Subscription Newsletter Corliss Group Financial Magazine: Spain's underground economy is booming

2014-02-18 5

Spain's economic crisis, the government's response to it, and pervasive corruption have inspired a flowering of the black market economy.

FORTUNE -- Outside the front door of an IKEA in the Barcelona suburb of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, a group of men -- mostly immigrants from Ecuador -- offer shoppers informal delivery services. In Spain's crisis economy, it's a competitive business -- to cut down on conflict, the drivers pick numbered balls to set a queue -- and with some negotiating, a shopper can get immediate delivery for less than what IKEA's official drivers charge.