And Now They're Scavenging

There was a piece in the "Diario" a few days ago that was accompanied by a photo. One has often to be careful with such photos - maybe they've been set up - but let's allow for authenticity. What it showed were people scavenging through large refuse containers near to the weekly market in an unnamed town in Majorca. The current economic malaise of rising unemployment, allied to the credit crunch and the onset of recession is as evident here as it might be elsewhere. And in a few days, the queues for unemployment benefit and social security help will stretch further than they normally do at the start of November; the appalling caravans of humanity, shamed to having to stand outside the inadequate offices. I say this, yet, there isn't quite the stigma here. People take the benefit as a right, and most arrive in the queues as though they were professional benefit-seekers, with files and documents neatly archived. But it only helps in emphasising the limits of seasonality, by which many live their lives. It is an untenable economic model.

The visitor to Majorca, and quite a few expats cocooned from reality, never appreciate the other side of life here; the winter side. It's always been there, but as economic misery descends, the winter side's desperation is only exaggerated. And also exaggerated are the disparities. I'm beginning to get angry at the adverts in the likes of "The Sunday Times" for vast palaces at vast prices aimed only at the wealthy incomer. And I am an incomer. God knows what the average Majorcan makes of it. I flatly refute the notion that just because Majorca can attract some hyper-wealthy people to purchase some gated pile, that this is an indication of the island's enduring economic strength. It is nothing of the sort.

A while ago, a politician, demonstrating rather greater possible prescience than is normal for the local political class, was concerned enough by the deteriorating economic situation to suggest that it could give rise to more crime. It's hardly an earth-shattering prediction. Those scavenging through market rubbish containers might wish to embellish their "income" by means of a bit of breaking and entering, too.

In the past days and weeks, there have been stories of political corruption, major drugs busts, the pursuit of Russian mafia (a house was raided in El Toro the other day). There has also been much about immigration, the new limits to be imposed and the incentives for some to leave. Immigration is, as I've mentioned previously, the top issue of concern for most Majorcans. There is a toxicity not just of debt in the financial markets everywhere but also in the juxtaposition of circumstances here. The only element missing from this potentially volatile cocktail is a populist voice that would highlight all these and perhaps make the Diario's scavengers look further afield for a different form of redemption.

A winter wonderland? It is if you keep your eyes closed.

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