IVA = no bueno

Before I go into my economic rant, first things first: the important subject of this post.
On the way out of the office today a golden retriever came running up to me. He was such a cute dog. Made me miss my puppies mucho! Ok, they're not exactly pups anymore (I think they might be 8 years old by now), but the word puppy just suits their personalities perfect, thus I still refer to them as my puppies!

Aren't they just the cutest -

I miss Wrigley the most though. He's the best, and my favorite.

                           

Is it mean that I have a favorite? No importa. My sister and brother have different favorites so it all works out. And besides, Wrigley likes me the best anyway so we're not the only one with favorites here :)

I miss my other two love bugs too!! Dodger, also known as Dodgie, Dodge, Dodgie Podgie, Hodge Podge, and my little princess (who in no way sits like a lady) likes to watch Sportscenter with me as evidenced below.

Fenway, also known as Mr. Fenway, Fen, Fenny, Fen Fen, Fenny Wenny always tells me to spike his hair when it gets long. He also might be the most charming, lovable, and vocal dog you'll ever meet.

Ok, I'm done. Onto real business here.

I've been here for a little over a month now, and I figured I'd share some of my insights/observations on the state of the economy and cultural norms here in Barcelona. Brother Gue Goo, this is especially for you! Ha I'm a poet and I didn't even know it! Name that tv show... I'll give you a hint (Feeeeenie, Fe Fe Fe Feeeeeeenie) Yes? No? Anyway....

For those of you that don't know of Spain's current economic state, I think you should do some reading to get with the times! A fact I didn't know is that unemployment reached 25% this past month. From my experiences the past month or so, that number seems more and more realistic as I meet different people. During the language exchange I go to every Monday, I normally meet 3 or 4 people who are currently unemployed. Granted, I usually only meet between 5 and 8 people total a night, and the fact that the majority of people I meet are unemployed speaks volumes to me. I've also learned that it's merely impossible to find a job coming out of college, to the point where many young people stay in school until they are almost 30. Who on earth would want to go to school for almost 30 years? My brother-in-law Marc is not allowed to answer that question. Don't get me wrong, school is great (in foreign countries), but that is a long time. I also get the feeling that their universities are a tad less strenuous than TCNJ (must be nice). I've recently learned that the university here is between $1,000 - $2,000 for a year. WHAT. I wish I had my camera to photograph the looks on people's faces when I told them that I have to repay that $1,000 times 85. So outside of the unemployment rates, make that difference #1 - Spanish students aren't normally exposed to the insurmountable amounts of student loans that US college students and yours truly are. Must be nice! I expect this to be a huge problem in the US (not that it isn't already) come the next 5 or 10 years. Let's just say, I'm glad I got out when I did, despite the large bill still to be repaid.

***Keep in mind that I am making "general" observations here, so it does not apply to everyone or everything. Merely these are some of the frustrations I've experienced during the past month that I would never experience at home.***

Lets move on to my favorite subject, the subject of banks here in Spain. Me hizo una putada and I have no idea how people deal with the bank here on a daily basis. Which one? Any of them. All of them. They're all terrible. For one, they're open 2 hours a day and closed on the weekends. I lied. They're open 6 hours a day, 8:15 - 2:30. What is that? They have one late night on Thursday where they are open from 4 - 7:30. The heck? How is a working person ever supposed to make it to the bank? And to be closed on Saturdays? I have a very hard time finding any logic in this situation. Either it's laziness or they can't afford to be open 6 days a week or 5 with extended hours. And if it is the fact that they can't afford to be open so long, maybe they should reconsider having a branch of each bank literally on every block of the city. I have about a 10 block walk to work. I pass 5 branches of the same bank and 2 of another bank on my way. I won't even get into the $70 that La Caixa Catalunya charged me FOR NO REASON because I really don't have nice things to say about them haha. Banks play such an important role in the economy and with a country as a whole. The fact that the bank teller didn't even count the 340 euros (roughly $450) that I paid for my rent this morning to the landlord's account makes me seriously concerned. I could have easily paid him half the amount and been on my way with a confirmation of the amount paid in full before he would have realized. That would NEVER fly in the States. I think I finally have an appreciation for our banks at home, even though they've made a whopper of mistakes during the past few years. Trust me people, it could be much worse. It's just really hard for me to grasp their schedule here though. Coming from someone who works between 60-80 hours a week January - April, Monday through Saturday (and sometimes Sunday), coupled with a 2 hour commute to and from work everyday, it's hard to believe that a business, especially in the financial sector, can be open 6 hours a day, 5 days a week and still be successful. Hard work is practically embedded in my blood, and I just don't see it here like I do in the States.

Customer service is also not so great here. Remember that $70 I mentioned above? It's gone with the wind and any hope of getting it back. Everyone here passes the blame to others who in turn pass the blame back or to another. It's beyond frustrating to see results here because I feel that nothing gets resolved until 4 months down the line. People don't return phone calls or emails, and hence no resolution. There is absolutely no "customer is always right" cliche, more like "you snooze you lose".  I don't blame people for wanting to hoard their money because I've found that the banks in particular have a license to steal. It's funny that right after my first experience trying to argue something with the bank here, I ended up walking through a strike against the banks as I was leaving the bank. Made me laugh, and you bet I snagged a flyer in support of them. I almost started marching with them I was so frustrated.

There's also a huge controversy here in Catalonia as far as separating from the rest of the country goes. I think I've mentioned this before in one of my previous posts, but that feeling is evident here now more than ever. Most of the problem stems from an economic point of view. Catalonia pays much more in taxes than the other autonomous communities in Spain do, mainly because they bring in the most money (specifically Barcelona). The money that Catalonia pays to the government then gets distributed to other autonomous communities, except that Barcelona and Catalonia in general rarely see any of their money returned to them like the other parts of the country see. Click here for more info. In general, I don't think it's a great system that the "state" pays a portion of their tax raising to the "federal state". Maybe I'm just used to our system in the US, but how is that justified? At home, you file a Federal return and a State return, you pay both parties (or if you're lucky you get a refund!), and then you are done. Both sides, Federal and State, have their own way of raising money through taxes and that's it. It seems very logical to me, but here it is a different story. No wonder the tax rates keep rising in Catalonia because they have to raise enough to cover their own needs after they pay the federal government. For example, if you make a bank transfer from one bank account to another, you must pay the VAT (value-added tax). I'm not talking about a fee. It's a tax. It's 21% too. At that point, you might as well physically withdraw the money and go and pay the person yourself. I'm at the point where I think they just need to revamp the entire system because it's not working, and before Spain knows it they are going to lose one of the most important parts of the country over political matters that are clearly unfair and lopsided.

Lastly, I think one of the biggest problems with the Spain economy is that they are not utilizing their skills and fulfilling their potential like they should be, more specifically in Catalonia. I'd venture a guess and say about 90% of the population in Catalonia is bilingual with Catalan and Spanish. That's just a guess, but I haven't come across a person from Catalonia that doesn't speak both languages. Furthermore, many people are on the verge of being trilingual with English. This is a huge asset that most countries don't have. The United States is at the top of that list. The ability to speak different languages is so advantageous in regards to the world economy, and it just appears as though Spain isn't seeing any benefits from this like they should.

Well, I think that was enough of a rant for now. The economy is such a complicated subject. Pues, así es la vida! Hopefully, Spain can get out of this funk soon and get back on track. Esperamos y veremos!