Jobless Spaniards open secret restaurants

Jobless Spaniards open secret restaurants

NECESSITY is the mother of invention, and jobless Spaniards looking to maker ends meet are taking the proverb to heart by turning their homes, underused lofts and studios into secret restaurants.

In a working class district of Barcelona on Thursfay night, guests were invited to whisper a password into a warehouse buzzer before being ushered into an artist's studio and makeshift restaurant.

"I knew I was going to be laid off," said Angela Vinent, a former PR executive. "So I decided to open a clandestine restaurant".

To the horror of tax collectors, covert entrepreneurship is flourishing in Spain as it grapples with 26% unemployment, he highgest in Europe. In Barcelona discreet culinary hotspots, though hard to find, are popping up everywhere. Underground hair salons, jazz clubs and flamenco halls are also said to be thriving.

An elderly couple murmured appreciative commentts as Vinent's 24-year-old daghter, an art student, served a vegetarian "crisis" meal, including caponata, a Sicilian aubergine dish thst happened to be that day's password. ... the authorities have every reason to take an interes : the black economy is said to represent between 17% and 25% of GDP.