2023-05-28 09:46:31
The elections this Sunday will leave an electoral map full of new colors linked to the parties that win in each municipality. A renewed cartography that, however, will remain invariable in the economic reality of each population: there is a fracture that breaks Spain into several pieces in terms of income; wages; employment; activity; pensions; and, above all, vision of the future of each territory. Economic inequality continues to dominate the map, accentuated after the last two crises (that of the pandemic and inflation after the war), although these divergences have wandered since the real estate bubble mirage burst in 2008.
A first gap clearly reveals the distances between north and south. The Basque Country is the community with the largest number of municipalities (almost 90%) that is among the 25% with the highest income in Spain (above 13,637 euros), according to the latest Household Income Distribution Atlas from the INE. It is followed by Catalonia, with almost half of its populations in this buoyant economic situation. On the opposite side is Andalusia, where most of its towns (83.3%) are among the 25% with the lowest income (below 10,393 euros), as is Extremadura.
The differences are even greater if the average income per person is taken into account. Guipúzcoa leads the provinces by annual income, with 16,399 euros. They are followed by Madrid (15,579 euros) and Vizcaya (15,555 euros). The provinces with the lowest annual income per inhabitant are Almería (with 9,709 euros of net income), Jaén (9,958) and Badajoz (10,001 euros).
The Gini index indicates that since the start of the pandemic, inequality in Spain is already 1.5 points lower than at that time. There are communities in which economic inequality is already more than two points lower (Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, Andalusia and Extremadura) than in 2020; while in others such as Murcia, it rises by 0.7 points, according to the analysis of CaixaBank Research.
The latest Economic Observatory on regional convergence from BBVAResearch maintains that the economic recovery after the great recession of a decade ago had been characterized “by a slower convergence than in the expansion prior to the crisis.” And he maintains that “the slow convergence of the post-crisis period occurs despite the fact that lower-income communities are reducing the unemployment rate at substantially faster rates than the rich ones.”
Only with these INE variables, the economic division is drawn on an imaginary line between north and south. It is the topic. But there are other gaps: the one that differentiates the entire Mediterranean arc (the coast of Catalonia, the Valencian Community, Murcia and Andalusia) from the interior of those same communities and from the rest of the so-called ’emptied Spain’. Also the northwest area, with a clear trend towards lower income and aging, with the Galician inland provinces, Asturias, León, Zamora, Salamanca and Cáceres. And the strength of the Ebro valley from La Rioja to Tarragona passing through Aragon.
Those two Spains that the poet Antonio Machado already spoke of in his day are still valid in the 21st century in terms of employment and activity, with a leading role from the north. In the south, a worrying unemployment rate that, although it is falling, places Spain at the head of Europe. Good salaries are paid in the northern half, as are the most generous pensions. In the rest, salaries are, on average, more precarious and pensions are lower.
The reasons for this imbalance must be found in the development of the industry, research and the characteristics of the business fabric. In addition, in these territories their workers tend to be more trained.
Finding a job is a much more complicated task if it happens in the south. Extremadura and Andalusia are the queens of unemployment with an unemployment rate of 19.5% and 18.5%, respectively, compared to the average of 13.5% in the first quarter, according to the EPA. On the opposite side, the lowest unemployment rate is historically held by the Basque Country, with 8.4%. Aragon and Cantabria are also below the 10% barrier. In any case, it should be noted that for the first time since 2008 there is no autonomous community with an unemployment rate of more than 20%.
It is striking that the Basque Country leads, only behind Asturias, long-term unemployment. In both regions, half of the unemployed have been looking for a job for more than a year without success. The reason must be found in the fact that the low level of unemployment in these regions has become entrenched and this group is already difficult to activate, either because they are of advanced age, or because they lack qualifications, physical fitness or even the will and they have benefits , according to Javier Blasco, director of The Adecco Group Institute.
Despite the fact that Spain is at a record level of affiliation, above 20.7 million workers, there are six regions that have not yet exceeded their pre-bubble highs. And they’re not all from the south. These are Asturias, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Galicia and La Rioja.
The reasons for this labor inequality are based on the productive model, according to Blasco. The communities with the least unemployment are the ones that are most deeply rooted in the industry, have more companies, the presence of the tertiary sector, leading telecommunications companies… “This is what generates two Spain,” warns Blasco, who, however, points out that the hybridization that companies are now carrying out, which pursue talent and allow remote work, will facilitate relocation and greater mobility and ease between territories, which may allow some less fortunate territories to gain employment and reduce this gap. Spain is one of the countries in the world with the least geographical mobility, which leads to a lack of talent attraction. “Employment is not sought in other regions because of that anchorage that we historically have to our land and family,” warns the manager of Adecco.
But where there is still a clear gap is in the salary field. 650 euros per month separate workers from Extremadura from Madrid. Salaries in Madrid are the highest, 2,135 euros gross per month on average, according to Statistics. They are followed by the Basque Country and Navarra, with 2,103 and 1,969 euros, respectively. On the contrary, in Extremadura you barely earn 1,486 euros per month; in the Canary Islands, 1,585 euros; and in Castilla y León, 1,616 euros.
And this salary gap, how could it be otherwise, is transferred to the amounts of the pensions that the elderly receive: 517 euros separate the average pension of the Extremaduran and Basque system, which even rises to 536 euros if only It is limited to the retirement benefit.
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