Exchange Rates not much better
The exchange rate between UK Sterling and the Euro continue to hover around 1.10, which means that the agony is prolonged for those on pensions, in Spain, who were used to getting 1.40 . This factor, in addition to the credit crisis, is having a knock on effect to the Spanish economy, particularly in the Costa Blanca area. If people on pensions are unable to have as many “menu del dia” as they did before, restaurants will suffer, as will the entertainment industry per se.
Supermarkets carry on , as people always need to eat and clean their houses etc, but there are so many in such a small area around Torrevieja, that you wonder how they survive. A year ago Iceland were recruiting on a large scale, but I have heard that staffing levels were reduced due to drop off in business. This may have been because they opened San Javier and La Marina stores, which generated more overheads, whilst dispersing customers away from Torrevieja store, to go locally.
There seem to be many supermarkets, with many branches, such as Lidl, Consum, Carrefour, Mercadona. How do they make money? There are more supermarkets in that particular area per square kilometre than in the whole of the Scarborough and district area in the UK.
For people on pensions affected by the recession, then you should consider ways to raise more funds, by way of such vehicles as lifetime loans.
Bank Holiday break
In the UK, at least, people are enjoying the last Bank Holiday before Christmas. No doubt the shops are already displaying Christmas goods on their shelves. Here in Spain Christmas is starting to become more commercial, and it was noticebale that supermarkets such as Carrefour, started their Christmas Promotions a lot earlier than in 2007, when nothing to do with the festive season appeared on the shelves until December. 2008 saw a change to that, whether that was to do with the Credit Crisis rather than a move towards “Britishness” I do not know.
Christmas (vis a viz giving gifts and presents) does not happen until 6th January, which is when the Three Kings visited Jesus, bearing gifts. Santa Claus, for the Spanish was something other nations celebrated. Christmas in Spain is much more of a religious affair, which I think is far better than the commercial scrum down in the UK.
