In many ways the situation reminds me of the UK in the 1970s. Mass strikes, traditional industries dying or going bust, uncollected rubbish in the streets, the 3 day week etc, shops businesses having to turn their lights off and the British car industry collapsing etc etc.
Many who are not old enough to remember those days will not understand how really grim Britain was in the 70s and how the prevailing mood was of total despair with the situation and the 'state' of the country.
I appreciate the root causes were different but all societies sometimes have to go through these traumas to bring them back to their senses and compel them to get to grips with things.

Well, the strike may be over, they came to an agreement last night not to sack the 125 workers but instead everyone will have to accept a 10% pay cut. The employees are voting on it this afternoon. Given they have just lost three weeks pay during the strike, you can imagine what a happy Christmas they and their families will be having.

What was the rubbish strike about in the UK, can anyone remember?

I think what normally happens here is that if the national police or military are deployed locally, the ayuntamiento has to reimburse central government.

How right you are about the '70s in the UK. A complete train wreck. When people do Thatcher down they forget the mess she had to sort out courtesy of the unions. She was far from perfect but she was what was needed at the time.

Guess we all saw it differently, certainly there were big problems, but personally I didn't feel a mood of "total despair", or anything like it. Yes, lots out of work, but a lot more of us carried on as normal.

Edit. Just looked, unemployment in UK in 1974-75 was 5.8%, in 1981 it peaked at 10.6%. We're talking about two and a half times that rate in Spain, over 25%, a huge difference. Even in the good years, Spain has always had high unemployment, their biggest export over the years has been people.

Pretty much like the current situation in Spain then

Same here, but that doesn't mean that the mood of much the nation was like that!
Yes, you're correct about unemployment rates, but in the UK, nearly full employment had been pretty much accepted and it was only when it began to rise to levels which are low by today's standards that people took to streets to protest. Leaving aside unemployment rates, imagine if Spain or Greeks were compelled by government to a 3 day working week, the lights went out and TV closed at 10pm to save energy. That's what was happening in Britain.
The then PM James Callaghan, returning from a trip abroad, told waiting news reporters that the British people were misguided in their perception of conditions and that things looked far brighter when viewed from overseas. He then became known as 'Sunny Jim' and his political career was over.
Yes of course many people carried on as 'normal', but any study of the UK during the 70s will reveal a mood amongst many of despair that things were bad and could only get worse.
The feeling amongst many that something radical needed to be done to sort the country out led in many ways to the election of Margaret Thatcher.
But that's for another day!

I thought the 3 day week and planned power cuts were brought in by Edward Heath during the 1974 miners strike?

I would tell you but the big brains have deemed it to be irrelevent


`

full employment was achieved under Maggie, the period when the unemployable were able to get jobs.

`

]

Yep it was but there was also the winter of discontent when Labour were in government. I worked in Leicester Square London during that one. The rubbish was piled high and Rats running around. I remember the prime minister coming back from holiday and being asked about the crisis and his response was what "crisis what crisis".

I remember the Edward Heath one as well. worked in Knighstbridge and all the lights went out at a set time every day.

You lot have short memories! She took over in 1979, unemployment hit 12% three years later.

Yes, you are correct. The common theme running through the '70s was The Unions.

I was quietly chuckling to myself at the comment about Thatcher....

I remember it well. I was the "Man from the Pru" then and there were many, many households who couldn´t pay their premiums because they had lost their jobs and were losing their homes and facing bankruptcy. Oh yes and don´t forget when the interest rates hit something like 15%.