The situation in Spain is worse than the 2008 crisis

People line up when volunteers distribute food at Santa Anna's church in Barcelona on May 15, 2020.

In the midst of rising poverty during the COVID-19 epidemic, the reception of food aid flyers was for the first time a reality for thousands of Hispanics.

The acceptance of food aid leaflets has become a reality for the first time for thousands of Hispanic people amid a surge in poverty during the COVID-19 acute respiratory infection.

Jacqueline Alvarez, 42, is choosing basic foods in the Aluche working-class neighborhood. 

"I cover my face because I'm ashamed because I've never had to ask for food before in my life." 

she admitted.

Behind her is a long line of nearly 700 people queuing around the buildings, all waiting to receive something to help feed their family from an emergency food bank based in the city.

The Spanish Food Bank Association (FESBAL) said such images were appearing more and more across Spain, where food aid leaflets increased by 40% during the period of imposition of leprosy orders. For many, this is the first time they have to seek such help.

Earlier, Oxfam said the COVID-19 epidemic had a negative impact on world economies that could put about half a billion people in poverty.

In Spain, a blockade order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 has dealt a blow to one of the highest unemployment economies in the European Union (Eurozone) after Greece.

When the economic crisis took place, the unemployment rate soared 26% in 2013 before falling to about 14% in 2019. In 2020, the unemployment rate is expected to climb to 19%. Although the current situation has not yet reached that level, the impact is actually worse.

Olga Diaz, deputy head of social assistance at the Spanish Red Cross, said the public health crisis facing the country was far worse than the 2008 financial crisis. Spain has never had to mobilize so many resources before.

To date, the organization has assisted more than 1.5 million people since the blockade orders were imposed in mid-March 2020. Olga said about 68% of them have never been here before.

Meanwhile, UN poverty expert Philip Alston in February 2020 said that even before the outbreak, despite the economic recovery, Spain's poverty rate was "high." terrible".