Gap between rich and poor widening in Spain

The rich are getting much richer and the poor are getting much poorer in Spain, according to figures released by Eurostat.

Since income figures were first compiled by the statistics agency in 1995, the gap between high and low incomes grew further still last year with soaring unemployment, wage freezes and the elimination of financial benefits for some people.

Only Lithuania, Latvia and Romania have disparities between incomes larger than that of Spain.

The effect of Spanish wage drops was felt in 2009. "That was a key year when the recession took grip, and more jobs were lost than in other countries," says Xavier Segura, head of statistical studies at the savings bank CataluynaCaixa. One out of every three people unemployed in Europe is Spanish.