Word: spain
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...SAGRA, SPAIN Hitting the Bricks Spaniards refer to the crash of their once booming real estate and construction industries as a "crisis of bricks." In La Sagra, they take that phrase literally. Located about 40 miles (65 km) south of Madrid, the clay-rich county produces roughly 30% of Spain's bricks, and boasts the greatest concentration of brickworks in Europe. But right now, La Sagra's factories aren't making much of anything. "The warehouses are full," says Carlos Duque, general secretary for the Castilla-La Mancha branch of the construction workers' trade union MCA-UGT. "They just...
...Residents of the county don't have to look far for the reason. The bursting of Spain's real estate bubble sent several major developers into bankruptcy and halted construction across the country. The number of houses built in 2008 is expected to fall by 70% from 2007. That's also fueling unemployment, which jumped by almost a third in September to reach 11.3%, Spain's highest rate since...
...Sagra, Spain Spaniards refer to the crash of their once booming real estate and construction industries as a "crisis of bricks." In La Sagra, they take that phrase literally. Located about 40 miles (65 km) south of Madrid, the clay-rich county produces roughly 30% of Spain's bricks, and boasts the greatest concentration of brick works in Europe. But right now, La Sagra's factories aren't making much of anything. "The warehouses are full," says Carlos Duque, general secretary for the Castilla-La Mancha branch of MCA-UGT, the construction workers' trade union. "They just don't have...
Residents of the county don't have to look far for the reason why. The outskirts of towns like Alameda de la Sagra are dotted with partially built developments where construction has been halted for months. The bursting of Spain's real estate bubble sent several major developers into bankruptcy, and halted new home construction across the country. The number of houses built in 2008 is expected to fall by 70% from 2007. That's also fueling unemployment, which jumped by almost a third in September to reach 11.3%, Spain's highest rate since...
...over summer, but things have hardly improved since then. Duque says most of the brick companies in La Sagra have suspended workers temporarily in a program that allows them to receive unemployment benefits for three months and then return to a guaranteed job. With the financial meltdown adding to Spain's troubles and the country now teetering on the edge of recession, Duque worries about what lies ahead. La Sagra's brick works employ about 2,600 workers directly, and another 10,000 indirectly. If the economy worsens, says Duque, "We're going to start seeing factories closing for good...