fionamw

Just heard that there are food handouts and a soup kitchen now set up in our village ........... signs of the times if true. Is this just rural Andalucia or typical of quite a lot of Spain at the moment?

lovingthesun

We're not far from you - I've not heard of it in our village - yet - but they have recently opened a 'centro de jubilados' where I believe they'll be doing subsidised mid-day meals!

jackytoo

They have been doing it in málaga for a while. There were photos in Sur of the queues.

cricketman

They've always been around, given that in Spain some families will be entitled to no or very little benefit, but yes with the crisis they have become more popular. They tend to be run by the church or neighbours associations. They give out food to families too.

I've also seen articles in the British press about similar services in the UK.

steviedeluxe

Is there a western country where this is not taking place. Maybe not Norway, but I've read many stories about hardship in the US. Certainly times are tough in the UK. Emergency food handouts:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-14634818

Increase in homeless of 10% (44,160 people)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/20...s-crisis-study

Still, the top people in the banks have their bonuses, so it should all work out in the end?

lynnxa

nope - not just your area.............we have at least 2 just in our town

Lynn R

We've had a charity food bank running in Velez-Malaga for at least two years now. I sometimes buy a couple of bags of non-perishable groceries and take them in as donations - you can get quite a lot at Mercadona or Lidl for 10€!

HBG

Even a posh place like Torrevieja has them, several in fact.

fionamw

Ok. My misplaced surprise is now plain as the nose etc. Has anyone ever worked in/seen a soup kitchen/food handout? Just wonder what kind of people (if it's possible, of course, to judge) have needed to use them. I wish this didn't seem so much like prurient nosiness... I just wondered.

HBG

My wife and I help out on the British one when we can. The people using it are mostly British pensioners overwhelmed by the devaluation of the pound, as well as younger people who have lost their jobs and can't get home for various reasons.

We've got no down-and-outs or alcoholics, just ordinary people down on their luck through no fault of their own.

I know of two Spanish and one Moroccan soup kitchens in the town. I've heard it today and many times before when Spanish officials have said that nobody will ever go hungry in Spain.

I believe that to be true.

lovingthesun

Where in Velez is it Lynn? We're doing a Mercadona/Lidl shop tomorrow and I'd like to make a donation!

JLFS

Soups kitchen or brothel is there any difference ?

Domino

there is a daily lunchtime soup kitchen at the San Rafael de Granada hospital in the Calle San Juan de Dios in Granada's centre. As most of the regulars have at least one dog with them food is also provided for the dogs.

angiescarr

I noticed last time I was in Madrid that really 'ordinary' looking people were begging. Last week I noticed an ordinary young Spanish bloke outside 'El Jamon' in the next town along from us with a note saying he was trying to support himself and his brother. Clearly there are more people in really severe difficulties these days. We're not finding it *easy* ourselves on one somewhat unpredictable income. And we're now counting the cents. So I imagine those who were counting the cents before, now have no cents to count. It must be so hard to 'drop your dignity' to eat or keep yourself warm.

Domino

once you have adjusted down to own label products where is there to go beyond that ?
could say self sufficiency, make & bake yourself but....can you afford the fuel ?

this is a problem many OAP's in the UK have had for decades, especially since we stopped living as families and went our separate ways looking for work.