Youth unemployment continues to plague Spain. It has fallen since mid 2012 when the rate was 53.0% for those aged 18 to 25, it now stands at 30.6%, still the second highest in the European Union, only Greece has hardest hit.
Eight years ago, much was made about the plight of Europe’s youth as unemployment among those aged 18 to 25 years was running at frighteningly high levels. Whilst lower now, for some nations it is still running at distressed levels as the list below reveals and in Spain, there are a number of variables which the government needs to address.
And the biggest problem is that the heart of Spain, its once thriving rural heartland is being deserted by young people, qualified or not, who do not want to live in the country but want to live, work and make money where there are more options - the big cities or overseas.
I saw it for myself on my last trip up into the Pyrenees a month ago. Yes, wine country appeared to be thriving but I drove through abandoned towns and villages, one after the other, all boarded up and for sale, if not crumbling.
Entire villages are for sale, but what does one do with one should one have the money?
Spain may well have the EU zone’s fourth largest economy but it does not seem to be encouraging young people to make the most of what modern Spain has to offer.