Why Benidorm Is Not Spain and Spain is Not Greece
- Image by United Nations Photo via Flickr
There was a caller on Radio Five Live today talking about the mess that is Spain and the Spanish Economy. The complaint, as it was a removals company, was that they were losing money because people aren’t coming to Spain at the moment. The litany of complaints about Spain suggested one simple thing to me, go back to the UK and start moaning there like everybody else or change the business model.
Complaints included the fact that the Spanish government has put all prices up in the shops. The level of ignorance beggars belief. Anyway, I wrote an article about what a real economic crisis looks like here. There is no doubt that Spain has serious troubles but as I have put in the video below, Spain is not Greece despite what the idiots at Standard and Poors say. (And despite the fact that the President of the Spanish government looks like Mr Bean)
So renewables, fruit and veg, railways and hugh speed trains, car making (Whoops) and tourism amongst others. Spain has problems of course but at least it has an economic base and as I have said before, Spain is a land of opportunity because people just don’t do the things that we call normal in other countries such as starting up businesses and being entrepreneurial. If you fancy seeing some ways you can earn some extra income in your spare time then go and look at the Facebook page of the Bootstrapping Book. There are a couple of videos on there about domaining and more information about the book.
Also if you like this then just click the Like button below to share it with your Facebook friends. I am on Facebook here and if you are interested in Spain and want to connect up there then just send in a friend request.
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Thanks for the first, and probably biggest, laugh of the day Graham. “Spain is a land of opportunity.” Now i know you have houses to sell to gullible, ill informed, delusional would be buyers, but really, that is taking the mickey.
I heard the interview on Radio 5 and was suprised to hear that Angie from Union Jack Removals was actually so in touch with the reality of the economic crisis in Spain. And she was right. Zapatero and his cronies have ensured that prices of every day goods in the shops have rocketed in the past two years. As she said, while UK supermarkets have reduced prices, those in Spain have put them up. I have several very recent examples. One being, cooked chicken at local Spanish market so favoured by Brits = 7 euros 50 cents. Cooked chicken (only tastier) at Waitros in Earls Court = 3 pounds 50 pence.
I know the UK supermarkets only reduced prices during the recession to entice customers, and that attitude will change when the kaka hits the fan there after this election. But at least they did reduce them. Not put them up.
I’m all for singing the praises of what is great about Spain, and there is much to sing about. But really, being in permanent denial about the fact that Spain is second in the queue of financial disaster behind Greece, does nobody any favours. Apart from, possibly, those trying to sell houses in Spain!
I think you are wrong Vern. I know you live in Andalucia where things are rather more desperate, 25% unemployment and youth unemployment around 40%, but Spain is a land of opportunity if you can get your head around new ideas. People in Spain just don’t do stuff. They all want to be civil servants but that is beginning to change and just wait until austerity measures like those proposed for Greece come in here.
I think you will find that ZP and his cronies have no had anything to do with the increase in prices, it is the greed of the supermarkets who do not compete with each other as they notionally do in the UK. Angie might have been right for her area but I know of removal companies that are very happy at the moment with all the people going back to live off the welfare state in the UK. They brought them over an they take them back. And when and if things pick up again in the UK or the cuts are so savage that people get pissed of enough, the pendulum will go the other way too.
I have just spent two weeks in the Uk and honestly wild horses would have to drag me back.
And I am not in denial. I have lost a house to the bank because of a useless builder and had three years of hell from 2006 however things are going really well this year and have been since around Sept 2009. Why? Because I get myself out there, take care of my clients and try out new things constantly to see what sticks. The agents who sit on their ass doing nothing and hoping that people will walk in off the street whilst at the same time not responding to calls or mails, see my post here about it, http://www.entrepreneursolo.com/entrepreneurs-in-spain/woody-allen-told-me-to-turn-up
By the way
My roast chickens cost €2.29 so I don’t know where you are getting yours from
Good for you Graham.
I wish you all the best.
And please – send me a chicken.
Even allowing for postage, that would be cheaper than my local weekly market!
Onwards and upwards.
I hope.
Vernon
I don’t think they allow the juices in the post Vernon.
Here in Ronda I can get a cooked chicken from a take away place for around 7.50€, but the local Spar supermarket sells a cooked chicken for 4€, about the same price as Waitrose in the UK when you consider currency fluctuations.
I take Vern’s points, but I disagree with him nevertheless, Spain has it’s problem, and if you make a note of them all on a sheet of paper you might wonder why we’re here, until you do the same exercise with the UK or other EU states.
Certainly I can’t really think of anywhere else in Europe where I’d rather create a business at the moment. Domaining isn’t something I’ve tried, might give it a go though with some niche site keywords and see how I do.
Thanks for the comment. We should do a virtual Spain map with cooked chicken prices!
I actually totally agree with you about starting virtual businesses in Spain. You avoid the red tape and there is less competition if you choose your niche right
Don’t get me wrong Andy either, I too see Vernon’s points and can see the point of view but I think people’s reaction to stimuli will condition what one sees as opportunity or a wall. If you have the old glass half empty viewpoint then everything looks grey but the same person with a glass half full viewpoint will see that there are opps everywhere it is just a case of finding the right path.
Was it Thomas Edison who said he had not failed 1000 times to create a lightbulb he had just found 1000 ways of not doing it? I have tried business after business after business and some work but most don’t. I have a fantastic opportunity at the moment but unless I get a good deal on it I won’t be pursuing it because there is an opportunity cost to doing stuff. If I do that I might not be able to do something else.
That’s a good article about Why Benidorm Is Not Spain and Spain is Not Greece | Houses for …. Thanks for the info.
For me Spain is a great place and I see Spain as a well grown country. As I’ve read this post I come up to thinking that you wouldn’t know the really unless you live there.
The Spanish tourism definitely took one of the biggest hits in Europe, mainly because a lot of their tourism is build around people from the UK flying down and they aren’t doing it as much anymore. Regarding the country being a mess, it may be financially but that will hopefully be temporary – it still has a really good infrastructure.