When the Spanish property bubble burst, it swept away thousands of jobs, many of them fill by school drop-outs who had only to be willing to work to get a well-paid job in construction.
Spain’s benefit system had then to absorb thousands of young and unskilled people who also had little education.
Youth unemployment has since remained obstinately high. In June this year the rate outpaced even that of Greece, putting Spain into the top slot in the EU for joblessness among young people.
The country also suffers the highest school drop-out rate in the EU.
Nearly one in two of them still have no work. The rate is at the same level as when Mariano Rajoy came to power in 2011 when he called the situation a “national disgrace”.
The economy is forecast to grow by 3.3% this year, one of the quickest rates in the eurozone, but productivity will be held in check by unskilled and undereducated young people ready to find work.
Meanwhile, thousands of better prepared youngsters have already emigrated north to find jobs.
Despite being overhauled seven times in the last four decades, Spain's education system still fails to adequately prepare students for the job market, academics and businesses say.
The vocational study programme introduced by the government in 2012 has been slow to attract students. This year more than 16,000 pupils are enrolled, about 3% of the total eligible.
In Germany, which provided the model of high-quality apprenticeships, the take-up is 42% and the EU average is 14%.
Big international companies such as Siemens and Nestle in Spain have dedicated large facilities to apprenticeship programmes, but most small and medium-sized companies were too hard hit by the economic collapse to dedicate resources.
But it is small companies of nine or fewer staff which comprise nearly 90% of Spain’s business, so they are critical to the success of the scheme.
Bringing on board small companies employing nine people or fewer - a sector which makes up nearly 90% of Spain's corporate landscape - is essential for the success of the scheme, an OECD report said.
