Little to celebrate for thousands

And, according to the unions, the rate at which jobs are being lost has gathered momentum over the past few months since the tourist season ended and, with a record number of hotels closed this winter and few planning on opening until May, union bosses fear that not only with thousands more people will be made redundant over the winter, it is going to be extremely hard to find employment because none is being created.

What is more, union sources have said that fewer and fewer people are signing on at job centres because they consider the future here in the Balearics continues to look bleak with the region still stuck in recession.

And, fewer foreign residents are signing on for benefit because, just like Spanish nationals, with benefits having been slashed and conditions made more complicated to receive them, more and more people are turning to either the black market or moving to the mainland and abroad in search of work.

Some experts have warned that unless the regional and central governments get a grip on the workplace and start encouraging companies to create jobs, the country could suffer a brain drain with an ever increasing number of Spaniards heading abroad.

The Balearic government has missed its economic growth target for this year.
It had budgeted for a growth of 1.2 percent but, the economy actually contracted again by- 0.1 percent, leaving us in deep in recession again.
So, we are all ending the year with bad news again and we are going to start 2013 just like we began last year, worrying about our futures, job security, the economy and with a local government doing very little to improve the situation.