Spanish Short-lived Dream Of Football Euphoria Distracted By The Crisis

Spain is in the grip of football fever - a welcome distraction from the grim economic reality facing the country. The euphoria can do much to alleviate the terrible consequences of a collapse in real estate that many families face financial ruin.

The festivities continued late into the night of Wednesday, with fireworks, flags, and lots of beer, noise and excitement. The chorus of horns in the streets continued for hours. And the next day in newspapers only had room for a story on the front pages: the brilliant victory over the Spanish national team on the Germans. "The best in the world" was a title over a photograph of the Spanish soccer players jump into his arms at each other with pleasure.

Fernando Herrero had little time to celebrate the victory semifinals. The skinny 35-year-old with dark blond hair and stooped shoulders are too busy to deal with billions of euros of debt.

Banks generally Herrero and the Association of insurance consumers in Spain (ADICAE). The consumer group had to intervene to help homeowners in debt from the property sector collapsed. And that means an incredible amount of work. Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards can no longer afford to pay their mortgages, said Herrero. Fears that this year, the association could see over 200,000 evictions. In 2008, there were 50 000.

The economist, who worked for the organization since 1998, sits in a bar in Madrid, one like so many others in town, with simple wooden furniture and a glass-meter-long bar filled with tortillas, salad and potatoes other Spanish tapas.

Few opportunities to boost World Cup

Herrero not even look at the small plate of sausages that come with his beer. And the victory of football is not much to cheer him up. "This is a temporary relief for the people," he says as he checks his BlackBerry for the third or fourth time for messages. But many people who do not know if their money is spent to see them up late will not be saved, even by a historic victory in the Sunday final.

The dream of football that is currently gripping Spain could be a distraction, but does not change much about the uncertainty in the country. Even during halftime Wednesday night the German journalist asked if Spain would soon be expelled from the euro area.

And when it comes to whether a victory Sunday would give a boost to the economy, the analyst Jorge Lage Madrid CM Capital Markets is skeptical: "Only in the very short term, at best."

Euphoria will only continue for a few days, some experts believe. Then return the country to deal with its problems. In Germany, rumors of Spain to appeal to the European Union rescue package may have subsided, but in Spain, politicians and bankers are still grappling with the crisis. Unemployment is now over 20 percent of young people and all banks have a significant devaluation due to bad loans.

And so far, none has offered no response on the way out of this mess.

"We have lived beyond our means"

First, the difficult legacy of the immediate past must be worked through. Since the housing bubble burst, and the houses and apartments quickly lost value, millions of homeowners who are struggling for their existence. Between six and eight million Spaniards have gone into debt to buy a property, a calculator ADICAE - about 20 percent of the population. And there is no way of private bankruptcy in Spain.

"We have lived beyond our means," said Herrero, soberly. The whole country surrendered to the rampant consumerism of the year. "As soon as a new iPhone or the latest PlayStation was available, people get in line." And many consumers have not paid attention to how to finance this lifestyle, "because the banks were completely irresponsible for the issuance of the loan," said Herrero. The money was just thrown in the Spanish people. With the blessing of politicians.

The premium seemingly endless financial sector was absurd: clients have sent your credit card without asking. Some of them came with a credit limit of several thousand euros. Loans for new cars will be spread over several decades. Things got really wild when it came to finance the purchase of real estate. Huge sums were deposited with almost no security. "We had a student 21 years come to us, who had obtained a loan of € 180,000 for his apartment," said Herrero. "A young woman with no income. Absurd. "There was a trap." Ninety-five percent of the loans had variable interest rate fixed. "

Banks closing the tap

For a time all went well. But after the bursting of the housing bubble, the construction industry has collapsed and the country's economic growth came to an abrupt end. In addition, many homeowners have lost their jobs indebted. It was a perfect storm of debt. In fact, a huge private debt is probably now the biggest problem the country. In addition, many construction companies were also involved in construction of mega projects - plans that have since shown that investments terrible.

And then the banks simply shut down the money on tap. After some strange results.

Ameijeiras Fran, 35, is one that should be considered as a beacon of hope for the country in crisis. He runs an elegant bar with his wife Ellie British Baker, 29, Calle Almirante of the hip. The bar has red plush furniture, black leather chairs, and a new "Churchill of life", where the green lines dark wood paneling on the wall. The menu includes specialties like kangaroo meat and various types of gin.

Ameijeiras used to have a solid job bank. Now he and his wife, who often work at the bar day and night, especially during the World Cup, a bit 'of time on their two year old son. But the business is going well, says Ameijeiras, who is a native of Galicia. The Bristol Bar customers is high and is largely affected by the crisis.

Therefore, recently, the young couple started thinking about opening a second bar. "We asked six banks," he said. Three did not even respond, while two have refused the request immediately. Finally, the project is dead. Ameijeiras looks resigned. When he and his wife began four years ago, after coming up with a dream of producing their own gin, "they almost gave me money." At that time, he did not even have to produce the documents.

This month, however, Ameijeiras just enjoy the excitement of football. While the euphoria does not last long, after a few days more people are inflated to the head - and philosophize about the wonderful exploits of the national football team.