Leaving the city of Castellon, the road signs point towards the new international airport, and after 25 miles one duly arrives at a sleek concrete and glass terminal, built on an otherwise barren stretch of land beside the motorway.
The grand vision of Carlos Fabra, a charismatic regional politician who promised that the airport would attract 600,000 passengers a year — transforming this underdeveloped stretch of the Costa del Azahar on Spain’s east coast into a holiday Mecca — it was opened amid great fanfare 15 months ago.
But of course, their hardship pales alongside that of the millions of decent, hard-working Spaniards now being made to suffer for the greed, hubris and criminal dishonesty of those who caused La Crisis: the bankers, developers and politicians running its 17 autonomous regions.In parks and town squares these days, huddles of young people mill around aimlessly with nowhere to go and nothing to do.In some places, up to half of all the under-25s are without work, and without hope of finding it in the foreseeable future.Spain’s economy is in such dire straits that this week eurozone ministers agreed a series of emergency measures — including a €30 billion loan and giving the country more time to cut its budget deficit — to try to avert total collapse.In return, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has been forced to bring in an immediate VAT hike as well as cuts in local authority budgets.