Spain's Mortgage Fiasco Leaves Middle Class Homeless

Spain is swirling down the economic drain as poverty is spreading. European union officials have been trying to prevent the country from becoming another Greece. Read Transcript

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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.

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