy. The percentage rises to exceed 17% unemployed, the highest in the European Union. In addition, Spain is a leader in youth unemployment: the unemployment rate among people under 25 has reached 35%, double the European average. The collapse of the construction sector and the lack of measures and investments that put an end to dependence on the brick have led to Spain, which will assume the Presidency of the European Union in 2010, to have half of the unemployed people in Europe.
In 1998, the Congress of Deputies approved the land law. With this legislation, all soil was buildable until a judge say otherwise. Competences in this area were ceded to the city councils and their drivers defending that, with this liberalisation of buildable surface, bid would be higher and the housing prices would decline. In addition, speculation real estate was no more than a remote possibility. Then began a period of indiscriminate construction, where all those involved went out winning: councils had filled its coffers, builders were made of gold, and the State saw how the unemployment figures fell and those of economic growth did not do more to upload. The price of housing did not play roof. With an economic boom of that kind, nobody thought that it was necessary to encourage another type of sectors such as energy. Currently, Spain has a rate of energy dependence of 84%.
Between 2000 and 2006, a period of full growth of the Spanish economy, dependence increased by four points. During this same period, Spain remained at the tail of the EU investment in r & d, despite warnings that this would have consequences in the future. Governments of Aznar and Zapatero, despite his promises, continued resorting to the easy money that provided the brick.
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