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The image above is not uncommon; spray paint is a ubiquitous outlet for expression in Spain. The face of Mariano Rajoy, Spain's conservative Prime Minister is stenciled below the phrase Algo más habrá que recortar, "There's something else to be cut", which sheds some light on the public's perception of how well he's running the country. Other similar expressions of rebellion likely to be seen as you walk the streets are the dates of proposed strikes or protests, or short blurbs or sentiments from the author highlighting the need for change.

Change is the operative word when it comes to the debate in Spain about its economic future. Discussion ranges from policies the government should implement to boost its ailing economy, unemployment, and the public's seemingly universal rejection of austerity measures and spending cuts. The main problem facing the country —and the topic on everyone's mind— is the twenty-five percent unemployment rate for the active population, which spikes up to forty percent for those under twenty-five. Coupled with the perception of politicians being out of touch and insensitive to the plight of the country (sound familiar?) and major corruption scandals, the daily headlines detail how fed up people are with the whole situation.

"All this means that Spain finds itself squeezed from above, as the EU piles pressure on the country to enforce further austerity measures, and from the market side, as the economy struggles to create jobs. This economic malaise provides the backdrop for a society showing signs of increasing fatigue, and which is now pushing back against cuts to health, pension and education services." -Jason Miks

The Spanish people are not ashamed to take to the streets to declare what they believe in. All over the country, citizens have made their voices heard through protests ranging from marching in the streets, to obstructing traffic and businesses. In November, students rallied nationwide in response to the proposal of government cuts to education spending, spray painting outlines of dead bodies on the ground in front of banks and writing messages like "La educación no se vende, se defende" (You don't sell education, you defend it) and "Fuera la banca privada de la universidad pública" (Keep the private banks out of public universities). Recently, in response to funding cuts, the Univeristy of Granada announced that it will resort to using its own funds to ensure that its 6,900 employees will remain employed and research will continue under their policy of "no jobs lost."

 
Similar types of manifestations were also done by healthcare workers in response to cuts in the healthcare system, marching in their scrubs and chanting "Rajoy, capullo, recortate lo tuyo" (Rajoy, you a**hole, cut back on your own benefits). Unfortunately, the outlook for 2013 is not promising. While there are to me many transitions this year, even Germany's economy has minutely declined, foreshadowing more difficulty on the horizon for countries like Spain, Portugal and Greece.

A police helicopter over Granada, keeping an eye on protesters marching through the city.

In addition to individuals protesting government cuts, unions protesting their own interests seem to have compounded the overall feeling of displeasure with the country's situation. Bus drivers have refused to work causing major public transportation delays, and Inagra, the trash company that services Granada went on an eleven-day strike:



Narrator: The trash strike in Granada is still ongoing, the board of the company and the management did not come to an agreement at last night's meeting and for ten days 1700 tons of waste have been accumulating in the streets of the Andalusian city. The strikes are provoked by discrepancies in the application of the minimum standard services.

The trashmen went on strike because the city hall, in an effort to tighten the purse strings, attempted to force the company to make up the 3.3 million euro difference that were not collected in taxes by the local government. Inagra, in turn, planned to pass this loss onto its workers, by reducing salaries and increasing working hours. Upon getting word of this, the workers began to strike, arguing that the company that has more than 3 million in benefits every year should at least assume some of the budget cuts. Because of the impact that this strike has had on the City of Granada, there was talk of having the Spanish Armed Forces come in and remove the massive amounts of garbage, to which they replied that the proposed actions were not part of their operations.

Fortunately, today came the news that an initial agreement to end the strike has been reached, and perhaps later this evening they will begin to pick up the almost 2,000 tons of trash scattered throughout the city.

UPDATE: CNN has published a couple of articles detailing some of the people affected by the current economic state of Spain. I encourage you to take a look to get a better understanding of the current situation:
The human cost of Spain's financial crisis
Welcome to Madrid: City of Protests

Sources