As I've been telling you on my main Spanish blog, I've enjoyed a brief moment in the limelight as a result of being interviewed for The One Show. Because I was so adamant that it's cheaper to live in Spain than in the UK, the film crew decided we'd do my piece at Zoco Market.
Although it wasn't shown on screen, I managed to get all the fruit and veg I needed for less than 7 Euro. I know that - despite the excitement of being filmed - because I have a little trick I use when I go to the market, to cut down on the risk of being robbed. I keep all my change in my shorts pockets, so I can pay for my stuff without needing to open my bag, and on the Sunday we filmed for the BBC, I had just over 8 Euro in change.
When I'd completed my produce shopping, I still had almost 2 Euro in my pocket. That means my fruit and veg cost me somewhere between 6.50 and 7 Euro. So, what did I get for that? Here's what!
- 6 kilos of oranges for juicing
- 3 galia melons
- 2 large red peppers
- 6 vine tomatoes
- half a kilo of cherry plum tomatoes
- 1 kilo of strawberries
- 1 kilo of new potatoes
- 6 bananas
- I barra de pan (similar to a French stick)
I still had cauliflower, onions and carrots left from the previous week, so basically that fruit and veg covered breakfasts, desserts and salads for most of the week, with the addition of around 20 Euro worth of meat and eggs from Lidl.
It took 2 members of the film crew to carry my purchases back to the car. I normally take my shopping trolley with me, like the Spanish madres, but since it was bought for me as a joke by a friend and has a huge Union Jack on it, it hardly seemed appropriate when I was being interviewed on why I loved Spain!
Last year, when we had to spend 4 months in the UK due to family illness, it came home to me just how expensive it is to feed yourself there. Okay, the big supermarkets vie with each other on offers, but unless you live on BOGOF bargains and virtually cut fruit and vegetables out of your diet, there is now way you could live as cheaply as we do here in Spain.
What a pity they didn't show the bit where the presenter rummaged through my bags and asked to see my change - maybe it would have taken the wind out of some of the Spain Bashers' sails. Or maybe not. It seems to be open season at the moment, but I actually know I can live cheaper here than in the UK, and I'd have welcomed the chance to say so on national television.
