REPORTER: NEAR BARCELONA,
SKAUTERS OCCUPY AN EMPTY
APARTMENT BUILDING.
THEY LIVE HERE ILLEGALLY.
THE FATHER SAYS IT IS THEIR ONLY
CHOIC
CHOICE.
THERE ARE LOTS OF PEOPLE
OCCUPYING, KICKING THE DOORS OF
THE BUILDINGS DOWN BECAUSE THEY
DON'T HAVE AN OPTION.
LIKE OTHER SKAUTERS,
35-YEAR-OLD NICOLE LOST HER JOB
AS A NURSE'S ASSISTANT, THEN
LIVED ON THE STREET.
[ FOREIGN SPEAKING ] SPAIN
IS NOT GREECE, IT IS THE FOURTH
LARGEST ECONOMY IN EUROPE.
SPAIN'S MIDDLE CLASS IS FALLING
INTO ITS OWN ECONOMIC ABYSS.
WHAT YOU DON'T SEE UNDER
THE
SURFACE,
IS THAT SPAIN FACES
ECONOMIC COLLAPSE.
THE GOVERNMENT SECTOR IS
ABOUT TO GO INTO BANKRUPTCY.
A COLLAPSED REALITY BUBBLE
CREATED A BANKING CRISIS AND TWO
MILLION UNSOLD HOUSING UNITS.
NUMBER OF BAD LOANS HAS REACHED
AN 18-YEAR HIGH WITH ONE AGENCY
SENDING OUT DEBT COLLECTORS
DRESSED AS MONKS.
UNEMPLOYMENT IS AT THE
DEPRESSION LEVEL OF ALMOST 25
PERCENT WITH AN ASTOUNDING
FIGURE WITH ADULTS UNDER 25 OF
53 PERCENT.
ECONOMY SHRANK FOR THE THIRD
STRAIGHT QUARTER AND VITAL
CAPITOL IS LEAVING THE SECTOR.
ONE IN FOUR FAMILIES IS LOSING
THEIR HOMES.
PEOPLE EFFECTED BY MORTGAGES IS
TRYING TO PREVENT EVICTIONS AND
FORCE THE BANKS TO ALLOW THEM TO
LIVE IN UNSOLD HOUSING.
WE ARE 80-100 PEOPLE THAT
CAME TOGETHER TO FIGHT THE
BANKS.
BANKS DESTROYED THOUSANDS OF
FAMILIES LEFT ON THE STREET
HOMELESS FOR LIFE.
MANY SPANIARDS HAVE SIGNED
MORTGAGE THAT THEY HAVE TO
PAYOFF EVEN AFTER FORECLOSURE.
LIKE THIS WOMAN WHO IS
DESPERATE.
IF THEY TAKE MY HOUSE, I WILL
GO BACK INTO IT.
IF I HAVE TO PAY IT ANY WAY, I
WILL STAY IN MY HOUSE.
CUTS IN WELFARE HAVE SPARKED
STREET BATTLES.
MUCH OF SPAIN'S SUFFERING COULD
HAVE BEEN PREVENTED IF THE
SPANISH GOVERNMENT HADN'T GONE
ON A SPENDING BINGE NEAR THE
TURN OF THE CENTURY.
IF WE HADN'T GONE ON A
SPENDING SPREE, WE WOULDN'T HAVE
A DEFICIT EVEN THOUGH THE
FALLING OF OUR REVENUES AND
INCREASED UNEMPLOYMENT. NOW
SPAIN IS PAYING THE PIPER, MORE
PRECISELY, SPANISH FAMILIES
PAYING.
SHORTLY AFTER WE VISITED THIS
FAMILY, THEY WERE EVICTED AND
LEFT WITH A MORTGAGE THEY WILL
HAVE TO PAY.
THEIR DREAM OF HOME OWNERSHIP
LONG GONE.
WE WERE THINKING THIS WILL BE
OUR HOUSE FOR LIFE, IT IS NOT.
THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO.
GOD WILL SAY WHAT HAPPENS.
DALE HURD, CBN NEWS, MADRID.