Strike!

The Spanish don't exactly have a reputation for hard work, or so we've been told. We've found this to be not so based in fact; see our earlier posts about the looonng Spanish work day--and add that to the fact that most Spaniards we know (especially the bread brothers) work incredibly hard. But in any case, the reputation persists.

Based on this reputation, we'd thought that today's general strike would lead to Spaniards taking the day to kick back and enjoy life, mingle in public space, and protest a little bit. But in fact, today carried on pretty much like any other day, except with fewer buses. Metro? Running. Schools? Open. Businesses? Open. Shops? Most open. City services like pooper scooping? Still scooping. Construction sites? Working, although with tighter security than usual. The biggest effect (at least as of noon today) seems to be lots of police overtime.

The strike is partially over changes in labor laws, but also no doubt reflects frustration over Spain's unemployment rate, which is nearly 23%. Other than an incredible number of vacant office buildings and apartments, we don't really see that where we live -- it feels very safe, peaceable, and you generally don't see folks under the age of 65 walking around during the day. Still, nearly one in four out of work is an incredible number, and it's fairly amazing that Spanish society seems to have adapted with minimal disruption. Not sure we'd be so lucky in the U.S.