If you want to see where Spain is headed, take a long look at Jerez
 

http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/11/21/...html?rel=rosEP

Thought provoking comments that surely must be extrapolated into the rest of Andalucia if not the whole of Spain.

Whilst construction can be boom and bust, it is frightening to see that the sales of the marvellous Sherry Vinegar are reported to have dropped from 200 million bottles a year to just 55million - a 72% fall !!! Why ? Who has filled that hole - the Italians ?
And the wine industry has lost 90% of its jobs
:eek:

What has gone wrong ? Is it all really due to world wide recession or have a number of people lost their way ??

Re: If you want to see where Spain is headed, take a long look at Jerez
 

Sherry doesn't seem to be drunk much anymore, used to be the drink when I was a kid. Although they do produce brandy too but it is mainly for home consumpton, not export. As for the rest, seems as though the Mayor went for vanity projects similar to the ones who built airports and museums etc.

"I was 29 when I was elected. I was very young, and expectations were high. We transformed this city, putting in new roads, sidewalks, lighting, the sewers, sports and leisure facilities... We built the motor-racing circuit, a new sports stadium, and we promoted the show jumping competition. Jerez was a pioneer in a new approach to running a city."

Says it all really.

Re: If you want to see where Spain is headed, take a long look at Jerez
 

It may be sad if a single product loses such a market share, but it's hardly "showing where Spain is headed.."
E-Commerce is growing immensely, the same as other countries. Spanish eCommerce firms like DeporVillage, Chicisimo or TopRural have long since expanded into new countries.
Look at the countries that 100 Montaditos and Lizarran are expanding into - like the US. Holland, China, Japan and Brazil.
Can we mention Zara, Mango, Desigual - all expanding.
A couple of supermarkets (I'm sure you know their names) are improving sales and taking on new staff.
One of the big opportunities will be Africa - not just Morocco.
http://elpais.com/elpais/2013/04/01/...92_187969.html
And by the way, after a small fall in unemployment in March, the figures continue to fall in April.
"In april 51,077 new jobs were created, a third of them autonomos" http://cincodias.com/cincodias/2013/...82_110805.html (in Spanish) - Maybe a small start, but the tide is turning thankfully.
There are many places that have obviously suffered, but they are not indicative of the way Spain is headed - a look at the tremendous growth in exports, or the firms now planning to hire this year in Spain particularly in the car sector, should disabuse you of that notion.

Re: If you want to see where Spain is headed, take a long look at Jerez
 

Now look what you have done Dom:rofl:

Re: If you want to see where Spain is headed, take a long look at Jerez
 

So, none of this is true? Jerez is indeed another shining example of Spain's prosperity?

Damn. Must be those Germans and Americans again spouting rubbish about Spain just because they're jealous of our sunny weather and vibrant economy.

That reminds me, where's CMan?

Re: If you want to see where Spain is headed, take a long look at Jerez
 

Many of my family used to work for the biggest (at the time) international sherry shipper - Harvey's of Bristol. The bottling plant and storage tanks at Whitchurch were the size of a small oil refinery and sherry was shipped in dedicated ships and road tankers. All stopped in the 1980s. Production was switched from Bristol to Jerez which made sense really as the biggest market by volume was the USA - pointless sending it all to Bristol.

I don't know what's happened since but I think the market just continued to contract - especially in the high volume sweet sherries.

Sherry just went out of fashion - nothing to do with the present crisis.

Re: If you want to see where Spain is headed, take a long look at Jerez
 

Yes, and whilst I'm partial to a new nice cold manzanilla or fino myself, and despite a lot of promotion, it hasn't caught on in a big way outside of Spain.

