If you need further proof of just how terribly Spain has run itself into the ground, look no further than the fact that the government is giving free food to 66,000 people in the province. Given that unemployment is at about 37% in Almería province, that’s about right.
Meanwhile, we learnt last week that the Mayor of a crappy little seaside town like Garrucha can steal or misspend (the jury is still, ahem, not called in!) over 1,3 million euros, and nobody really gives a damn, apart from the people who want his job.
I understand the photo is of the Almería central foodbank warehouse where the food is being distributed from (via ideal.es)
Given that the population of the province is around 190,000, that’s almost one in three people earn under the poverty level in the province, and hence are eligible for food aid.
The government distributed 2,5 million kilos of food last year, worth 3 million euros, across Almería province.
In all, the central government gave the Spanish Food Bank and the Spanish Red Cross over 35 million kilos of food last year, worth some 35 million euros, feeding some 2,2 million people across Spain.
There are 185 food banks across the province which directly attended to 64.614 eligible residents, and a further 39 organisations which feed a further 2.147 (mainly home bound people I understand).
For 2014, the government expects to spend 40 million euros buying 45 million kilos of basic foodstuff. In case you’re interested, they distribute 9 basic categories of non-brand food. In Spanish, they are:
Aceite de oliva, arroz blanco, cereales infantiles, frutas en conserva, galletas, garbanzos, harina, judías verdes en conserva, leche UHT, lentejas, pasta alimenticia, potitos infantiles, y queso parafinado.