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ARCHIVED - Millions set to be added to the unemployment total in Spain
Around a quarter of the Murcia workforce is currently redundant
A return to near-record jobless totals is forecast after six years of improvements
While the first concern during the current coronavirus emergency in Spain is to halt the upward curve in the number of new cases and fatalities, at the same time, after almost two weeks of lockdown, attention is beginning to turn to the drastic consequences of the pandemic for the national economy.
One of the key figures which are likely to become clearer over the next few days concerns the level of registered unemployment, which was already showing signs of stabilizing rather than continuing to drop during the months of January and February. At the end of February the number of people registered as being out of work in Spain was just under 3.25 million, but analysis of the data available suggest that the figure will rise by millions when the March figures are published.
It is the stated aim of the national government to “minimize the destruction of employment”, but trades unions estimate that around a million people have officially been made redundant during March. On top of this, at least another million – possibly a lot more – are subject to “ERTE” temporary employment regulation schemes which have been filed by their employers in the last two weeks, meaning that the March total is expected to top 5 million for the first time since late in 2015.
One report states that at least 1.1 million people have been affected by 200,000 ERTEs but that the figures exclude the totals for the Balearics, Aragón, Murcia and, crucially, Madrid: an idea of how many people might be missing from the total can be gained from the estimate that even in the relatively small region of Murcia as many as 150,000 people (a quarter of the workforce) are affected. This is the result of 6,580 ERTEs having been registered, but with 4 days of March still to come there could be as many as 200,000 Murcianos affected by the end of the month.
If that proportion is extrapolated to the whole of Spain, it would mean as many as 5 million people being added to the jobless total.
Some of the largest ERTEs filed so far are those of El Corte Inglés (25,900 employees), Zena Alsea (22,000), Seat (14,800), Burger King (14,800), Iberia (13,700), Renault (11,650), Decathlon (8.,86), Meliá (8,382), Ford Almussafes (7,000), Michelin (7,000) and Primark (7,000).
Until the figures are confirmed it is not possible to evaluate the extent of the damage done to the Spanish economy in March, or to forecast how much more might ensue in April. What is certain, though, is that in just a fortnight the coronavirus pandemic has wiped out most or all of the decrease in the jobless total in Spain which has been achieved in the last 6 years, and that when the country finally returns to something resembling normal conditions the economic panorama throughout the whole country will have altered dramatically.
In 2008 Spain endured the most brutal period of unemployment and economic downturn in its modern history as the property market began to collapse and the jobless total soared to 27%. Ten years of economic hardship and austerity followed and the economy is still brittle following these painful years of adjustment.
The Covid-19 crisis has decimated the tourist sector, the airlines which feed hotels and restaurants face their own most devastating crisis with hundreds of thousands of flights cancelled worldwide for the foreeeable future and at the moment it is impossible to predict what the knock-on impact will be here in Spain and for a region like Murcia, which earns more than 10% of its total revenue from tourism.
As expats living and working here in Spain we will already be painfully aware of job losses within our own communities, and know of businesses that have been forced to close and will not be able to re-open even once the lockdown is relaxed. Many of our own number face an uncertain future and the businesses that do survive will need the support of the community to help them readjust to a different market environment.
However, for the moment the most important challenge faced is to reduce the period of lockdown to a minimum and limit the spread of the virus.
Remember: LOCKDOWN MEANS LOCKDOWN. STAY AT HOME. STAY SAFE AND DO YOUR BIT TO REDUCE THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS.
Follow Murcia Today on Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest updates locally for the Region of Murcia and the main information for the rest of Spain: https://www.facebook.com/MurciaToday/.
Our local area groups are as follows. These are designed to filter locally specific information and may be used by clubs, charities, any of the businesses who work with us to ensure information is available to residents in English and for those living in the specific areas. They are not buy and sell groups, do not accept any bickering or argumentative so and so's, are not "open for any old rubbish" pages, and are not trying to compete with your local comunity groups, they are specifically for sharing good, relevant local information and we hope you will use them for that during this difficult time.
Around Mazarrón news, events and local info: Click to join
Mazarrón, Fuente Álamo, Águilas, Lorca, Totana, Puerto Lumbreras, Camposol, Alhama de Murcia. Click to join (all within a half hour drive of each other)
Mar Menor news, events and local info. Click to join (this includes all the Mar Menor municipalities and Cartagena)
North-west Murcia: Bullas, Mula, Cehegin, Caravaca, Cieza, Calasparra, Jumilla, Moratalla info. Click to join
What to do if you are in the Region of Murcia and believe you may have contracted the virus
The regional government has set up a special helpline to supply information to members of the public (900 121212) if they suspect that they may have contracted the virus rather than going straight to hospital or to a medical centre.
Sensible precautions
The advice being issued to members of the public by medical authorities all over the world coincides on the following points:
- Wash hands frequently with either soap and water or a sanitiser gel
- Catch coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues – and throw the tissues away immediately after use before immediately washing your hands!
- If you don’t have a tissue, use your sleeve – and wash the item of clothing used at the next opportunity
- AVOID touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands
- AVOID close contact with people who are unwell
- Don´t panic!
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