Live News From Spain As It Happens

A LOTTERY shop manager in Madrid is grateful that her son Luis, 32, had her rushing to a maternity ward when he did: If he had not been born on April 5, 1990, she would not have sold the jackpot-winning El Gordo ticket this year.

Whilst some ticket-buyers prefer to pick out random number combinations they will never remember from one year – or week – to the next, to avoid the harrowing disappointment of their regular figures coming up that one time they forget to play – others stick rigidly to numbers that mean something to them.

And this was the case with Soledad Muñoz, who made sure to be selling the festive lottery ticket numbered 05490.

Given that it was drawn as the first-prize number today (Thursday, December 22), Soledad's friends, family members and regular customers are now celebrating after claiming a minimum of €400,000 a head – and Soledad herself, like lottery shop sellers in general, gets a commission reflecting this, together with the enhanced reputation a jackpot-winning branch gets among the superstitious.

Soledad used to be a ticket-seller on the Madrid metro, but always wanted to own a lottery shop; when her mother passed away and she inherited her apartment, the sale of the property funded the purchase of branch 522 in the capital.

Luis López says that this, along with the top prize going to tickets with her grandson's date of birth, means his Grandma was 'smiling down on them' this year.

El Gordo tickets cost €200 each, meaning the average member of the public buys a much more affordable tenth of a ticket, or décimo, at €20.

The majority of full tickets tend to be sold to syndicates made up of work colleagues, friend groups or families, although anyone who did spend €200 on a ticket for themselves bearing the number 05490 is now €4 million wealthier than they were on Wednesday, December 21.

They will, of course, have to pay 20% tax on all bar the first €10,000.

A décimo featuring the combination 05490 will earn its holder €400,000.

Winning sums have not changed in decades, but the lower prizes – lower than the numerous daily lotteries played across Spain – mean higher odds of a win that might be anything from a helpful cashflow bonus through to enough to buy a spacious new home.

Overall, the odds remain very low of a top-three prize win, but smaller wins can still be welcome at an expensive time of year such as Christmas, and are far more likely.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A VOUCHER worth €400 to spend on arts and entertainment for anyone who turned – or has still to turn – 18 in 2022 will be offered again next year, reveals minister for culture Miquel Iceta.

Teens entering adulthood this year got a surprise bonus present when it was announced in July that anyone born in the year 2004 – residents of any nationality, including asylum seekers, whether or not they had yet been granted refugee status – could download a 'culture voucher', or Bono Cultural, before October 15, whether or not their 18th birthday had already passed.

Strict rules apply as to how much of the €400 can be spent on what areas, but practically all of them are covered – up to €100 on physical books, magazines, press, music scores for those who sing or play instruments, music supports such as CDs, cassettes and vinyl, films on DVD or VHS video tape, all bought from shop premises rather than online; €100 on digital items, such as online magazines and press, e-books, video game or film streaming, music downloads, and subscriptions to music, film, gaming or reading platforms; and the remaining €200 to be spent on visits, such as to festivals, concerts, plays, shows, museums, art galleries, or library services which attract a fee.

Computer or mobile phone hardware or software, school or college textbooks, physical e-readers, musical instruments, drawing and painting material, clothing or accessories, restaurant meals, or sporting events are not covered.

The reason for the split between types of activity or product is to ensure that all areas of the arts, entertainment and culture industries which suffered financially through the pandemic would be given a boost, not just those most popular with the young, such as online services, streaming or music downloads.

Anyone whose 17th birthday was in 2022 may have been disappointed to have been born too late, especially if they were one of a 'New Year' twin whose elder sibling came into the world on the right side of the chimes.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A VILLAGE in southern Valencia province has handed out free legs of Serrano ham to all its residents 'to combat the effects of inflation'.

Beniflà, midway between the larger towns of Oliva and Gandia, about 20 minutes by car from the coast and backing onto the neighbouring villages of La Font d'En Carròs and Rafelcofer, is home to just 463 people – but mayor Borja Gironés' Christmas giveaway still cost around €10,000.

