Off to Arabia

I work Monday to Friday for a busy shipping, removals and storage company close to Mijas-Golf. I am amazed how many people are moving to Dubai, Oman and Kuwait now that Spain, is apparently, in recession. I understand that people need to earn money and those who have fallen on hard times here due to the downturn in the property market, probably see Dubai as an easy option. But I would never go. Imagine Las Vegas without the gambling - a huge plastic, tinseltown existence with no substance - that to me is what Dubai represents. Soulless and artificial. Yes I know the restaurants are fabulous, the apartments are luxurious and the hotels are among the best in the world. But I think it is pitiful to travel all the way to Dubai and not experience any Arabic culture, traditions or heritage - just a non-stop party town to keep the affluent ex-pats entertained. 85% of the population here is made up of ex-pats who contribute very little to the country but take a lot. Having worked in Bahrain and Kuwait, on a more serious note, I have seen at first hand the appalling conditions that the workers from the poorest nations on earth have to endure. The thousands of Bangladeshis, Indians and Filipinos are shipped in to these countries like cattle, and expected to work in sub-human conditions, often on building sites in temperatures of up to 50 degrees, for a pittance, with very little hope of ever having enough money to go home. Modern day slavery is very much alive and kicking in the Middle East and it´s time people´s eyes were opened to it. Scratch the surface of Dubai, and you will be disgusted at what you find. The Costa del Sol, in comparison, is a healthy piece of European paradise that I, for one would not swap for the world.