large chains still closing for lunch!

Ref to original post.....you were not able to buy at your preferred outlet but yet you still found what you were looking for elsewhere.

Maybe you saved money buying with the other company but either way someone lost and someone won.Possibly you were the biggest winner.

I dont believe opening the "siesta hours" will generate more business, the economy is what it is...if people cant afford to buy at 9am, 3pm or 7pm they will not buy.

Its a worthwile debate but i think thats all it will be....a debate...

Lastly, siesta hours works for me....in fact...i would not want it to change ...

Cheers

Graeme

People that say things like "Get use to the spanish culture or go back home" are stuck in the past and are the sort that are willing to get treated badly in another country just because its not their birth home.  Thankfully most in the world have moved on from the days for example when the Brits first started coming to Spain and were willing to put up with poor food, poor service and everything inbetween.  Since spain produces virtually nothing that the world wants in any great quantity and its largest export is indeed tourism it needs to get a grip, and QUICK! before it loses that industry as well to more eager and willing countries like those in the former eastern block.  When was the last time you saw or even heard of a Seville orange except in spain? the spanish screwed up that market for themselves because they were unwilling to change and go with the times, now virtually all oaranges come from Florida, california or Isreal.

To Lawrencemarbella

I for one, am not stuck in the past.

in reply to your comment...Spain should get a grip and quick re tourism....This years figures just released show 8.1% growth from last year and 2011 was 9.4% up on 2010...

So it does not seem as if Spain is struggling to attract more tourists....Many more like Spain than the odd few who dislike Spain...

If as you point im living in the past....well then...i like the past ...

and lastly, the oranges i buy from my local market are spanish...

Cheers

Lawrence

Since spain produces virtually nothing that the world wants in any great quantity

Well their gross domestic product for 2012 is going to be around 1.5 TRILLION DOLLARS and of that around 215,000 million euros are exported

Thats a lot of nothing!!

The oranges you buy from your local market will be spanish, would you expect any different since the spanish beleive them to be the best even though that may not be true and anyway what about choice?  this is the typical limited spanish view of commerce.  As far as the tourist numbers go, i wont bother to check but i'd bet that those same figures are comparable across all euro zone countries in the last couple of years particularly as the euro has been falling, i suspect the increase comes from countries outside the euro zone currency, particularly the UK.  No supprises there, a bargin is a bargin, but dont get confused, as the sand settles and if spain doesnt change its ways, particularly in relation to customer service, store closing times etc etc, people will be aware that they have alternatives within the eurozone.  Spain is in a very dangerous position, it doesnt have its own currency and therefore cannot compete on that basis any more, it wont take long for people to realise, as i think many are already doing, that they can go elsewehere for the same price or better, get treated like they are indeed the customer and not have to put up with the spanish BS

lawrencemarbella....maybe the "lack of customer service" is local to you...

i look after rental properties and given the increase in tourist numbers, this ties in well with the busy 12 months we have had...

i can tell you quite clealry....nobody, be that a family member, friend, client etc etc etc have gone home and had a tiny complaint about the time spent here...

Maybe you can set up a customer service centre to show people the right way forward...

Cheers

why? the spanish dont like to work, they prefer siestas

 What a very blinkered, and ignorant, view of what Spain actually exports and does. The costas are quite a small area and Spain is rather a larger country than the expats who move here seem to realise .  Tourism is only 14th on the list of what brings money into the economy, even olive oil (of which Spain is the world's highest producer) was worth more.  Most car manufacturers build in Spain (VW, Mercedes, Peugot and many others).  Exports in August of this year were worth, as said, over 1.5 trillion dollars.  Spain is the fifth biggest exporter in the EU with exports worth more than imports.  As Team GB said, that's a lot of nothing. 

Oh, and the oranges at the market/supermarket out of season were from South Africa.  Not a patch on the home grown produce.  

Team GB.  Your figures are not correct, anyway lets compare contries of similar size shall we, UK and Spain, UK's total exports are, in euros, approx 200 bilion greater than Spain's, tourism UK, approx 125 billion, Spain approx 40 billion, yeah i'd call that small fry.

lawrencemarbella

me thinks its time....for your siesta....

yeah, real concise adult argument that one graeme13

lawrencemarbella.....if its an argument you are looking for....well sorry to dissapoint....

i dont do arguments...

Lawrence

GDP - Source World Bank

http://www.google.co.uk/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=ny_gdp_mktp_cd&idim=country:ESP&dl=en&hl=en&q=spanish+gdp

Exports - Source La Moncola

http://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/IDIOMAS/9/Gobierno/News/2012/20120816_tradedeficit_sixmonths12.htm

I maybe under done the numbers for export 109.97 billion euros in the first six months of the year (2012)

bobaol  where in gods name are you getting your figures from, Spain exports more than it imports? that my friend is an absolute impossibilty for any developed country, i wont go into the reasons why, its basic economics, anyway for your information spain has a current trade deficit of approx 3.5 bilion. As far as olive oil goes you are correct, but lets face it as nice as oilive oil is, particularly spanish olive oild, its just not a high profit product, spain does export huge amounts of the stuff but the profir margin on each tonne is quite small so it really doesnt hugely impact the countries GDP

Team GB, i wont even bother going to your links because they wont disprove what i said, what i said was that spain does not export more than it imports and like any other developed country it runs a trade deficit, my god! its easy numbers my friend, if spain somehow magically exported more than it imported, total goods and services, could it be in such a mire right now? go back and reread before commenting.

graeme13 dont use simatics, if you dont know, everyone else will probably understand here that when i used the word argument in this context i was refering to the discussion and your somewhat less than aldult last two replies

Well this one may disprove what you said.

Offcial Eurostat numbers showing that the UK had a deficit nearly three time that of Spain in 2010/11

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php?title=File:International_trade,_2010-2011_(EUR_1_000_million).png&filetimestamp=20121008124126

Any way I don't want a weeing competition with you, I'm off to the shops, before they shut

Getting back to the original subject of this post.  Spain is perfectly entitled and has an unequivocal right to do as it wishes within the confines of Spain, every business in Spain must operate in the way it sees fit for itself, its customers and the greater good. But, spain must realise that what it decides will impact its realations within the EU in particular.  there is no more free lunch for spain, greece and any other country that wants to be in the club but not play by the rules.  Its time to decide, put up or shut up and get the hell out of the EU if they cant conform

Team GB quick economics lesson for you.  Apart from the fact the UK's overall GDP is much higher than that of Spain, thats not the important thing here, what is is whats called the "ability and trust to pay"  The UK's debt to GDP for example is higher than Spains but yet the UK has a much better credit rating than does Spain, in fact the UK could quite easily sustain a debt to GDP of 120 or even 150% of GDP, while this isnt disirable its completely managable for the UK, not so for Spain, basically put, the numbers just dont add up for spain and i wont even go into the historic fact that spain has previous convictions for going backrupt several times in the last century and also in centuries before that, spain just doesnt seem to want to play the game, ever!