Spanish journalist Roman Orozco warns that austerity is turning the country from a welfare state into a state of fear.

As Spain begins a general strike in protest at pro-business labour reforms, Spanish journalist Roman Orozco warns that austerity is turning the country from a welfare state into a state of fear.

Maria Romero, 26, got her nursing degree thanks to a scholarship. Her grades in high school and graduate school were excellent. She has a master's degree but her brilliant academic record doesn't help. Next Sunday, she will travel to Ireland to work as a nanny because in Spain it’s impossible for her to find a stable job.

Maria's case is similar to that of hundreds of thousands of young Spaniards. Despite formidable academic accomplishments, they are forced to look beyond their own borders to find work.

Spain is going backwards. In the 1970s, thousands of Spaniards emigrated to France, Switzerland or Germany. They found blue collar jobs in construction, cleaning or agriculture. They had no degrees. Today the young people who emigrate are doctors or engineers and speak languages fluently. Spain is suffering a brain drain - losing its best and brightest workers.

A few days ago, one of these young people complained to a national newspaper that his parents had invested 80,000 euros in his education, out of which he had been able to get a job that only paid 1,000 euros. They no longer even reach the level of "mileuristas" (young people who have low salaries and unsatisifying jobs).

Marching towards poverty

What happened to the Spanish Miracle? It has evaporated. The financial crisis that has battered the global economy since 2007 has hit hardest in Europe's southern nations, especially Spain. The poverty rate in Spain has grown five points since the crisis began in 2007.

Spain's economy was based fundamentally on two big sectors: construction and tourism. The first imploded and left in its wake more than 1.5m unemployed Spaniards with minimal educational backgrounds and an uncertain future. Tourism has continued to function at an acceptable, but lower level. The crisis has also affected European tourists.

In regions of Spain such as Andalucia, the unemployment level exceeds 32 per cent.

The consequences have been dramatic. With 5.3m people out of work, Spain is marching towards poverty. A recent report by the Catholic charity Cáritas shows that the poverty index in Spain has grown five per cent since the crisis began in 2007 and a total of 580,000 Spanish households receive no income.

The outlook for any significant improvement is remote. Economy minister Luis Guindos - ironically, a former Lehman Brothers executive - has announced that this year another 630,000 Spaniards will lose their jobs. By the end of 2012 Spain's unemployment rate will have reached a momentous level of six million.

Some 23 per cent of the Spanish working population is idle, double the rate of the US, and in some regions, such as Andalucia, the unemployment level exceeds 32 per cent. For those under the age of 25, the number reaches 50 per cent.

Fears of social unrest

Can an advanced economy sustain this level of unemployment? The answer is 'No'. Fears of social unrest are growing each day. The solutions being offered up by the Spanish government, under the strict direction of the EU technocrats, threaten to continue undermining growth and contributing to unemployment.

No-one knows in which sectors, or when, some of these millions of lost jobs can be recovered. The budget discipline being demanded by German Chancellor Angela Merkel is breaking the economy. In reality, Spain is already a country in recession and this year will suffer a 1.75 per cent decline in gross domestic product, according to government figures.

A woman protesting against the labour reforms declared Spain was passing from a welfare state to a state of fear.

To achieve the deficit reduction imposed by Brussels (5.3 per cent), Spain is being asked to cut spending by 45bn euros. The conservative government of Mariano Rajoy carried out its first cuts of 15bn euros shortly after taking office just 100 days ago.

The consequences are plain to see: public services have been weakened. Hospitals have been closed, women's service centres shuttered, elderly home care reduced, day care centres shut down and thousands of teachers and doctors laid off.

A few days ago, a woman who was protesting against the labour reforms decreed by government declared that Spain was passing from a welfare state to a state of fear: fear of losing your job, fear of businesses, fear that your children's lives will be worse that yours.

Unions versus business

The labour reform proposed by the government puts all the power in the hands of business. For economic or organisational reasons, business leaders are allowed to change schedules, transfer workers to other cities, lower salaries, add hours to the work day... all under the threat of the sack. All of this can happen without the intervention of a judge to rule on the legality of the measures, as was previously the case.

The strike will be the first act in a series of confrontations with a government ready to fulfil the mandate from Brussels.

This is the principal reason, but not the only reason, that the unions have called a general strike for Thursday, 29 March for all Spanish workers. The strike that will be the first act in a series of confrontations with a conservative government ready to do whatever it takes to fulfil the mandate from Brussels.

The strike will catch young María shutting her suitcase as she prepares to leave for Ireland. She joins many other thousands of Spaniards who prefer to emigrate rather than to continue living with, and depending on, their parents. The tragedy is that those who go are the best prepared and most capable. And each day Spain is the poorer for it.