On September 24, The New York Times published a series of photos titled ¨
In Spain, Austerity and Hunger¨ detailing how the economic crisis has affected Spain. Yes, the crisis is real here. I personally know people who have lost jobs, who have had to move to other countries to find work, who are struggling to make ends meet. This is the image of Spain that The New York Times has presented to America. All photo credit to Samuel Aranda for the New York Times.
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| A Cuban immagrant who moved to a mobile home after losing his construction job |
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| An anti-austerity demonstration in Jaén |
It´s not pretty, and it´s completely real. But it is far from the whole story of Spain, and no where near an accurate representation of what it´s like to live here. With Mitt Romney making comments that he doesn´t want the United States to end up like Spain, I ask myself, what does America really know about Spain? They don´t eat tacos and enchiladas, they are not all tan and dark haired like our image of Mexicans, and most importantly, they do not all dig in trash bins for their food. Read what the New York Times has to say, look at the pictures, because they´re all real, but then, look at
this.
A Spanish news network, Antena 3, has responded. They issused a
call for photos of the other side of Spain, the part that wasn´t included in the New York Times. I personally submitted several. I haven´t seen them published yet, but I´ll include them here:
Spaniards learning about American culture. Something Americans could use a little of in reverse.
Beautiful landscapes.
Mouth-watering cuisine.
Spain is not a third world country. It's going through an economic crisis, but at the end of the day, Spaniards will always take care of each other. Explore other pictures that have been submitted. You will see Spain and its people, from all walks of life, in their everyday life in this beautiful country- exactly the part that American media is missing.
I agree with you completely--a balanced view of the country is not being shown by foreign media.
ReplyDeleteA few months ago I was at a consignment shop in Madrid that I often go to. The owner was arguing heatedly with two German reporters who wanted an interview. After they left, the owner explained to me why he no longer lets reporters take photos in his shop, nor grants interviews.
Earlier in the year a French newspaper had also come to interview him about the business. At the time he was under the impression that they were highlighting the resourcefulness and "green" aspects of the store, which is a novelty in Spain. Later, however, they paired the story with pictures of homeless people pawing through the trash--something which isn't at all related to the concept of the store nor the clientele.
It's a shame that the foreign media is casting the economy in such a poor light. Kudos to you for drawing our attention to the Antena 3 call for photos as well as submitting your own.