A view from Spain
I have been lucky enough to have spent much of the winter of 2019-2020 living on the southern coast of Spain. Occupying a rented house near the center of an old town for a long time, which inevitably involved interacting with the locals, even commercially with shopkeepers and the like, gave me a great opportunity to observe how daily economic life is lived in a place far away. from my New Hampshire home.
To be clear, I really do have a life outside of economic monitoring, but for the purposes of this article I’ll focus on a little anecdotal contrast between how people conduct business in a corner of Spain and in NH. To set this up further, note that I deliberately lived without a car and had no data plan for 3 months, relying instead on public transportation and WiFi (or wee-fee as they say there).
These quasi-monastic practices aside, let me tell you a bit about my provisional Spanish hometown. Fuengirola, a small city of about 75,000, lies along the Mediterranean coast, about 25 miles west of Malaga, the big city in those parts. It is in the autonomous region of Andalusia (as a US state), which is the largest of these autonomous areas in Spain. Since it was controlled by the Islamic Moors for some seven centuries, the architecture and culture are a unique mix of Christian and Muslim influences not seen anywhere else in Europe. The Andalusians are famous for being emotional and fun. I competitor.
What’s more commercially apparent is how dated things look, at least to a man in his sixties. In NH, of course, we get in our cars and head to big box supermarkets and big box stores to buy our stuff, or as is increasingly the case, we order things online and have them shipped to our homes. But here, the little “Mom & Pop” shops are alive and well apparently. The sidewalks every day except Sunday are packed with people doing their daily trading of fruits, vegetables, medicines, clothes, breads/cakes, alcohol and lottery tickets (very big here).
I have to admit that despite the seeming inefficiency of going to one store for bread, another for vegetables, and another for meat, I enjoyed the uniqueness and personal touch of meeting the people who worked in these establishments. Personal service levels always seemed high and I never felt rushed. Sure there are Amazon.es and large stores like El Corte Inglés, but the small physical stores hold up quite well here.
Europe’s coffee culture is legendary and is in full swing in Fuengirola. People sit with family and friends for what seems like hours chatting over coffee and beer on weekdays and weekends alike. Cafes and bars are everywhere flooding the sidewalks. The chatter is lively and boisterous and leaves the Yankee with the impression that life really should be fun and lived with gusto. I have to admit that I have asked myself more than once: “How do you get the job done here?” But it does. It is a highly functional, prosperous and safe community. Police presence is minimal.
The euro is the currency. And right now its value is only 10% higher than the US dollar. However, the prices of most basic products seem lower here. I am often surprised at how much value I get for so little money. Granted, gas costs more than in NH and I don’t have a good idea of energy costs and big box items, but overall costs seem cheaper in Spain. Also, this is a more cash-based society. My pocket is often loaded with these heavy coins (a First World problem, I know). Sure people use credit cards and phone payment apps, but cash is still pretty common.
I could go on, but I’ll leave by saying that an expression of culture is how trade is conducted. In Spain it is refreshing and traditional.