Serrano ham is a luxury food item normally kept for special occasions, and the annual Christmas Eve night family dinner in Mediterranean Spain will probably include it along with huge platefuls of seafood, particularly prawns.

But a full leg of Serrano ham can cost upwards of €100, and even buying a few slices from the delicatessen counter can be expensive.

With inflation in Spain forecast to remain above 3.5% until at least 2024, according to the European Central Bank (BCE) – which also, fortunately, predicts the country will escape a recession – the usual high expenses of the festive season are either likely to be curbed this year or will leave residents struggling for longer when the New Year comes.

Gironés said the idea was initially motivated 'to help with the Covid financial crisis', but was 'so popular' among residents that his local government team opted to make it an annual scheme.

The first time locals were able to claim their free leg of ham was over Christmas 2020, meaning this year's holidays will be the third time running.

Given that not every household will be able to consume a whole Serrano ham before it goes off, most families have opted to take home just one per unit, meaning Beniflà council hands out a typical 210 every year.

Does this mean that vegetarians, vegans and pescatarians – people who eat fish but not meat – will miss out on their free Christmas dinner, though?

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

MADRID'S Adolfo Suárez-Barajas airport has been named number one in Europe in terms of services, efficiency, complaints handling, and quality of its shops and restaurants, and Bilbao airport has come second.

AirHelp, a travel consumer protection organisation, publishes an annual ranking of the world's best and worst terminals, scoring them for facilities, flight punctuality, helpfulness, comfort and a broad range of other features.

Issued every year since 2015 – other than during the pandemic years - the AirHelp Score report puts the international airport in Spain's capital at number 12 worldwide and top in Europe.

Overall, the hub – with four terminals and based in the Madrid satellite town of Barajas – gained 82.5% after a meteoric rise from its 2019 position.

Back then, Madrid airport was at number 33 in the world.

How Madrid and Bilbao score

For flight punctuality, Madrid earned 82.6%; customer opinion rankings gave it 81.9%, and leisure and relaxation facilities such as bars, cafés, restaurants and shops gained 83%.

Connections from Madrid cover the entire world, although direct flights to Latin American destinations are its speciality, making it the gateway to the 'new world' south of the tropics.

It was renamed in 2014 in honour of the first national president of Spain's democratic era, Adolfo Suárez, who died on March 23 that year aged 81 from Alzheimer's.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN'S most 'distinguished' beer is Mahou – it's official, according to the company's latest award count: In 2022 alone, the brand earned 98 medals, of which 38 were gold, in some of the most prestigious international competitions.

The annual Brand Footprint report, by the consultancy firm Kantar, says Mahou is Spain's 'most appreciated' make, having earned special mentions at 16 global beer events and netted over 320 prizes in the past five years.

In fact, it has been named top brand in Spain continuously since 2018 inclusive, something Mahou-San Miguel marketing director Emmanuel Pouey says is 'a source of great pride' for the company.

“This is especially true when you consider that the beer industry is in constant evolution,” Pouey admits.

“Ending the year by achieving our ongoing aim of being the best is what spurs us on to continue producing the highest-quality products ahead of 2023.”

Among the awards Mahou has collected are 32 medals from nine different countries for its Cinco Estrellas label, and its alcohol-free version – the Mahou 0,0 Tostada – is once again one of its most-distinguished products, netting eight prizes.

Mahou's 'premium' varieties, the Maestra and Barrica, have each earned around a dozen awards.

A foreign concept that took off in Spain

Now 132 years old, the company was founded in Madrid as Hijos de Casimiro Mahou – 'Sons of Casimiro Mahou' – and was somewhat ground-breaking when it launched, given that Spain had long been a country of grape-growing and wine-producing tradition, where beer and ale were not mainstream until well into the 20th century.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

'BLACK Friday' comes just once a year, but if you want to buy authentically-national goods for discounted prices, 'Spanish Friday' is your chance.

