Wednesday, 14th of Sept. 2011
I asked them how they survive and they looked to me as “what are you talking about?” Their customers are
locals and lorry drivers who know the place. Tourists hardly stop at this cafe as it does not look fancy enough.
It proves that there are sustainable small businesses just relying on the area. The Spanish are a bit like the
Germans; they demand good quality from their local suppliers and prices that reflect the average income. We
followed the coast and found that Marbella is still in big troubles, however a place like Fuengirola survives
very well. Here the balance between income and prices seem to be right, for locals, tourists and a quite
strong and healthy community of English, Germans and other Europeans who live very well in harmony with
the spanish. I met up with an old business friend from Barcelona who has a small business in professional
audio. He told me that he had to reduce staff and was surviving being back on the road hinself. Spanish
businesses are used to have to adjust to economical downfalls, they go through this every 20 years. From the
Andalusian coast we drove through the middle of Spain to Madrid.
Foreign Branches . Interpretations . Mentoring Staff . Sponsorships & Endorsements . Business Assiocations . Education
Portugal. Not too long ago Portugal was considered to be a modern booming economy. Well to
do golf tourists bought villa’s and left fortunes in the golf ressorts and the local hotels and
restaurants. This has changed radically in the last 24 months; resorts go bankrupt, houses are
unsellable and the country has collapsed into an expensive but poor place to live. Food and
petrol prices ar sky high, no wonder that hotel staff and other service personal look miserable and are
unfriendly. They don’t know how to pay their bills.
I am afraid that Portugal is together with Greece the weakest of the Southern European countries. Little
industry and the agriculture sector is not large enough to play an important role. So they will have to rely on
tourists and that means back to the basics and become a friendly affordable holiday destination.
Next stop: Southern Spain.
Travelling the southern European motorways is extremely relaxing. Only a few toll roads
and plenty of local roadside restaurants with tasty food. By accident we stopped at a tiny
cafe on the A92 just outside Sevilla. La Ponderosa; What a name, what a place!
A small family business cooking a few fresh tapas for lunch, cheap and delicious.
Portugal. Not too long ago Portugal was considered to be a modern booming economy. Well to
do golf tourists bought villa’s and left fortunes in the golf ressorts and the local hotels and
restaurants. This has changed radically in the last 24 months; resorts go bankrupt, houses are
unsellable and the country has collapsed into an expensive but poor place to live. Food and
petrol prices ar sky high, no wonder that hotel staff and other service personal look miserable and are
unfriendly. They don’t know how to pay their bills.
I am afraid that Portugal is together with Greece the weakest of the Southern European countries. Little
industry and the agriculture sector is not large enough to play an important role. So they will have to rely on
tourists and that means back to the basics and become a friendly affordable holiday destination.
Next stop: Southern Spain.
Travelling the southern European motorways is extremely relaxing. Only a few toll roads
and plenty of local roadside restaurants with tasty food. By accident we stopped at a tiny
cafe on the A92 just outside Sevilla. La Ponderosa; What a name, what a place!
A small family business cooking a few fresh tapas for lunch, cheap and delicious.