Re: If you want to see where Spain is headed, take a long look at Jerez
 

And at least all that free sun has meant a booming renewable energy industry in Spain. Or does it?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterdet...ownright-ugly/

Re: If you want to see where Spain is headed, take a long look at Jerez
 

Goodbye Jerez

THE only good news for Estoril is that its longtime rival - Jerez de la Frontera - is also in trouble with the FIA as a result of the behavior of the mayor of the town after the European GP in October. The podium ceremony was rather convoluted at the race because the FIA decided - for the first time - that the people handing out the trophies would change, depending on who won the race. The governing body normally issues a list of the dignitaries involved but at Jerez there were two different lists one for a normal race result and the other in case a McLaren won. This was because of the appearance at the race of Daimler-Benz chairman Jurgen Schrempp who obviously did not wish to be photographed handing out prizes to his rivals. This would not have been a problem apart from the fact that the finishing order changed on the last lap with McLaren drivers Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard both overtaking Jacques Villeneuve. There appears to have been some confusion among the VIPs as to who would get on worldwide television. The mayor of Jerez Pedro Pacheco and regional president Manuel�Chaves made some of the presentations, while Schrempp did nothing.

The result of this was that eyewitnesses reported FIA President Max Mosley screaming at the mayor, informing him that his race track would never be given another Grand Prix.

Last week Mosley delivered an official version of the decision. "The disruption caused embarrassment and inconvenience to those presenting the trophies," the FIA explained, "and therefore, no further rounds of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship will be held at the Jerez circuit."

Pacheco was less than pleased with the outcome. "It's an outrage," he said. "They are proposing a permanent ban. The only thing they did not do was propose that the circuit be demolished. The ban will be impossible. There will be F1 in Jerez."

Despite his protests, however, Pacheco is not in a strong position. Back in 1985 he was the man behind the construction of the track, the intention being to use the events to promote the town and its famous sherries around the world. This was successful for five years and then F1 moved to Barcelona, leaving Jerez with only a couple of European GPs.

The loss of F1 not only negates the purpose for which the track was built but also deprives the area of a much-needed $35m which a Grand Prix brings into the region. This will, inevitably, harm the mayor as the only way that the FIA is going to consider Jerez is if there is a different mayor.

It should be added that Jerez has not helped itself in recent weeks by refusing to agree to upgrading work unless the FIA guaranteed that it could hold a Grand Prix. This is likely to have a serious effect on the track's future as a testing facility as the FIA testing license may now be withheld, which means that the Grand Prix teams are going to be struggling more and more to find warm weather testing in Europe. Although Jerez was a long haul south from England, it often provided much better weather than Estoril and Barcelona.

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns01392.html

During the podium celebrations of the 1997 race, Jerez's Mayor Pedro Pacheco disrupted the podium celebrations by presenting a trophy that was supposed to be presented by a dignitary from Daimler-Benz

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circuito_de_Jerez

P.S. I was at that race 1000pts to get in

Re: If you want to see where Spain is headed, take a long look at Jerez
 

A bit like stating "at least all that free coal in the UK should have meant a prospering industry"
Hardly relevant..

Re: If you want to see where Spain is headed, take a long look at Jerez
 

Good find Fred, although it's more bad news for Jerez and particularly for the hospitality sector. Anyone who was thinking of investing in a tourist based business in the vicinity must surely need to reconsider?

Re: If you want to see where Spain is headed, take a long look at Jerez
 

Didn't take any finding Stevie as I said I was there, and being a F1 fan I was disappointed that that bought an end to F1 at Jerez.
However they are at the moment still doing the first pre season tests there and I have attended for the last two of them.
Unfortunately there are rumours that that now may be coming to an end.

Re: If you want to see where Spain is headed, take a long look at Jerez
 

Yes, de vez en cuando:D Barbadillo is my choice. Probably too dry for UK taste. Waitrose sell the La Gitana brand.

Re: If you want to see where Spain is headed, take a long look at Jerez
 

To be fair, those type of wines havent caught on outside of Andalucia, never mind Spain

They are perfect for a very warm day, but being young wines they dont really taste like the wine most people are used to. Absolutely no aftertaste

Re: If you want to see where Spain is headed, take a long look at Jerez
 

Barbadillo is an excellent dry white but I would like to know who these expanding supermarkets are. Things are bad in Jerez they featured on a BBC News report the other week. But the golf course is excellent or so my OH tells me.