Spain’s Economic Crisis: The Dark Side of Toledo

I usually bombard you with pretty pictures of my current “home town”, but there’s another side to Toledo, which isn’t quite so enchanting.

As you may be aware of, the boom years, which preceded Spain’s ongoing economic crisis, were founded on a building spree and unchecked property speculation. The remnants of this period of madness are all too visible. The outskirts of most Spanish towns are littered with half-finished office buildings and housing estates, destined to remain abandoned indefinitely.

Here are a handful of snaps taken in Toledo’s Poligono area.

The developer’s board is a painful reminder of happier times. Today, with youth unemployment close to 60%, people of the age group portrayed on the placard cannot afford to leave home, never mind buy a flat of their own

This playground doesn’t see many children. The sparsely inhabited grey monoliths behind are in a sorry state of disrepair

A couple of derelict warehouses

Those cranes in the background haven’t moved in a very long time…

Now… if you’d like to look at some pretty pictures of Toledo, click here.

Or, if you want to see the ugliest thing Toledo has on offer, here it is…urgh.