Spain has the highest unemployment rate in Europe, with one in three young people out of work, and there are few sectors of society that have managed to escape the global economic downturn.
Unemployment in the Canary Islands is higher than anywhere else in Spain, and it is particularly difficult for those that are young.
But, despite the lack of opportunities, some are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to find work.
Al Jazeera's Emma Hayward reports from the Spanish island of Gran Canaria.
