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Generation E

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Factual: Money

Factual: Politics

Lucy Ash sees how young Europeans are facing up to a time of economic and political crisis

Lucy Ash examines how young Europeans are facing up to a time of economic and political crisis

Generation E: Series 1

Generation E: Series 1: Episode 2: Life in a Spanish Ghost Town

Factual

Life in a Spanish Ghost Town

Episode 2

Episode 2: Life in a Spanish Ghost Town

Series 1

BBC Radio 4 - Generation E, Series 1, Life in a Spanish Ghost Town

Spain's economic crisis has pushed record numbers to default on their mortgages.

Spain's economic crisis has pushed record numbers to default on their mortgages and repossessions are common. At the same time, the country is full of brand new, empty properties.

Lucy Ash travels across Europe to meet the continent's next generation, as they face a future where the recent certainties - the euro, comfortable growth, ever closer union - have been brought into question. She explores the challenges they face and the innovative ways they are meeting them.

Programme 2: Life in a Spanish Ghost Town

Spain's economic crisis has pushed record numbers to default on their mortgages and repossessions are at an all time high. Some claim that 180 families are now being evicted from their homes each day. Yet at the same time the country is full of brand new, empty properties.

When the real estate bubble burst, it left behind a country full of empty lots, half built homes and unnamed streets. On the outskirts of big cities, it is common to find large apartment blocks inhabited by just a handful of families. 

Nowhere is the problem more acute than in Valdeluz, an hour's drive north of Madrid. This dormitory city was designed back in 2004 for 30,000 people but only a few hundred people moved in. They have seen the value of their flats halved and many fear they will never be able to sell up and move elsewhere. 

It's a negative equity nightmare but a group of young reisdents are determined to make the best of things. They describe the joys of rollerblading down the deserted streets and the quiet, wide open spaces. They also say the low number of people has fostered a warm community spirit and that Valdeluz has the atmosphere of a big village. Joaquin Ormazabal, the newly elected mayor tells Lucy his vision of Utopia is modelled on Basildon in Essex. 

Producer: Arlene Gregorius.

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Lucy Ash meets Europe's disaffected youth at a time of economic and political turmoil

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Episode 2: Life in a Spanish Ghost Town

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