Mediterranean malaise

Part by luck and part by my own design, i end up in 4 Mediterranean countries in 2 weeks, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece. the mood of impending disaster is identical everywhere, although no one believes me when i say that, every person i talk to is certain that their country really does have it the worst. Greeks tell me they have it worst as they needed a bail out. Portuguese clients assure me that actually they have the worst lot, since they have not even got a bail out yet, but will surely need one and it will be on worse terms since countries like Greece have already been bailed out. Italians moan that even their prime minister is facing criminal charges and the Spaniards assure me they will be bankrupt within a year. in portugal i meet an old friend i havent seen in nearly a decade. he has launched a new career for himself, providing people with advise on bad credit- when to declare bankruptcy etc. it is clearly a growth industry. everywhere you go there is a lurking sense of hysteria, like everyone has spotted the package and now they are all just waiting for the bomb to explode, hoping it doesn’t kill them.

the economic figures for all of these countries is grim. all are facing unprecedented cuts, all are struggling with epic numbers of unemployed, especially unemployed youth. all have been hit by the implosion of the construction boom and the fall in tourism. in every country, the crisis is the first topic of conversation. i walk into a spanish boardroom, introduce myself, and the first question a vice president asks me is "what do you think of our collapse?"

what I find odd, however, is that in all four counties, this tremendous crisis is not immediately obvious, in fact quite the contrary. people assure me that if I look carefully at local peoples faces, I will see the crisis written on them. my portuguese friend assures me that people just look sadder than before, my Italian contacts say the same. but what strikes me, with my outsider perspective, is that the cafés and bars are surprisingly full and that people seem to be out in the streets enjoying themselves. on a saturday night in athens, trendy neighbourhoods have filled bars and restaurants with cool looking young people enjoying themselves. on a sunday afternoon In a small greek town some hours from the capital, the main square is full and along the spectacular waterfront my friend and I struggle to find seats amongst the local crowds. In milan the shopping centres are full. I wander into abercrombie and fitch (of all places) and the queue to pay must have been at least 30 minutes long. In diesal I was going to try on jeans, but the queue to the changing room was too long and I needed to get back to the airport. I managed to get some shopping done in lisbon and in madrid, but even there the shops were full. In athens, my friend's father assures me it would take an awful lot to keep the greeks from going out. so it seems across the Mediterranean. I hope it stays that way.