Spain - Inflation Watch

[trilingual]

Haven't been to Spain for a year or so. The last time I was there, the guys at the Thermas in Barcelona were charging approximately the equivalent of US$30. Has anyone been in Spain recently? What are the guys currently charging in Euros?

[Guest MrB]

I hear it's 50 now.

 

Have fun!

 

 

MrB

[trilingual]

Outrageous! Has anyone reported this to the local consumer protection organization? That's a helluva hike in prices. If milk or bus fares went up that much there'd be rioting in the streets!

[Guest MrB]

Funny. I have not actually been to Barcelona since New Year's Eve--just before the new currency--and most of the guys even then were trying to talk tourists into higher peseta rates. The owners also upped the price of admission slightly. The locals I spoke to were not happy about any of this... I imagine Thermas is a large chunk of their spending (would be if I lived there). However, the competition among the guys is still so fierce that there's absolutely no need to pay what they are asking for. I would try and talk them down to €35 or so--that's a €150 savings if you do ten guys in an afternoon LOL--and I'm sure the locals still get lower rates... they did not used to pay the pts 5000 either, that was for tourists anyway. Please everybody join me in a campaign to keep prices low and our spending power up :-)

 

Have fun!

 

 

MrB

[trilingual]

Yes, by all means let's work to keep inflation from getting out of hand here.

 

In "El País" (the leading Spanish newspaper) I read a few days ago that the median gross annual salary in Spain is about €18,500. That comes to €50/day. So if a guy is scoring twice at €30, he's already exceeding the median daily gross salary. And what he makes at the baths is TAX-FREE, so he's doing even better, actually. In other words, €30 is actually a fair price for what usually amounts to a half-hour of hanky-panky.

 

I'm no accounting whiz, and I can barely balance my own check-book, but even I can do this math! :-) I hope this helps put things into perspective.