Mason Jones (Reporter)
ANDALUCIA has one of the lowest debt levels per capita in Europe, it has emerged.
While the region is heavily in debt, the average Andalucian only owes €1,699, comparing favourably to the rest of Spain.
Incredibly, in Bremen, Germany, this figure rises to €27,282 per person.
The total public debt of the Spanish regions was €140,083 million last year, almost five times lower than that of the German states, which amounted to €637,630 million.
Home ownership (wiki):
Spain 78% of population
Germany 42% of population
Overall Tax (“http://www.nationmaster.com”)
(Total wedge – single worker)
Spain 37.9%
Germany 50.7%
Crime Figures (“http://www.nationmaster.com”)
Germany 6,507,394 (ranked 3rd six times more than Spain)
Spain 923,271
Which ever way you slice it I’m glad I live over here with the canny people.
I expect people would want more debt if they had a job and a future lol.
Fred – “I expect people would want more debt if they had a job and a future lol.”
In what world do you live where having debt helps your future? Maybe you are confusing debt with credit. Credit can be helpful if it is paid off on time. And used responsibly. Most people fail to do this. Thus, they seem to be living good externally (new cars, new house, etc.) when it is unsustainable and will eventually collapse. A person who falls deeply into debt will be hindered for the rest of their life.
Alternately, a person with no job, but who has a familial house and no debt, is only starting from zero. They are already ahead of the person who has debt on a car (that they, thus, do not really own), debt on a house that they can’t pay (which will get foreclosed on) and outstanding credit card debts (ensuring that they will never be approved for credit and loans in the future).
Debt isn’t a sign of success or responsible financial management. It is a sign that you are living beyond your means. If there are poor Andalucians who have no jobs, but less debt and own their own houses they are actually more financially secure than people who live off unsustainable debts.
They are also more secure than people who come to Spain thinking they can live off a pension without any other source of income. The average Spanish individual has an extended family that will always ensure that they have a place to sleep, food to eat and a little bit of money to spend. The pensioners who arrive and find out it is more expensive than they thought fail completely and have to return to where they came from. Didn’t the Olive Press just recently run a story about some homeless Brit who couldn’t pay their rent, despite having a pension?
So don’t be so dismissive about the Spanish. The economy is bad, but the quality of life is far better than most of Europe. Particularly for individuals who have little to no income.
Credit is debt. If you don’t service the credit, you get legal action taken against you. My point is that not having debt is not some yardstick to measure if a person is better or worse off in life. There is nothing wrong with having debt, if it is kept at a sensible level and you have the means to pay it back.
Quality of life is another meaningless yardstick which, again, you cannot quantify as it is relative to the individual.