Spanish debtors are mocked into paying

Embarrassed when a man in a tuxedo and top hat follows you into a restaurant and silently joins your lunch date? Mission accomplished.

Mortified when a trio of rotund men dressed as superheroes asks your neighbours for donations to help your financial situation? Juan Carlos Granda sees his job as almost done.



The recession has hit Spain hard, with official figures showing the unemployment rate has reached 19.3 percent, one of the highest in Europe. Close to 4 million people are out of work - the same number of jobless as France and Italy combined.

One business that is booming: debt collection. And no one does debt collection like El Cobrador del Frac. "Spaniards are macho, they don't like people drawing weird attention to their failings. It's not manly," says Mr. Granda, El Cobrador del Frac's manager.

Full story here.