Spain's population is not falling, but it is not rising either like Mexico.
When it comes to land use, this country reminds me of the US more than any
other place I have lived. There are lots of abandoned farm buildings in both
countries. In Spain the widespread migration from countryside to the cities
occurred during the past 50-70 years, so traces of human activity are still
visible on abandoned agricultural land.
The abandoned construction projects are a localized and very recent phenomenon,
linked to the financial crisis since 2008. Most of these projects were meant to
be beach developments, and then financing just dried up and the construction
companies went bankrupt. And it is really something you see mainly in my part
of Spain and points south, towards the Costa del Sol. You do not see this in,
say, Madrid or Barcelona.
To give you an idea of the extent of the construction boom, in the last year
before the crisis, 2007, about 1/3 of all residential construction in the EU
was taking place in Spain, despite Spain's population being something like 8%
of the EU's.
Cheers,
Nathan
Nathan Wajsman
Alicante, Spain
http://www.frozenlight.eu
http://www.greatpix.eu
http://www.nathanfoto.com
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YNWA
On Feb 21, 2012, at 6:22 AM, Moose wrote:
> On 2/20/2012 5:57 PM, Andrew Fildes wrote:
>> Around here it would disappear and be reincarnated as backyard sheds, garden
>> walls and chicken coops.
>>
>> On 21/02/2012, at 12:42 PM, Chuck Norcutt wrote:
>>
>>> Could be there are no willing buyers of construction equipment even at
>>> scrap prices. :-)
>
> May I assume the smiley means you are joking? Otherwise, I have to get off
> the floor after falling down laughing.
>
> Andrew is partly there. Mexico has huge numbers of people living in serious
> poverty. Every city of any size has barrios
> full of ramshackle living places made by the residents without land
> ownership, zoning, approvals of any kind and largely
> of stolen/scrounged materials.
>
> The kind of materials shown in Nathan's pics would have rapidly disappeared,
> even if guards were hired. Guards might
> save the roofing tiles already in place and the ends of rebar sticking up,
> but not the loose stuff. Most likely, the
> guards would rapidly sell off the easily movable stuff, make a little money
> to feed their families and make the longer
> term job of keeping the built part intact and free of a new settlement
> easier. Unguarded, a place like that in Mexico
> would soon be a new little city.
>
> I suppose the big difference in this is the general European problem of
> inadequate birth rates and falling populations.
> I gather Spain is one country whose incentives have been working to stem the
> decline. Still, the occasional shots Nathan
> has posted of abandoned building in the countryside would never be seen in
> Mexico. Either the building would have be
> scavenged for free materials or would be inhabited by squatters. Mexico has
> NO such problem - quite the opposite. When I
> was there, I believe the estimate was that half the population was under 18,
> maybe even younger. A HUGE problem.
>
> I don't know if you recall the big earthquake in Mexico City years ago. In
> the vast southern part of the city, some
> buildings fell down while others apparently similar didn't. There were many
> theories I heard. Mine is different. When
> staying with my late wife's grandmother there, we watch over a couple of
> years as a building was constructed next door.
>
> It took forever to build. The workers and their families lived free on-site,
> so their true incentive was to make it take
> as long as possible. All the concrete was supposed to have rebar in it. I
> have no idea whether it was there in the
> correct amounts in this particular building. I'm not so foolish as to pry.
>
> But I'm quite certain that at least some of the many similar construction
> projects had much of the rebar sold out
> through the fences in the night. Insufficient rebar - earthquake - all fall
> down.
>
> Don't get me wrong. I love Mexico and the Mexican people I've known. But it's
> a country with huge economic problems and
> an enormous number of the really, really poor who have to do whatever they
> can merely to survive. The US drug war and
> big drug cartels weren't anything like as big a factor when I was visiting
> family, vacationing and doing work there. So
> I can't imagine things are much better overall now.
>
> Hasta Luego Moose
>
> --
> What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
> --
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