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Are we still “Living the Dream”?
The British and Northern Europeans struggling through their worst winter in decades may look to expats living in Spain and say “Lucky b*****s”. OK we have the weather (although winters can be cold here too), but all is not well on the Costas and indeed, in Spain generally.2009 was a dreadful year for Spain, whose economic health relies primarily on the building and tourist trades. Income from both these sectors plummetted last year, resulting in an unemployment rate of a whopping 19%… and thats only those who are claiming benefits. There is a huge black economy in Spain, mostly expat workers. Recent figures from the Valencian government tell us only 25% of Torrevieja´s 100,000 residents are registered in the Social Security system. Even allowing for the large number of retirees here, thats a very disturbing statistic. British expats returned home in their droves last year but an awful lot of cowboys and cash-in-hand workers remain and, understandably, the Spanish are a trifle miffed that these people are potentially taking jobs from them.
The property market in the Valencia region crashed spectacularly in 2009 with over 60% of construction projects postponed or cancelled, due to a combination of lack of buyers, banks withdrawing funding and developers going into administration, leaving thousands of buyers not knowing whether their dream home will ever be completed or indeed, whether they will get their deposits back if they are not. Prices for existing houses in this area have dropped by over a quarter, leaving thousands of owners in negative equity and still paying over the odds for their mortgage. And the rental market has fared no better, there being fewer new arrivals, less disposable income and thousands of properties on the market.
Tourism took a huge knock too with 11 million Brits paying us a visit compared to 17 million in 2008, principally due to the recession and the woefully weak British pound. The exchange rate took its toll too on residents here on fixed incomes from the UK, who saw their monthly income dive by a third. Bars and restaurants have taken the brunt of El Crisis (as they call the recession here) with the triple whammy of less tourists, residents with less disposable income and those tourists who did arrive opting for cheap takeaways and home cooking. The only winners were the supermarkets who, I understand, made a hefty profit in 2009. Many establishments have closed their doors in the last year and, while some would say there were too many anyway, its always sad to see peoples´ hard work and dreams go up in smoke.
So…worrying times but are we still living the dream? I guess not in the commonly perceived sense of the phrase…work is hard to come by, but then it always has been…businesses are struggling, but then there is a worldwide recession on…people stuck in negative equity, its happened before…rising prices, its still cheaper to live here than in UK. On the other hand, whilst its cold here right now, we know we will get a summer, by the end of March we will be in shorts and T-shirts, the roads are jam-free, the pace of life is relaxed, people are generally more friendly and happy, nobody works on Sundays, beer is cheap and you can still smoke in bars.
Its not quite “The Dream” but on the whole I´d rather be here than there….
Salud!
