Notes

A View From Spain

I've been fortunate to have spent a lot of the winter of 2019-2020 living along the southern shore of Spain. Occupying a rented casa near the middle of an old town for an extended time, which inevitably involved engaging with sailors, such as commercially with shop keepers and the like, gave me a fantastic chance to observe how daily financial life is lived in a place far from my New Hampshire house.


To be clear, I really do have a life beyond financial monitoring, however for purposes of the piece I'll concentrate on a small anecdotal contrast between the way folks run commercial trade at a corner of Spain and in NH. To further set up reference , note that I deliberately lived without a vehicle and had no information plan for 3 weeks, relying instead on public transportation and WiFi (or even wee-fee since they cutely state there).


All these near-monastic practices aside, let me tell you a little about my provisional Spanish hometown. Fuengirola, a small city of approximately 75K inhabitants, lies along the southern coast about 25 kilometers west of Malaga, the huge city in these parts. business growth 's in the autonomous region of Andalusia (such as a US country ), that's the largest of those self-governing regions in Spain. Given that it had been commanded from the Islamic Moors for approximately seven centuries the culture and architecture is a unique blend of Christian and Muslim influences not seen everywhere in Europe. Andalusians have a reputation for being psychological and fun-loving. find agree.


What's most evident commercially is how conservative things seem, at least to a man in his late sixties. In NH needless to say we get in our cars and drive to large supermarkets and big box stores to purchase our stuff, as well as is increasingly the casewe order things online and have them shipped to our homes. But here, take a look at the site here & Pop" shops are alive and apparently well. The sidewalks each day, except Sunday, are teeming with people carrying their daily marketing of vegetables, fruits, medicines, clothing, breads/pastries, alcohol, and lottery tickets (really big here).


this site have to admit that despite an apparent inefficiency with going to a store for the bread, to a different to your vegetables, and also to another for meat I liked the quaintness and private touch of getting to know the men and women who worked these establishments. Levels of personal service always appeared high and that I never felt rushed. Sure Amazon.es and big box stores like El Corte Ingles exist, but small brick & mortar retail is hanging on here fairly well.


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The cafe culture of Europe is legendary and it's in full swing in Fuengirola. Folks sit with friends and family for what seems like hours chatting over coffee and beer during workdays and weekends alike. Cafes and bars are everywhere float onto sidewalks. The jabber is lively and unkind and leaves a Yank with the belief that life really should be fun and dwelt with gusto. &quot; But view it now will. It's a highly functioning, prosperous, and safe feeling community. Police presence is minimal.


The Euro is the currency. And now its value is just about 10% higher than the US dollar. But, prices for many commodities appear lower here. I'm frequently struck by just how much value I'm getting for this little money. Granted, gasoline is greater than in NH and I don't have a good sense of the prices of power and big-ticket items, but overall prices seem cheaper in Spain. Also, this a cash-based society. My pocket often is weighed down with those thick coins (a First World issue, I know). Sure people use credit cards and phone pay apps, but money is still quite widespread.


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