Yearbook 2012
Spain. No brightening was seen during the year in the economic crisis that hit Spain very hard. The credit and real estate bubble that burst had put the country in a downward spiral. The newly-appointed Conservative government invested in new savings packages with increased VAT, reduced unemployment benefits, continued frozen wages and sharp cuts in health care and education. Nevertheless, unemployment continued to rise and rose to over 25% during the year, and for young people over 50%. The budget deficit was large and government debt grew.
Confidence in the state’s finances was at the bottom. Market interest rates were pushed upwards and were around 7%, which was considered a pain limit that could not be passed without external support. Much of the turbulence centered on the crisis banking sector. In June, the EU agreed to emergency loans of up to EUR 100 billion to cope with the banking crisis. The state gradually took control of four banks, and in November the EU approved the restructuring plans for them.
But despite constant rumors that Spain would at any time become the fourth euro area to apply for EU funding, and despite the clear sign of such support, no Madrid request for money came from the EU. The reason was assumed to be that Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy wanted to highlight that Spain was doing well and that he wanted to avoid tough reform programs dictated from the outside. Instead, he presented a tight budget in September, with austerity measures of 40 billion euros.
- AbbreviationFinder.org: Provides most commonly used acronyms and abbreviations for Spain. Also includes location map, major cities, and country overview.
A few general strikes were announced and hundreds of thousands of people gathered in protest against the cuts. The demonstrations degenerated several times in violence. A well-known suicide in November, when a 50-year-old woman jumped off the balcony when she was to be evicted, aroused great anger and resulted in an agreement on a two-year halt for evictions of the most vulnerable. The crisis in the real estate sector had led to 400,000 people being evicted from their homes in a few years.
An effect of the crisis was also a strong separatist wave, despite the fact that several indebted regions were forced to ask the central government for emergency loans. The question was raised whether the country would ride out the difficulties with its borders intact. In the regional elections in the Basque country in October, the nationalist party PNV and the separatist Bildu together won a clear majority. At the same time, however, Rajoy’s conservative government party went ahead in the regional elections in Galicia, which was interpreted as voters there nonetheless accepting the crisis management policy.
Catalonia was the region that particularly challenged the central government of Madrid. When the Catalans gathered in Barcelona on their national day in September, more than a million people participated, and something unexpected came to focus on independence. Catalonia’s Prime Minister Artur Mas announced a new election in November and expressed the view that a referendum would then be held on independence. However, the election results did not give a completely clear answer. Mas’s right party CiU lost mandate, although it remained the largest. Instead, the separatist left party ECR went ahead. The two stood far apart, even though they shared the demand for strengthened self-government.
Madrid – cityscape – architecture – museums
The structure of Madrid’s inner city is marked by several historical periods. The oldest neighborhoods were formerly surrounded by walls from Moorish fortifications, which had the shape of a square with rounded corners and were surrounded by a low rampart of stone and earth with five main gates (puertas). The violence was abolished in 1878, but the Puerta de Alcalá, the Puerta de Toledo and the Puerta de San Vicente still stand.
Of the narrow alleys of the old town, only the neighborhood between the Royal Palace (Palacio Real) and Calle de Toledo can be found. The eastern gate of the old city, the Puerta del Sol, has given its name to a square which is the center of the modern city. The older parts of Madrid around the Puerta del Sol house buildings from the 1600’s and 1700’s. In the 1700’s, and thereafter the town was extended to the north, east, and south with street regulations predominantly laid out in a large pane pattern. The development of the city to the west was limited by Manzanares’ deep gorges.
To the east is the fashionable residential area of Salamanca. From the 1800’s, the tree-planted continuous north-south line (1860) originates from Paseo de la Castellana to Paseo del Prado; it is one of Madrid’s most attractive avenues with many important public buildings, such as the National Library, the Archaeological Museum and various ministries. The city expanded strongly in the 1900’s, where The northern part of the Paseo de la Castellana was transformed into an entire district of high-rise buildings with banks and offices (1970). Especially after the Spanish Civil War, the construction of parks and green areas has created calm and coherence in the cityscape.
From the central square of the city center, the Puerta del Sol (laid out in 1570), ten streets depart; one of them is Calle del Arenal, which extends west to the large square, Plaza de Oriente with the equestrian statue of Philip IV (1640). At the park Campo del Moro is the royal palace Palacio Real (1738-64), built according to plans by Filippo Juvarra and since 1962 museum. Opposite the castle is the cathedral Nuestra Señora de la Almudena (started in 1883).
In the Plaza Mayor you will find the equestrian statue of Philip III (1613), surrounded by uniform baroque buildings. Close by are the town hall and the church of San Isidro el Real, originally built as a Jesuit church in the 1600’s, both in Baroque style. Further west is the small chapel of San Antonio de la Florida (1792-98) with frescoes by Goya and his tomb. Among the modern settlements is the high-rise España (1953) on the Plaza de España, where the Cervantes Monument from 1927 is also located.
In the eastern part of Madrid, where the buildings are mainly built in the 1900’s, is the famous art museum Museo del Prado (see the Prado Museum) as well as the Arms Museum Real with Europe’s largest weapons collection. The Centro de Arte de Reina Sofia houses modern art, including Pablo Picasso’s Guernica and a large Joan Miró collection.
Population 2012
According to countryaah, the population of Spain in 2012 was 46,671,815, ranking number 30 in the world. The population growth rate was -0.110% yearly, and the population density was 93.5684 people per km2.
