Youth flee Spain in search of jobs

Spanish youth fight against forced exile due to unemployment.

Since 2008, 300,000 young people have left Spain given the unemployment situation in which they live.

“With 50 percent youth unemployment, with higher education increasingly more expensive, housing difficult to afford, and without a clear plan of government, many choose to leave the country,” explains Pablo Padilla, one of the voices of the collective Youth Without a Future.

Since the collective was formed two years ago, members of Youth Without a Future have expressed rejection to their forced exile, claiming that Spain no longer is a country for the youth.

“In our environment, neighborhoods and jobs, we are seeing more and more people that, if not already gone, are planning to go. We want to be able to decide when we pack, so we say ‘We’re not leaving, we are being kicked out’,” said Padilla, referring to the collective’s campaign; ‘We’re not leaving, we are being kicked out’.

“People need to see that they are not alone,” continues Padilla, explaining that the abuses come from the Mariano Rajoy’s current conservative government’s labor reform.

Alfredo, a publicist, has worked in restaurants in England and Holland. “We are a generation that has not been incorporated into the professional field right after finishing university. At the end of the crisis it will be just as difficult, years will have gone by without a job and those who enter the labor market will be the recent graduates,” he said.

Marta has lived in Belgium for more than a year. She arrived there with a well-paid scholarship, and upon completion of her studies and facing difficulties finding a job in Spain, decided to stay.

“Most of the jobs for a graduate with less than one year of experience in Spain are internships and unpaid,” said Marta, explaining this to be one of the causes which led her to leave.

Marta notes that many of those who left the country will not return because it is a labor market in recession. “Spain is becoming a very unattractive country to work. Those who can leave can seek to improve. It is sad but a fact.”

A campaign to connect
One of the initiatives of the campaign ‘We’re not leaving, we are being kicked out’ is the connection that it establishes between those who have been displaced through social media, the web, and a world map that highlights the geographical points where many of the Spanish that have left reside.

“We understand that whether you stay or you leave, is not a personal decision. That is why this campaign is collaborative, to see that you’re not alone, and above all to take the responsibility off the people,” said Padilla.

In April the website totaled 6,000 stories, and the day it was launched it received 150,000 visits. “It’s a good thermometer that shows how receptive people are. If the attacks are collective, the responses should be collective.”

Members of Youth Without a Future made use of crowdfunding to cover the campaign, with the idea of organizing and orchestrating protests in every country. “If the Prime Minister meets with the Eurogroup in Berlin, he must be received as he deserves,” said Padilla, showing the vindictive nature of their initiative.

The campaign also attacks the positive views that various media channels present, which portray how well Spanish emigrants are doing in other countries.

“The stories that certain media channels tell that you live like a lord, that’s a lie. Job insecurity speaks Italian and German, there are people who do well, but most do not,” added Padilla.

Those who stay
Some young people who stay in Spain opt for further education. Inés is a biologist who is pursuing a master’s degree, but realizes that it will be difficult for her to find a job.

“I think that after the master, I will have to do a technical degree to get a job.” She confesses that cuts in education are especially palpable in the science field.

“In times of crisis, sciences are the most disadvantaged in Spain, since the economic benefits they bring are medium and long term. There are fewer and fewer job opportunities in the health field,” said Inés.

Lourdes held one temporary job after another while studying in Madrid. She sees her future professional career in the public sector shrinking, causing her to express great uncertainty.

“I do not want to end up with these types of jobs, I just do it to stay afloat, for a short period of time,” she said, admitting that there are fewer and fewer options. “They do not fulfill me and besides the salary is not great.”

The campaign ‘We’re not leaving, we are being kicked out’ continues through these stories, acting as a reference point for those who have left and the ones who stayed. Aside from drawing attention to the issue, it serves as a moral boost based on the idea that the strength comes from unity.

—Traducción Alfonso Agirre