vobiblog

Today marks the halfway point of my trip. Barcelona and Marrakech done, now on to Milan. While I have to say it is better than sitting at home working, at the same time, it has been pretty grim, and perhaps a sign of things to come in Australia.

Spain built itself on two things. Cheap tourism for Northern Europeans and infrastructure. Since the introduction of the Euro, Spain has become more and more expensive, meaning for most Europeans, it’s much cheaper to stay at home. As for the infrastructure, I have noticed incredible changes in the country in the 25 years that I have been going there. What they have built is amazing. Freeways, high speed trains, wind power, there has been a massive build out. However, with the GFC, they have suddenly realised that they don’t have any money left to continue such projects. This, and the lack of tourists, has lead to an unemployment rate or around 20% – unimaginable in Australia. No doubt the country is feeling pretty good after their World Cup victory last night. However, I suspect that feeling will be short lived.

This brings me to Morocco. It has always been a poor country, and remains largely agrarian. However, the focus of development here has also been tourism. I first came to Marrakech in 2006. There were signs that things were moving forward here. More tourists, new buildings, the wealth was trickling down from Europe. Spain was comparatively wealthy and provided many of those tourists. Last week, my flight from Barcelona would have been lucky to have had 40 people on it. Marrakech has always been a place where men will be standing around on the street with very little to do. With no one visiting, even in the tourist areas, the number of locals vastly outnumbers the foreigners. Those who are coming are not spending what they used to.

It is not just the livelihood of the locals that is at stake. Banking on tourism and foreign income has caused them to put all of their eggs in the one basket. Marrakech is now finding itself in the midst of a property bubble. All around the city, where there was once open fields, construction sites can be found. The amount of construction relative to the overall size of the indescribable. The usual pattern of development here is hotel or shopping centre, swimming pool, nightclub and villas, though villa could be an understatement – Think African McMansion. While some projects are complete, others are yet to open. Some are half complete and unlikely to be finished, their dark, open concrete shells liable to be a blight on the landscape for some time. Of course like all good booms, they thought it would never end. This was going to be the Dubai of North Africa. There is advertising for developments that have gone broke before they have even broken ground.

It is quite a sad state of affairs. Relying on tourism has raised prices for locals. Wages haven’t increased, despite everything but the basics costing the same as it does in Europe. There are few job prospects and little choice. Perhaps it is no surprise then that despite this being a strict Muslim country, the only industry that is really booming is that of sex tourism. I feel for the people here. Life is hard, and about to get harder. I consider myself lucky to live in Australia. Yet, I can’t help but think, despite our strong economy and high employment, we are not isolated in the world. This is where we are ultimately heading as well.