Word: spanishing
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...generations, Spain's economic expansion has turned it from an emigrant to an immigrant nation. Integrating new arrivals is a Socialist priority, but many immigrants don't support the party's progressive family policies. Ana Maria Vinazza says that in the decade since she arrived from Peru, "the Spanish family has changed for the worse." Beyond her opposition to gay marriage, and concern with the loss of religious values, she sees too many Spaniards indulging the young. "Parents give children too much. You have to earn what you get in life," she says, seated around a table with...
...measured by size alone, the Spanish family has seen better days: until 1996 Spain had the lowest fertility rate in Europe. The rate has actually started to inch back upward, from a low of 1.16 live births per woman in 1996 to 1.38 in 2006. That minor uptick is linked to larger immigrant families, but also to children of Spain's early-1970s baby boom starting to have kids of their own. It's not enough, though, to maintain the population level, so Parliament last year approved a $3,700 "baby bonus" subsidy for each child born...
...past seven years has been linked to housing starts. The resulting housing glut stemmed above all from overconfidence about tourism and speculation on second-home purchases. But José García-Montalvo, an economics professor at Barcelona's Pompeu Fabra University, says basic misconceptions about the rapidly changing Spanish family have exacerbated the problem. Gung-ho developers forged ahead with building projects, in part because government estimates of housing demand made faulty assumptions. A divorced couple, for instance, was automatically calculated as demand for one additional home, though in reality the husband often moves back in with his parents...
...Spain's social legislation. In the wake of his surprising 2004 victory - which many attributed to the incumbent Popular Party government's mishandling of the aftermath of the March 11, 2004, Madrid bombings - the little-known Socialist leader made waves with his announcement of an immediate withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq. But the sweeping agenda of progressive social policy is what has truly marked Zapatero's term. He pushed through major women's-rights legislation, including parity in electoral lists, equal-pay provisions, and a comprehensive anti-domestic-violence law in a country still suffering the ill effects...
...have the same protection or the same standing." Zerolo, whose wedding was one of the approximately 10,000 gay marriages licensed under the new law, is proud to see Spain catapult itself from behind the curve to ahead of it on these issues. "This the first time in Spanish history that we are world leaders in equality," he says. "With an effervescent economy and the recognition of the dignity of every man and woman, we are a country prepared for the future...