Pulaski

Going back as long as the euro has existed as a physical currency, the high point for pound sterling was in October 2000 when the rate reached €1.724.

All the comparisons made between a basket of goods purchased in the two countries have the same apples to oranges issue as income also varies over time, and not at the same rate in both countries. So while things may have increased in price in Spain, there may, or may not, have been a different change in "average" income in Spain compared to the UK, or changes in taxes and other charges that affect people's income. The same applies in the UK, and therefore slinging exchange rate into the mix is just another factor, and is only something that people with a life in both countries would ever notice.

The reality is that anyone moving from a country with a "strong" currency, and with income derived from that country will perceive a less developed/ industrialized country as "cheaper". I leave it up to individuals to decide in this case which country has the strong currency and which is less well developed.

Moses2013

One problem with exchange rates is that you can quickly create other problems. Best example would be when it comes to property and pensioners who claim they get more house for their money. This happened a lot in the past and the 4 bed house with pool seemed affordable at the time. A few years later you reach a low point and those people can no longer maintain the property. I suppose the great thing with earning € is that you manage your money better, or at least have a better overview when going to Spain.

Red Eric

The Bank of England seems to think otherwise.

Their database shows a high of 1.144 and a low of 1.105 for that month, which is much closer to my recollection prior to looking it up. You must remember all those counter claims to the notion of the Brexit vote having been bad for Sterling? It was a readjustment to reality as Sterling had been overvalued by more than 20%, or something.

Bet a lot of people would have loved 1.70 plus, though, then or subsequently Where did you get that rate?

Pulaski

Sorry, that was a total typo on my part. I looked it up and noted the date for that exchange rate in October 2000, so I have no idea why I then typed 2016.

Ronnyone

1.70 euros to a pound? 2016? Really? I must have been in a coma for a number of years?

bob_bob

Food prices are going up everywhere thats for sure. In the UK I do the cooking and buy the groceries same as when I'm in Spain and UK prices are lower than Spain, much lower for some things and the quality of a lot of fresh food in the UK is better and thats from my personal experience. We can all cherry pick items that are cheaper in either country but overall UK is a lot cheaper...and no, I don't live on brit food items in Spain.

Pulaski

[1] the date was a typo, which I responded to, replying to Red Eric, and corrected in my original post.
[2] the actual (corrected) date was October 2000
[3] that rate was only on one day, and was an all time high for sterling against the euro. There have only been a few brief periods where the rate against sterling has exceeded €1.60

Further to the above, and to my previous post, I went back and checked the rate against the ECU (European Currency Unit), the predecessor to the euro, which was exchanged 1:1 for euros on 1 January, 1999. The ECU was created as an electronic-only currency in June 1992 running in parallel with all the legacy currencies in Europe (which IMHO, but only only mine, is where it should have stayed, available for business and banks, but entirely unnecessary for Joe/Jacques/Jose/Jan Public buying groceries, clothing, etc.), and at no time did sterling get even as high as ECU1.60, - sterling peaked against the ECU in April 1998, at ECU1.53.

bob_bob

That rings right with my memory of exchange rates over the years, peaked at around the 1.5 mark...happy days.

Stingychips

i find uk prices are now lower than Spain. Even the olive oil in Spain seemed more expensive than the Spanish olive oil in the UK. I could not believe it.

bobd22

This site does cost of living comparison UK vs Spain. I have no idea of its accuracy but it compares more than just food etc.
https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-livin...United+Kingdom

Barriej

This is going to come over wrong how ever I say it but here goes.
Will say Im a facts and figures person... And like nothing more than a good comparison.

​​​​​When we moved over (late 2020) we compared prices and tut tutted about the price of a tin of beans etc.
Now to be honest I don't care if the UK or the US or where ever is cheaper etc.
It's not like I can just pop over to the uk, fill a suitcase with cheap English stuff and come back (have to factor in the flight etc)
​​​​​​So we have stopped even thinking about comparisons and get on with the better more relaxed life we moved here for.

As a tourist or even if you are here for 3 months then yes compare. But in reality there is nothing you or I who are permanent residents can do about it. Unless family and friends are bringing out care packages.

​​​​The only thing that does bother me is the amount of stuff available easily on UK Amazon and eBay compared with the scant offerings of the EU versions.
I hadn't realised just how lucky (spoiled) for choice we were before we moved.

As an aside Heinz salad cream which I love and is the only thing I really miss has not been made in the UK since the early 2000's as I moved the machinery to Holland... But it still costs alot more here because its shipped from the UK....

Heinz beans vary in price here from €1.07 in Carrefour (was there this morning) to 90c in Mendoza's who stock lots of good Uk and Scandinavian products...
​​​​
OK just my 2c anyway.

Rosemary

I agree with you Barriej regarding comparing the prices when you live here full time. My way of dealing with prices is to decide whether an item is worth the price to me. So if something goes up an enormous amount I think about an alternative or whether the increase does not really matter in the scheme of things because I am not willing to live without it. I have been sat here trying to think about my food shopping to evaluate the extent that it contains UK products and the only thing that I can think of is my tea bags that I buy from Mercadona. One of my friends once commented that she wanted to look in my cupboards to see what I had that she did not know about and she was very disgruntled afterwards as there were no "strange" items.

Rosemary

bobd22

Totally agree. If something is too expensive either don't buy/look for an alternative or if it's a must have stump up. Somethings are dearer somethings cheaper I don't stress about it. Clearly most British produce is going to cost more if you can't do without it then you have to pay the going rate.

Pulaski

Those are pretty much my thoughts too, having moved to the US over 20 years ago. From the outset I decided that I was not going to go down the path of buying imported British groceries as my move was permanent and I wasn't going to spend stupid amounts of money on products which in most cases have a near equivalent in the US. Eventually I caved in on Heinz beans, which curiously is not a product that Heinz, a US company, is known for in the US, and the main brands of US baked beans are a lot sweeter than Heinz beans. The cheapest I have found are on Amazon, but I'm lucky to find them for even about $2/can .... but a case of 24 lasts me more than a year. the other exception is Marmite, for which there is obviously no equivalent in the US, but again, while crazy expensive, a couple of 500g jars last me several years.

Overall as said by others above, some things cost more, some cost less, but nobody can cherry pick the cheap stuff from different countries, and it is all too easy as a visitor or new immigrant to focus on the cheap things and forget about the more expensive things, or overlook that the way you live affects what you spend. For example, in the early years after I arrived in the US, the price of petrol was about 1/4 the price in the UK .... but I drove about four times as far as I did in the UK, so spend just about the same amount of money each month on petrol. ... And my daily driver in the US was significantly more economical than my car in the UK had been.

bob_bob

LOL I think they must shop in the middle of London or something, so many of the prices are way out of line, way too high compared to the reality of popping into Tesco et al.

A lot depends on what you cook, if your brand dependant, home made vs read made, where you shop etc. You expect items like toms/peppers/melons/strawberries et al to be cheaper in Spain because they are grown there but you should also expect to pay top dollar for a tin of beans, pack of bacon, lump of cheddar or box of tea bags (UK sourced).

I love cooking, its a major pastime/hobby for me and are extremely fortunate in not having to worry about price hikes but be under no doubt that the massive leap in fuel/gas/electricity and food is having a major impact on low income families and the popular belief that brits living on benefits live the life of Riley is now well and truly shown to be a myth/Daily Mail fantasy.

On a more positive note, we have the young (9 and 14) grandchildren for much of the summer holidays while their parents work and this year we are doing four weeks in Spain and two on Crete, happy days