The Spanish Solution to the Global Crisis

I live in Spain. I used to live in America, Manhattan to be precise. I moved to Spain because this country has an economy the size of California but interestingly people here both work less and worry less than in California, not a small achievement. While in Spain I built two telecom/internet companies that are now national brands, Jazztel and Ya.com. Both were worth over half a billion euros by the time I sold my shares. But even though I had previously been an entrepreneur in the States as well building companies such as Viatel and Urban Capital, I noticed a big difference in Madrid. As they like to say in Spain people over here work to live and not live to work (trabajar para vivir). Shortly after moving from NYC to Madrid in 1995 I adopted that philosophy.

Currently both USA and Spain are experiencing spikes in unemployment and the Spanish stock market and real estate markets are as bad its American counterpart. But even though many of my Spanish friends are doing as badly as my American friends I see that the Spaniards have come up with a unique solution to the global crisis. What is it? Sorry to disappoint you but it is not based on doing anything specific to the real economy nor to their personal economy. Instead my Spanish friends solution is simply emotional. They focus on family and friends and worry less about the crisis. As we all know we don´t really experience reality but instead we experience our perception of reality. And it is at this level that my Spanish friends so effectively act. Concretely I spent last weekend in Manhattan going to dinners parties and all I could hear was how badly the economy was doing and how poorly Obama's presidency had started. Instead I spent this weekend in Madrid going to dinner parties and people... just had a great time. If anything talking about the crisis is seen as poor taste. It is not that people don´t worry over here. But at work they worry about work, at night they just want to disconnect and have a good time. And in my view, if there´s something that Manhattanites have never learned is to disconnect.

Comments

[Octoberon]

I'll say this much - it doesn't always help to read/listen to the news and actually FOCUS on how bad things are. People survived for a very long time without any real idea of what was happening in the world around them - at least, not until the Black Death arrived in their village! Of course, we're not living in those impoverished times - we can all telecottage in the comfort of our own homes (as long as we can keep them), and join in if we feel we really must. And even if foreclosure hits us, if we can afford batteries we can still keep up by stowing a Blackberry amongst whatever's left of our personal possessions.

But it's a lot more fun to talk to family, and to chat about our cultural and lifestyle interests, than to keep a close eye on the stock markets.

[JayGM]

Well... Money doesn´t grow on trees but where there is a will, there is a way...
And a funny day keeps the crisis away... jajaja Of course, In Spain funny night.

[Mostro]

I live in Madrid too, and although I don't think the crisis isn't talked about at all at reunions, I do see a difference in attitude towards life and adverse events in general, but one has to remember that people from countries that had lived through repression and dictatorships have, somehow, a higher 'despair threshold'.

[AndSoItGoes]

As much as I hate to give George Bush credit for anything ... maybe this is the only thing ...
"Go Shopping" This would start a few things, first it would start to move the economy forward again. People, this time, should excercise common sense and not purchase things way beyond their means, but just begin buying small things that are needed around the home. Maybe take small day or an overnight mini-vacation. Hotels/Motels could relax their multi-night minimums to get people to come. This would take people's mind off the problems for a bit of time. They could relax & the economy is stimulated. The Government should be giving our tax money back to the people who have paid it. We the people can utilize it better & support the economy and piece of mind in the process. Forget about the tax cuts ... history shows they don't amount to enough to help only gets the Republicans a few headlines.

[Permafrost]

I'm from Madrid and I live now in New York City. Although I love this great city and I've met wonderful people I miss, terribly, the human contact. I like the practicality of this society buy here you are what you have and if you don't have......well, you don't exist. The individual has been erased (unaffordable medical care, poor or none rights at the work place and total impotence against big corporations) I don't know if we have the solution to the Global Crisis and many other challenges we're facing but we, Spaniards, place humanity before the Euro/Dollar.

Tu casa o mi casa?

[Molly Palmer]

i'd love to know what kind of circles you run in here in madrid, because i can assure you that not all spaniards are feeling happy-go-lucky right now.

[wouzzie]

"[In Spain people] work to live and not live to work." , because they are the biggest recipient of EU money.

[apduncan1]

The South American immigrants are doing all the work...

[Robster]

When in Spain...

[skyshoes]

Great post, I have dealt in Europe and loved my experiences there. I must note, one of my main accounts always had the latest leather jacket, and or a magnificent scarf, had great and wonderful meals when we arrived for outstanding evenings. He still owes me thousands. Great to have no worries though, must try that some time.

[ORpolitico]

Well if I developed two companies worth half a billion euros and sold my shares, I'd be happy-go-lucky too. This is the voice of a typical rich person who has no clue how the rest of us live. This discourse upon attending dinner parties on two different continents?? Gimme a break.

The reality for 90 percent of Americans is that we can't afford dinner parties, much less worry about the "social correctness" of talking about our current economic straits. We are just trying to keep our heads above water. It helps to talk about it to others to know you are not alone. I bet most people in Spain aren't sitting up nights worrying about not having health care, jobs protections, access to affordable higher education or a basic safety net.

Most people in the US have no clue how far we've fallen as a nation.

[Shozen]

Good points. A friend of mine lost his job in Nebraska. Unemployment in that lousy Republican Red state maxes out at $300 per week AND they are over two months behind in processing.

Maybe the REASON Spaniards don't "sweat" the crisis is a superior Social Welfare Security net.

[thehuff]

Typical American reply.
First of all a dinner party does not have to be beluga caviar, filet mignon and champagne. It can be something as simple as having people get together for dinner in someone's home where everyone brings a dish (and that dish can be as simple as mashed potatoes, meatloaf, and green beans).
Sitting around talking all day long about how bad we have it, isn't going to change a thing, except perhaps give you and ulcer and a headache.
Mr Varsavsky should have pointed out that the unemployment rate in Spain is nearly double that of the USA.
I've seen on this blog that whenever anyone from outside the USA criticizes anything at all about the America they get attacked. Whether its gun control, education, healthcare, you name, people in the states are so Xenophobic.
You stated "I bet most people in Spain aren't sitting up nights worrying about not having health care". You know what, I bet you're right. That's because they have a national healthcare program. A program that works. People there don't have to pay $800 for a months supply of headache medicine.
You also stated: "Most people in the US have no clue how far we've fallen as a nation."
Oh I think we do and I also think that most people everywhere else in the world do also.

[jeffepops]

You lose your credibility when you begin your comment with the phrase "typical American". I am not certain you know what a typical American is like -- this is a fairly diverse country. I've traveled extensively throughout the United States, and I have yet to meet a "typical" American.

We Americans do have to worry more than Spaniards, French, etc., because we do not have the basic sense of national communal responsibility that most European nations demonstrate with their tax structure and social insurance programs. So, if one loses one's job here, the unemployment compensation is low, health insurance and pensions are lost, and so on. These are issues which we are finally being forced to address. I hope we do so wisely.

[dshwa]

The most salient point in the post: "[In Spain people] work to live and not live to work." That's something we could stand to learn on this side of the Atlantic

[Fernando]

Ohhh... Don't worry - be happy, then. This is like saying the secret of life is love or how the Kama Sutra didn't teach me anything I didn't already know.

Good point though.

[Boomerwoman]

Good post. If I think about the economy (there and then) I feel bad. If I focus on my loved ones and friends, (here and now) there is joy and connection. Zen, joie d'vivre, whatever, it works.