cricketman

I live in the middle of the city and am noticing that the shops are no busier at the moment than at any other time of year

Usually the shops are jammed packed and the smaller shops have queues coming out of them

Has anyone else noticed this elsewhere in Spain?

I heard on the radio that retailers were saying this is their slowest Xmas period by far and much worse than last year. It could be because there are many public sector workers in Oviedo and they all are not getting paid their extra Xmas paypacket this year

Thoughts?

Pocaloca

Sevilla was heaving the other day, as usual. But the main rush will be just before Reyes as people always leave things till the last minute.

Obviously the recession and the lack of the winter pago will have an effect though. People are joking down here about eating shrimps instead of langostinos and just buying a packet of sliced jamón instead of a whole one. They will cut back on the food and drink rather than presents for the kids, I think (which is probably not such a bad thing!)

Lynn R

My thoughts? If that's the worst of their problems, they have a lot to be thankful for in the present climate. I bet the "down and outs in small inconsequential towns" all over Spain, the ones you don't like to see cluttering up your TV screen, are just so sorry for them.

I haven't been to any shops other than the supermarket and indoor market for the past week or so, the supermarket seems a little busier than normal each day so far and I've noticed people buying party-type food and drink, whether they're spending more or less than last year I couldn't say. Coming back from the gym by bus this evening, I noticed a young couple coming out of a shop (not Chinese btw) which sells all kinds of items for €10 each (some quite decent ones) loaded down with boxes and a few rolls of wrapping paper, and I thought how sensible to keep their spending to a reasonable level instead of going crazy on the credit cards.

angiescarr

Credit cards? A significant number of people have had to cut them up! I have noticed there are less people in the shops and they are spending less but then in my area unemployment is at around 50%!

agoreira

And the high number of unemployed. I enjoyed this, the nearly 5 million unemployed are having their Christmas bash in Paco's! Some humorous posts at the end as well.
http://www.elmundotoday.com/2012/12/...resa-del-inem/