Spain Red Cross to launch domestic aid appeal

Spain’s Red Cross is preparing to launch its first-ever public appeal for donations to aid Spaniards affected by the country’s deepening economic crisis. 

Miguel Angel Rodriguez, a spokesman for the aid organisation also known as IFRC, said on Tuesday that the agency is trying to raise about $38m over the next two years to help 300,000 people living in poor conditions.

Spain is in its second recession in three years with an almost 25 per cent unemployment rate, the highest in the European Union.

The new IFRC campaign, titled Now More than Ever, is set to reportedly announce its appeal on Wednesday in 30 of the country’s provinces.

A campaign video shows a family with an all but empty fridge receiving a box of groceries from the Red Cross.

The agency helped some two million people in Spain last year, most of who were in need of food or money.

Before the crisis, the Spanish Red Cross mainly helped immigrants in Spain and disaster-hit or poverty-stricken countries abroad.

But with one in four Spanish adults out of work, more families have been forced to rely on food hand-outs.

The IMF forecast on Monday that Spain would miss its deficit targets in 2012 and 2013 due to a much bigger economic contraction than forecast by the Spanish government.

The IMF predicted the economy would contract by 1.3 per cent next year, compared to a government forecast of 0.5 per cent.