Spain Sees Divorce Driving Breakup of Towns in Recession

At 10 a.m. on a hot Friday, Antonio Rodriguez Alvarez and his brother, Francisco, sit outside a bar in Ecija, Spain, drinking an anise liquor with water. Unemployed laborers, they visit the job center daily at 9 a.m. in search of work. When there is none, they repair to the bar and worry.

Antonio, 44, is divorced and living with his mother. He split with his wife partly because of constant fights about money and his lack of a job. He now weighs going to France, where he heard there is work picking fruit. His 22-year-old daughter is planning a move to the Canary Islands to work in the tourism industry. He said he doesn’t blame her.