A brand-new concept, the one-day-only sales across the country is set to be held exactly two weeks after 'Black Friday' every year, and features products exclusively made in Spain.

The likely range is endless, and could involve fresh, local food produce, books by Spanish authors, arts and crafts on stalls, or even fashion, shoes and cosmetics by world-famous brands that just happen to be from Spain.

Although the focus is on 'local' and 'sustainable', any retailers can take part in 'Spanish Friday' and use the logo to advertise the fact – which includes a hashtag – provided what they sell has been made nationally.

As well as reduced prices, participating shops will be advertising #SpanishFriday on their usual channels, such as their own websites or social media profiles, or even just in the windows of their fixed premises.

Chief executive of the firm ES Fascinante – one of the key companies behind the campaign creation – Valentina Suárez-Zuloaga, says the main aim is to promote Spain's wares in general, but also to raise the profile of small local retailers.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

“THE best thing that can be said about a city is that it's the best in the world to live in – and Valencia, from today, is just that,” says Sandra Gómez, deputy mayor of Spain's third-largest metropolis.

“That's what I call 'putting oneself on the map'. We've got reasons to be proud.”

If you're not one of the 780,000 or so inhabitants in this Mediterranean city that sits approximately halfway down the east coast, then it's still easy enough to find out for yourself why it tops the ranking in Forbes magazine – Valencia is served by frequent budget airline connections from all over Europe, and the metro running to the centre starts right inside the terminal.

And it's not the only Spanish location in the 10 'most liveable city' standings – Madrid comes in at number five.

Only one other country has more than one entry in the 10 best – the United Arab Emirates, with Dubai second and Abu Dhabi ninth.

Valencia also beats México DF, which is third, and the capital of Spain's neighbouring country – Portugal – as Lisbon comes fourth.

Both Valencia and Madrid come ahead of Bangkok, Thailand (sixth), Basel, Switzerland (seventh), former winner Melbourne, south-eastern Australia (eighth), Abu Dhabi, and Singapore (10th).

Barcelona came 14th, beating Lausanne, Switzerland (18th), Copenhagen, Denmark (17th), New York, USA (16th) and Nairobi, Kenya (15th).

Ahead of Barcelona were Tallinn, Estonia (11th), Miami, USA (12th) and Sydney, Australia (13th).

Toronto, Canada and Zürich, Switzerland complete the top 20.

Expat City Ranking 2022

Full-time inhabitants of the 50 cities featured in Forbes were not the ones who gave their views, as the annual study seeks to discover how the planet's largest metropolitan zones compare with respondents' home towns, or others they have lived in.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

RISING energy costs, price-led inflation and increasing Eurozone interest rates have led experts to speculate on what could happen in Spain's housing market in 2023 – and their views offer a range of differing scenarios.

They include a reduction in the number of property purchases, a small rise in home values, and growing interest in renting instead of owner-occupancy.

Spain has one of Europe's highest rates of home ownership – approximately three-quarters of occupied residential property is lived in by those who have bought or inherited it, with or without a mortgage – meaning the rental market has tended to be largely seasonal, although younger adults finding it increasingly hard to get onto the housing ladder are becoming the largest tenancy market, especially with the difficulty they find in obtaining affordable rent prices in big cities.

Over two-thirds of homes in Spain are flats or apartments, even in villages, as development has historically sought to maximise land space.

Flats and apartments tend to be very generous in size, and are frequently much larger than a house with the same number of bedrooms.

Fewer sales, but small home price rises and 'strong latent demand'

Some property market analysts predict an approximate 12% shrinking in buying and selling next year, largely due to the first rise in the Euribor, or Eurozone interest rate, in many years.

This summer, for the first time since February 2016, the Euribor rose above zero, meaning mortgages are more expensive at the end of 2022 than they were at the same time last year.

