| Blogs > jmenyo > My Blog |
|
Doorway to despair: Glimpse inside Spanish industrial ghost town (from dailymail dot co dot uk) Doorway to despair: Glimpse inside Spanish industrial ghost town that produced seven million doors a year which has been decimated by housing crash During the construction boom, most of the doors for the 800,000 new houses a year were built in Villacanas Since the housing bubble burst, the town has been left desolate and is struggling with unemployment problems At its peak, it was a bustling town manufacturing millions of wooden doors to cater for the housing boom in Spain. But all that’s left now is a ghost town with an abandoned factory that is a stark reminder of more prosperous times. Villacanas is one of the many former buoyant industrial Spanish towns that is now struggling with huge unemployment problems. Between 2001 and 2007, Spain was leading the property boom in Europe with prices increasing annually at an average of around 13 per cent. Around 800,000 houses were being built a year and the people of Villacas were part of Spain’s middle class enjoying high wages and permanent jobs. During the construction boom, the majority of doors used with the new developments were made in this small industrial town. Approximately seven million doors a year were once assembled at the Mavisa factory which employed a workforce of almost 5,700 people. Then the economic downturn hit in 2008. The Spanish government estimates that over 780,000 houses built since 2005 have not been sold. The housing bubble has burst and the country is in the grip of recession. Meanwhile, the town has been left almost desolate with the Villacanas industrial park now empty and redundant. The town is reminiscent of the country’s situation as a whole. The unemployment rate in Spain stands at 25 per cent with more than half of young people out of work Between July and September 2012, 85,000 more people joined the ranks of the unemployed raising the total to 5.78 million, according to the National Statistics Institute. For those under 25, the unemployment rate is at 52 per cent. Over the past 12 months some 800,000 people have lost their jobs, proving that the economic crisis is tightening its grip on the country. Spain is under pressure to ask for outside aid to help deal with its debts. The country is in its second recession in three years. It has already been granted a 100 billion Euro bailout for its troubled banks while many of its regional governments are also in bad financial shape. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government, which pledged to reduce unemployment in its electoral campaign last year, has introduced austerity measures and financial and labour reforms to convince investors it has a grip on its accounts but they have yet to show any positive effect on the economy. Organisations such as the Spanish Red Cross and the Catholic Church charity organisation Caritas say unemployment and the austerity measures are leaving tens of thousands of people in need of food and financial help. There are now 1.8million households in Spain in which no one has work. And, it is the once-booming construction sector that has been the worst hit, with 56,100 fewer jobs.  I leave no trace of wings in the air, but I am glad I have had my flight. ---- Rabindranath Tagore |
|||
|
The media has people delusional about jobs and degree and positions. Not everyone is going to be a paper pusher, nor a managers or some executive, the world will always need the dishwashers, the floor sweepers and the garbage collectors, and all those things we claim to enjoy where we get service from others, all jobs have to be staffed or there is nothing, and all the people who fill these jobs deserve to be respected as individuals and treated with respect. No industry can function without laborer's... but the delusion now days, is people have a false sense that the executive makes the business function. Any Major company can loose it's CEO today, and they can still function, but they cannot function if it looses its labor pool. I do not look down upon anyone in any job, there are jobs that I don't want to do, but I respect the people who do them. I've done dirty jobs, challenging jobs and cleaned restrooms, waxed floors as well as I've developed program and set up operations and expanded how jobs function. I've managed government contracts and I have done many many things over the years. I've done work for a Municipality, its employees and the general public concerns as it relates to Municipal interest. Equally so, I've work for the school system and improve performance and cost saving as well as improved employees knowledge base thus elevating moral. I don't have a degree, but I've had more open interactive communication and working agreements with Senior Executives, Company Presidents and CEO's... and any people who are in decision making position, including Mayor, and Friends who was a Clinton Appointed Judge in the Marianna Islands, whom I knew long before the appointment, and a variety of council members who make decisions about municipal concerns. I've met more Entertainers than many people who are not connected to the media industry. so my experiences have been broad... But what matters is that I have a compassionate regard for others, but I also have a sense of accountability and have no problem holding others accountable for their elected or appointed obligations and responsibilities. As for work itself: It's a matter or continuing skill development and learning of multiple sorts.. My skills are transferable.. I could sell them easily to an Industrial entity in China that has interest to improve their conditions and standards. and this is certainly a much needed thing in some of the industrial sectors of China and many other countries who have embarked upon becoming a economic player in the global market place. When I worked In HKG, I set up a very good component within the company's operations with excellent results, but what I found interesting was the will and motivation of the Chinese people, to put in the works that was needed and I gave them the acknowledgments for their works... I also was