Bad news: Barcelona 20; Madrid 24

This was the "score" that made headlines here last week, but it wasn't soccer results -- it was about how expensive the two major Spanish cities have become. So, "Barcelona, tan cara como Nueva York" ("Barcelona, as expensive as New York") screamed the front page of Barcelona's La Vanguardia newspaper on March 19th.
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Sure enough, according to the latest "Prices and Earnings: comparison of purchasing power around the globe" report by the Swiss banking firm UBS, Barcelona is the 20th most expensive city in the world, while New York City is 18th. Madrid comes in at number 24. (FYI, the 5 most expensive cities according to USB are Oslo, Copenhagen, London, Dublin and Zurich -- in that order.)
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However, looking a little closer at the data, one can see that this first list, referred to as the "Prices" list has two columns -- one including rent costs and the other not. Therefore, according to UBS, Barcelona is the 20th most expensive city in the world for visitors, and Madrid number 24, etc.
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For a look at the cost of living in a city, one needs to look at the second column, which includes rent costs. Here Barcelona is ranked as the 26th most expensive city to live in, Madrid number 22 and New York City number 5. So, saying Barcelona is as expensive as New York city could be considered stretching things a bit -- but it certainly isn't cheap anymore! (By the way, according to this list, the most expensive city to live in is London followed by Oslo, Dublin and Copenhagen.)
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Another list in the report is called, "Domestic purchasing power including rent prices." Here Barcelona is ranked number 24, Madrid goes down to 30 and New York comes in at number 22. (The five most expensive cities in this grouping are Copenhagen, Zurich, Berlin, Geneva and Frankfurt.)
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Here are a few interesting quotes from the report:

• "The euro has continued its extraordinary ascent."


• "...Eurozone cities are even more expensive."


• "In 2006, Barcelona and Hong Kong were similarly costly. Now the Catalonian port city is 22% more expensive than the Chinese one."

Well, it seems from this report that Europe is the most expensive part of the world to live in today. As for the Euro, I have definitely seen a substantial increase in the cost of living since it was introduced in 2001. And I can personally attest to how much more it costs me to live in Barcelona than it did in previous years.
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In 2005 someone on a forum about life in Spain asked me how much I usually spent on groceries and sundries. Since I keep my supermarket receipts that was easy for me to answer -- at the time it was typically between 120 and 130 euros a month. Looking at current receipts, I can say that today I regularly spend between 165 and 175 a month.
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I need to mention that I am single and relatively frugal. Certainly there are single people who spend less than me on groceries and such, but there are probably many more who spend a greater amount than I do to eat each month.
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In closing, let me mention another report that made the news this week: Personal Income and the Risk of Poverty in Catalonia by IDES-CAT, the Statistical Institute of Catalonia. According to this study, 19% of the Catalan population falls beneath the poverty threshold. This means that 19 out of every 100 people living in Catalonia live on less than 689 euros a month!
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While I know many "mileruistas" who struggle by on about 1,000 euros a month, it must be incredibly difficult to get by on less than 689 -- especially on one's own. Sharing an apartment would be a must on such an income. Indeed, it is for many people above the poverty level.
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IDES-CAT also reported the following:

• 30% of people surveyed reported that they had difficulty making ends meet each month;
• only 4 out of ten persons surveyed stated that they had NO difficulty making ends meet;
• income is 22.3% lower in households headed by women;
• households that suffer the most economically are those made up of foreigners and those with divorced or separated heads of households;

And on that cheery note, I need to head out to do my weekly marketing.
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Chao amig@s,
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Carloz

STOP TIPPING SO MUCH! Spain's Economy Minister says Spanish public doesn't know the value of a euro

At 4.1%, Spain's inflation rate is currently higher than other euro zone countries. Economy Minister Pedro Solbes apparently believes that part of the reason for this is the failure of Spaniards to understand the value of the euro.

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At an economic forum held on Saturday he said, "We Spaniards haven't internalized the value of a euro, which can be seen in bars and cafes. When people leave tips, they don't take into account that 20 cents is worth 32 pesetas and that one euro is worth 166 pesetas. They often leave a tip that's 50% the value of the product."

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Before the euro replaced the peseta in 2002, Spaniards were in the habit of leaving 25 peseta tips in cafes, which would have equaled somewhere between 10 and 15 cents.