The greater cost of mortgage repayments, combined with reducing household spending power as a result of consumer and energy prices going up, are predicted to lead to some reduction in homebuying.

But the same analysts believe there will be 'no major falls in home values', due to a 'very strong, latent demand' for buying.

In fact, they forecast rises in home prices of around 5% in 2023.

Demand will still exist, but potential buyers are more likely to postpone their decisions and keep their eye on the news – whether the conflict in Ukraine continues to affect energy prices and the direct effect of this on the cost of consumer goods, whether they are likely to get a pay rise as companies across Spain attempt to soften the blow of inflation for their employees, and whether the European Central Bank (BCE) will consider this inflation to be safely contained and therefore minimise interest rate rises.

The market is likely to adapt to encompass other formats of acquiring a home – renting with the option to buy being one of these.

BBVA and ING – more cautious about price growth

BBVA Research, the analyst arm of the high-street bank, forecasts a 'minor shrinking' in home sales for the coming year, but assures that actual levels of property selling will 'continue to be high' – just not as high as in 2022.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

DINING with the stars is perfectly possible almost anywhere in Spain – if you have the budget to do so.

But even if you don't, Michelin-level cuisine does not have to mean remortgaging your house, or keeping it for a once-in-a-lifetime special occasion.

Even if price is not an issue, unless you're a dedicated 'foodie', you're unlikely travel long distances purely to experience restaurants of this calibre – it's more likely you'll stumble upon them when you're on holiday in another part of Spain.

Which means that if you're going to try as many of them as possible, it helps to have an 'excuse' to make the journey.

So, our guide to the main visitor highlights across the country includes all the 'budget' Michelin-level restaurants nearest to them – you might want to bookmark this page when planning your next road trip, so you know what to see, and where to eat once you've seen it.

And when we say 'budget', we mean they're in the 2023 Michelin guide, but at a similar cost to any popular local restaurant near you.

We'll start you off with a sightseeing and dining tour of the islands, the south, and the east coast.

And if these much-adored destinations whet your appetite, stay tuned for our next tasty touring guide to northern and central Spain, including Madrid, coming up later this week.

Michelin 'on the cheap': 'Bib Gourmand' awards

Anecdotal evidence says eating out in Spain is relatively cheap – compared to much of the rest of the world, restaurant meals in the country are among the most affordable and offer some of the best value for money.

his is something Spain has long been proud of and which has not changed in decades – whether your definition of 'value for money' is the highest level of quality and creativity for a price that does not reflect it, or whether it means the largest amounts of food and the most filling dishes for the lowest cost possible.

To this end, even though an eatery with three Michelin stars is certainly going to cost you considerably more than a lunchtime set menú del día in your local bar, it is very likely to come with a much smaller bill than in many other parts of Europe, or indeed, the world.

But given that the global cost of living crisis is being felt by everyone except those on very high incomes, the Michelin guide's 'Bib Gourmand' section is of particular interest for the 2023 edition.

This covers restaurants which do not necessarily reach the levels of extreme perfection needed for a star, but which offer near-star quality for prices well below what you'd pay in those who do hold them.

In reality, some of them do, indeed, have a Michelin star, but have managed to meet the tough criteria necessary to earn one whilst still being able to keep their prices low.

To earn 'Bib Gourmand' status, a restaurant has to show standards of excellence that are very hard to achieve, at the same time as providing a full meal for under €35 a head.

Existing entries, plus the 31 newcomers in this year's list, are required to offer either a set menu or an à la carte three-course dinner, dessert included, at this price or, ideally, less.

And if you only want a main meal or one course, you'll very likely be paying considerably less than the maximum of €35.

Helpfully, some of the Bib Gourmand restaurants – as is also the case with some of the one- to three-starred eateries in the 2023 guide – are also hotels, or separate businesses based in a hotel, meaning you can combine fine dining at affordable prices with a place to stay.

It sounds tempting already – but where can you find them?

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com