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2009-05-07 19:59:59
At that time, with the global economy running Construction full-tilt, crane manufacturers couldn't keep up with demand. Waiting times for some cranes reached three years.
Spain became one of the world's most important markets for cranes. At peak in 2006, the Southern European country started building 760,000 homes. That was more than half the number started in the U.S., which has a population seven times as large as Spain's.
In 2006, nearly a quarter of the cement used in the 25 nations then in the European Union was poured in Spain. Greenpeace estimated that Spain's coast, where sun-starved Northern Europeans flocked to buy summer homes, was disappearing under concrete at the rate of three soccer pitches a day. Now, the crane graveyards across Spain are a reminder of how long it will take the country to recover. "We went completely crazy in Spain," says Manuel Sánchez, a dealer for equipment wholesaler Maquidemolex Espa?a.
Mr. Sánchez now spends his time selling Spanish Construction equipment abroad at a hefty discount. A couple of years ago, a midrange, three-year-old sold for about 45,000 ($60,000) in Spain, he says. Now, they go for 15,000 -- less than the price of many new cars.
