The Writing on the Wall

I’m a great lover of graffiti. I don’t make it, but I’m interested in what it has to say. You can tell a lot about a place by the tagging. It’s a forum for individuals without a sanctioned form of self-expression. The desires and frustrations of a people are there on the walls for anyone to read. If you’re in a city with a lot of tagging, you’re in a city with a lot of unheard anger.

The last time we were in Tenerife, there were occasional bits of anti-government graffiti - an anarchy symbol here, a sickle and hammer there. Two years later, these types of messages seem to be on every block. Support for independence from Spain is growing, at least in Santa Cruz.

The relationship between Tenerife and Spain has always been dicey. It was the last island in the archipelago to be conquered and the only one that kept its original name. Rather than try to govern the populace, the Spanish sent the majority into slavery, either in Spain itself or to its colonies in the Gulf of Mexico, effectively wiping out native traditions. Even though there are few, if any, native islanders still in the Canaries, a spirit of rebellion and stubbornness has been part of Canary culture ever since.

Right now, the discontent centers on the economy. Austerity measures taken by the government, which include cutting health benefits to the unemployed, meant to reduce unemployment and debt load were met with protests this spring and unmitigated anger ever since. 

To an extent, the unemployment problem is Madrid’s fault. National labor laws make it so difficult to fire someone after they’ve become a permanent employee that most companies employ only temporary workers. For every temporary job created, there’s a built in self-destruct date that guarantees future unemployment.

On the other hand, the culture also fosters joblessness. Given the choice between moving to a city with jobs and staying where their extended families live, most people choose the latter. It makes for really strong families and really weak economies. Add to that the tendency to live with your parents until middle age, and there really isn’t much impetus to get a job while in your twenties, especially since you can go to university for as long as you want for virtually free.

All of these factors have been at play for at least 20 years, so why are the people so angry now? Historically, Spain has had the worst unemployment record in the European Union. What’s different now is the fact that Spain can’t borrow to cover its shortages the way it could back in the day. These days, several question whether or not any country using the Euro is worth investing in. 

The Euro was adopted by a collection of countries to bolster their economic power. Instead of having a national currency dependent on national strengths and weaknesses, the Euro allows its members to trade on the good name of every other country using it. For example, the strong economy of France can help hold up the weaker economy of Belgium by using the same currency. 

The Euro also gives each country more bargaining power. Few care about the fiscal demands of say, Monaco, but a lot of people care very much about Monaco when its bigger, meaner friends France and Germany are involved as well.

Here’s the problem, though: every member of the European Union can do as it pleases regarding fiscal policy, even though the country’s individual success or failure reflects on the group as a whole. For some of those countries, that means borrowing far above their gross domestic product every year in order to pay for social services or other expenses. When the global economy was healthy, this didn’t bother anybody. But when the rest of the world struggles, countries that depend a lot on tourism to feed their people aren’t getting the cash inflow they’re used to. Their debts increase while their power to pay decreases, making some precariously close to defaulting on all those loans.

With countries like Ireland, Greece, and now Spain circling the drain, the rest of the group are getting sucked down by the undertow. Italy, who has the third strongest economy in the Eurozone and is close to a national balanced budget, can’t get banks to loan to it. All for one and one for all has its negative side as well.

So will the Canaries put this mess at their backs and form their own country? I doubt it. They lack the educated, charismatic leaders usually associated with such a movement. As for a Facebook rebellion, the wireless here sucks.