In Spain, the specter of precariousness

Text by: RFI Follow

Spain is preparing to move to phase one of its deconfinement this Monday, on part of its territory. But the community of Madrid, Catalonia and Castilla y Leon would still not meet the criteria to move to the next phase, which would have allowed some businesses to reopen their doors under certain conditions. After almost two months of paralysis, the economic situation is deteriorating and the most precarious pay the high price.

Publicity

With special note sent to the south of Madrid , Véronique Gaymard

“  I used to come on Fridays but because of the coronavirus, we are helped more often. Now they are helping the whole neighborhood. I live here, and the queues are huge every day! And every day longer!  Felicidad is in his fifties, his face ravaged by years of precariousness. She has no more work. She was looking after an elderly person who had to take refuge in her family.

We are south of Madrid, in Puente de Vallecas , where the more than 230,000 inhabitants constitute a reservoir of cheap labor for the capital. Many live off odd jobs, often unreported. Some are undocumented like Gladis, a Colombian who comes to fill her shopping cart with the products distributed by the San Ramon Nonato church. “  Milk, bread, flour, eggs, they give a lot of good products. I've only been here for seven months. I did not have time to find work. And then there was the state of emergency.  "

In the parish, the priest of the San Ramon Nonato church, José Manuel Horcajo, does not take his eyes off his phone to check the orders. “  Before the pandemic, we received 300 people a day, Monday to Sunday. Now we receive 900. We help them with training to find a job. Now everything is paralyzed. And then we give a lot of help to pay the rents, to those who can no longer pay, who are evicted, and we look for solutions.  "

In the queues, many migrants, from North Africa or Latin America, but also middle-class Spaniards whose income supplements, often unreported, suddenly dried up and waiting their turn to fill their shopping cart.

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