I -Spaniard here living in Spain- tend not to believe those figures. Also:
1) Hiring is unbelievably costly due to Social Security.
2) Hence you tend to pay "in black".
3) People HAVE TO pay for the Soc Sec even though they do not earn enough for a living. At the very leas, 250 bucks per month whatever your earnings are.
4) We are spectacular liars at polls. Nobody in the black market will say he has a job.
So a grain of salt is required.
EDIT: although the outlook is really really bleak, there is no denying it.
True. Americans can't understand it without traveling and living abroad.
It is very easy for them to make business.
Also, lot of people here are in "paro" subsidy earning 400euros a month and working in the black, 600 or 700 euros. There are also lots of other subsidies like PER witch is part of the "social net" that make Social Security so expensive(a millennial is earning more than 2000euros before taxes make it 1000).
If they report they are working, they lose the subsidy.
1) Hiring is unbelievably costly due to Social Security. 2) Hence you tend to pay "in black". 3) People HAVE TO pay for the Soc Sec even though they do not earn enough for a living. At the very leas, 250 bucks per month whatever your earnings are. 4) We are spectacular liars at polls. Nobody in the black market will say he has a job.
So a grain of salt is required.
EDIT: although the outlook is really really bleak, there is no denying it.