Isha Sesay
A STUDY has revealed that over 33,000 people are suffering from extreme poverty in the Balearic Islands due to the coronavirus crisis.
The bleak findings were made by the Balearic Social Observatory in collaboration with CaixaBank and the Department of Social Affairs.
The report revealed that the pandemic has increased poverty and exclusion exponentially as well as worsening pre-existing cases of vulnerability.
This claim can be supported by the sudden growth in demand for aid to cover basic needs in the social services system since the state of alarm was enforced.
Moreover, the region’s high dependence on tourism, which suffered immensely this summer, left thousands without work and money to cover basic needs such as food or rent.
The Balearics also suffered the highest rate of unemployment in the country with the largest number of jobs lost in the hospitality sector.
The nationwide confinement also highlighted the Balearic’s level of inequality compared to the rest of the country given that 22.3% of the population did not have access to a computer at this time.
“This plays an important part in a person’s fundamental right to live as allows for access to public information and basic resources,” the study explained.
Mental health also worsened since the start of the pandemic with an increased report of anxiety, stress and insomnia at medical centres.
This is reflected in an increased consumption of anxiolytics, a drug prescribed to treat anxiety disorders.
It comes as over 35,000 jobs have been lost in the Balearics since March.
This gloomy analysis was published by Spanish bank BBVA and forecasts that a considerable number of people will fail to find other work, in turn raising the region’s unemployment level.
This is predicted to stand at 17.3% by the second quarter of 2021 – an increase of more than 5% from the same period in 2020.
Analysis also indicated that those under the age of 35-years-old suffered the most in regards to losing their jobs this year.