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While Solbes added that he believes inflation will return to below 3% before next March, he admitted that he was wrong when he said some years ago that the euro had not had an inflationary effect as a result of merchants rounding up prices at the time of the conversion from the peseta.

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"When I was in Brussels (as the EU Economic Affairs Commissioner), I said the opposite, but now I can say that the euro has had an inflationary effect on low cost items."

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So, why should we now believe his predictions about inflation? ¡¿?!

Interesting results from Spanish surveys, studies, reports, etc.

GUESS WHICH WORLD LEADER SPANIARDS CONSIDER TO BE THE WORST. If you guessed US President George Bush, you were only off by two. Bush came in third to last, behind Cuban leader Fidel Castro in the pentultimate position, leaving Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez to reign as the international leader held in lowest esteem.
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This terrible trinity of the worst was the result of a poll of 12,000 Spaniards conducted by the Elcano Royal Institute (Real Instituto Elcano), a Spanish think-tank. The survey, which was carried out between November 26th and December 3rd, had Chávez finishing last in the popularity poll with a 1.4 ranking. Next came Castro at 1.9, Bush at 2.2, Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega at 2.9 and Russia's Vladimir Putin rounding out the bottom at 3.4. The most respected leaders were EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, with a 6.2 rating, followed by former IMF director Rodrigo Rato with 6.1, German Chancellor Angela Merkel with 5.8, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a tie at 5.3.
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MOST SPANIARDS SUPPORT ZAPATERO'S FOREIGN POLICY, according to the same Elcano study. Of the respondents, 54% view the Spanish Prime Minister's foreign policy efforts positively, while 39% take a negative view.
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CONSUMER PRICE INDEX UP AGAIN according to statistics released on Friday by Spain's National Statistics Institute (NIE). November's CPI was 4.1% compared with 3.6% in October. In addition, the European Central Bank, in its monthly economic bulletin released the day before, noted that inflation has risen in Spain, Portugal and the euro zone in general.
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SPANIARDS UP TO THEIR NECKS IN DEBT according to a study by The General Association of Consumers (La Asociación General de Consumidores), ASGECO. The Study of Family Indebtedness (Estudio sobre el endeudamiento de las familias) released by the organization last week reported that 40% of Spanish households have difficulty making ends meet each month, only 30% have money left over at the end of the month, and nearly 60% face the possibility of having to obtain a second mortgage on their homes.
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BARCELONA HAS THE HIGHEST CINEMA TICKET PRICES IN SPAIN AND CORDOBA THE LOWEST according to a comparison done by FACUA.org Consumers in Action (Consumidores en Acción). The survey of movie ticket prices at 104 cinemas in thirty-three cities across Spain found that the price of admission can vary up to 90% nation-wide. Barcelona, A Coruña and Madrid have the most expensive cinemas, against Jaén, Cadiz and Cordoba, the lowest priced. The average price nationally is 5.41 euros. Ticket prices have risen 3.6% over 2006, when the previous study found an average price of 5.22 euros. The average was 5.05 euros in 2005, 4.80 in 2004 and 4.62 in 2003.
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In the report, FACUA denounced as illegal the practice of prohibiting movie-goers from bringing with them beverages or food from outside cinemas. The association recommends that consumers request a complaint form from cinemas to denounce this irregularity, since it is a violation of the General Law for the Defense of Consumers and Users. (La Ley General para la Defensa de los Consumidores y Usuarios.)
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TWO OUT OF EVERY TEN RAMBLERS ARE LOCALS according to a study by the Barcelona NGO Friends of The Rambla (Amigos de La Rambla / Amics de La Rambla). Only 2 out of every 10 people who walk along Barcelona's Las Ramblas are Barcelonans, whereas nearly 60% are foreign tourists. Another 20% or so are visitors, too, but from Spain rather than abroad, with about 10% of these from other parts of Cataluña.

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Of those surveyed, 34% said that Las Ramblas' diversity and cosmopolitanism was what attracted them most; 20% felt there were usually too many people on the famous paseo; 15% indicated that they felt insecure and vulnerable to theives and 5% were there in order to get to La Boqueria public market. The most traveresed section is between Plaza Cataluña and Plaza Real. Most people enter Las Ramblas from Plaza Cataluña, whereas the point of access least frequented is Arc del Teatre street.