of great council and leadership to establish the same components all across the US. Today, with the example of Hostess Executive - wanting a bonus.. If I was head of Hostess, they would not get a bonus, because based on their delusional claim of being the leadership of the company and their discredit to the work force.. Then the failure of the company is a Executive failure, no an employee performance failure, and it has nothing to do with the Union, because the Union only supports the quality treatment of workers and the fair play for industry to engage for the welfare of the industry and its employees. The Twisted concept of exaggerated importance on the executive level, is why we have systemic failure in the industrial sector all across not just this nation, but globally. No Executive deserves to be paid 263 times more than the employees, and then afforded ownership shares of the company and then bonuses.. No single individual is ever nor will they ever be of that level of value to a company. It is pure myth.. and that myth when its fades find companies crashed and economic destroyed... all for the delusional sake of exaggerated degrees. I hold high regard for tech education, scientific education and biological and these categories of learning. But the MBA is something that has too much of a swindle factor designed and taught as the basis of its program... it is not possible to extract 1000% from a penny, and expect there to be any level of quality product or service provided to anyone. Except the Executive who reap the spoils of their mis-guided aims. These Ghost Towns are Executive Creations.. which stand as a monumental testament to the fallacy and the delusion of Executive Superiority. This type of Executive Madness of Vain exaggerated self importance above the respect of others, has been an assault upon the economic function across the globe.
| ||
|
I think, in some Asian nations and parts of their cities, they have many things which can be found any other place. But what i gathered from my limited travels was the realization of how much cultural development of historical beauty that has been maintained through the ages. and much of it is "free for the people to enjoy". the mix of things about the world makes what the world is, forever interesting. I think some Asian people would find area of the west 'inhibiting' when they are use to the flow of human traffic in their daily lives, and various other things. I personally liked that many eateries are set up where people can have a wide variety of choices, I love the immediate access to massage places, and in some places the weather is good, and certainly I like the areas where there are simply 'thousands of woman', who are interactive. many places have the options of choices for the everyday person to enjoy as well as for the ultra wealthy to enjoy. Housing varies but that is not such an oddity, because in the US, housing varies, places can be found in any city in the US, where the homes are in poor condition it would appear one has entered a country which has no economic base, and then there are areas that are very well done. the list is endless of things to compare.. but one thing is for sure, whether one is here or there, if they have no financial means they will find challenges. I have personally found that in the places I've seen, many Asian are willing to be helpful in proving navigation information and the women I met generally wanted to show me many things which I probably would not have seen if they had not showed it to me. I did find at least for me personally, that the women seem to relax more readily in sharing one to one, than many of the woman in the west. I'm under no illusion, that if I was there on a longer term basis, I'd certainly find that in a one to one relations there would still exist the general nature of situational discord as is common in the lives of men and woman interacting. What I did like very much is, people seem to respect their jobs, regardless what the job is. I saw people who were happy and proud to have jobs at fast food places, where here people often time, have a resentment within themselves if they work in some fast food places. I also thought that on an average, the women seem to generally make sure they are neat and cleanly dressed in general casual daily activity... maybe it is because of the weather being warm. But many Asian location use colors a lot different in their clothing and their ornamentation around the cities, some areas have very bright and fun like colors. What was really impressive was how orderly people lined up for the Taxi's and to ride the rail units.. when I was in HKG. I did see some things that are not much different in comparison as to the challenges of people, the hardships people endure and the pursuit of dreams that seem to be distant from their grasp... but I also noticed people 'wasted less" and made more efficient use of somethings. every nation can learn something from people of every other nations, and in every nation some of the meaning of things have different associations, so one should be with care in what they do and how they say what they say. but, I still like the slim bodies of the Asian women, it appears to be a common thing in general, why or how I don't know... but I find that very delightful.
| ||
|
The housing boom could have been managed if property tax had been more closely tied to the escalation of appraised value. Instead, the appraisal game was so crazy that it never took into account, that housing cost would out pace peoples ability to pay, and low teaser rates would roll over into high variable rates. economist were blind, and every other claimed professional was blind, people got caught up in status, and did not think that saturation would find its point within time. it has come to exist for anything that man makes, because when competition enters the picture market shares changes. the picture is of many pixels, but no one wants to pay attention to the pixels, they get engrossed with the picture. until the pixels began to fail. _____________ jmenyo I like that your subject range is broad... its very much appreciated. at least by me.
|
