Deserted beaches and empty hotels offer a gloomy vista of the European financial crisis. We take a ground-level look at how the crisis is really hitting the people who depend upon tourism to survive. At the Liboro Sanchez olive plantation, the machines are at a standstill. With oil prices hitting rock bottom, this year's harvest will cost as much as the proceeds. The farmer, Liboro, can hardly imagine a future for the business anymore: "we can't keep up with the competition". Down the road the local bar is filled with anecdotes of failed millionaires and collapsed ventures. For Spain in particular it is a crisis of youth, with 40% of those unemployed aged under 25. "If this crisis continues, poverty will worsen dramatically." Across Europe people are looking desperately for a way out of the slump. Travelling from the 'Bank for Ethical Lending' in Barcelona, to the self-sufficient village retreats of Greece, there is a clear trend for a return to 'traditional values' - but is this enough? ORF
Теги: Summer Crisis Europe journeyman financial crisis tourism farmer spain
