Low Cost Spanish Wine Feeling the Wrath of French Producers

Low Cost Spanish Wine Feeling the Wrath of French Producers

Its a fact that Spanish wine is far superior to French wine

and cheaper in price, but unfortunately the French

don't like the competition.

Spanish wine is enjoyed all around the world, even in France – a fact that continues to dismay French wine producers.

French winemakers are going on the warpath in French supermarkets protesting against the practice of importing and selling Spanish wine for much less than French wine is sold for.

The vignerons of the French town Gard stormed into the wine sections at the Genant Casino and Metro supermarkets in the Oicctanie and Nimes regions of France, grabbing case after case of Spanish wine and smashing all the bottles outside in the car park.

What makes the protestosr so angry is that the supermarkets buy wine in Spain in bulk – a deal that was made between Spanish wineries and French supermarkets years ago.

Even though the local French wine – which is made in the well-known Languedoc-Bousillon region – does come highly regarded, it also comes with a higher price tag than Spanish wine. Spanish wine is available to consumers and wholesalers alike at a fraction of the price, while still being good quality wine.

French winemaker Mathieu Calegari told France 2 TV his entire crop of French wine from 2016 is unsold. He said that he has around 1,000 hectolitres of beautiful wine that can’t be sold, adding there was no explanation for it.

The main explanation for the unsold wine appears to be a matter of economics. The wine imported from the Valencia region of Spain costs just 30 euro cents per litre; half as much as French wine.

This is no laughing matter for the thousands of French winemakers that are losing their money and risk losing their livelihoods. There are some politic movements being considered that could help to create an even playing field for Spanish and French wines.

However, it’s unlikely that French supermarkets will ignore the fact that – thanks to cheap labour costs in Spain – Spanish wine remains cost-effective and high quality; which is just right for Spanish wine producers.

One Spanish Restaurant makes you Shows Manners

One Spanish Restaurant makes you Shows Manners

If you’re a long-term expat living in Spain then you’ve no doubt enjoyed the smug satisfaction that comes with explaining to newer expats how things work in Spain.

not saying please or thank you could cost you more

One common piece of advice that is thrown around is that the Spanish don’t really say “please” or “thank you” so it’s not worth your breath to say them. It’s true enough that you’re less likely to hear a Spaniard say “por favor” and “gracias” than a British or Irish person.

This doesn’t mean that manners don’t matter. Manners are still very important in Spain but they are less overt about it. You should still remember your Ps and Qs when interacting with the Spanish service industry though. The people of Catalonia seem to have forgotten this though and it’s led to one café owner at a beach resort to implement a payment scheme based on manners.

After getting tired of locals and tourists forgetting their good manners the owner of the Blau Grifeu restaurant, Marisel Valencia Madrid, decided on new prices. Now customers are charged €5 for simply ordering “un café” (coffee), with a €2 discount for saying “un café, por favor” (one coffee please). Prices drop all the way down to €1.30 if a customer is nice enough to greet the server first and say “buenos dias, un  café por favor” (Good day. One coffee please”).

It looks like this nice little reminder that manners cost nothing is working. Madrid spoke with The Local and said that there has been a real difference since the new pricing system was introduced and the sign was put in the window. Customers are now more polite and it’s making everything just that little bit better.

The 41-year-old café owner remarked how children had been reminding their parents to say please and that it shows how well the scheme is working. Madrid was keen to clarify that Spanish people aren’t rude, just that people from all over, such as the French, German, and British tourists could all be a little more polite.

The cost of living in spain is low and after introducing the new pricing scheme Madrid has yet to sell a coffee at the full €5 price as most people remember all of their manners and grab the €1.30 coffee. She added that people have even started saying thank you, though they don’t get an extra discount for that!

Study Finds the Cost of Buying Property in Spain and Living is Cheaper in Southern Spain Over Northern Spain.

The United Kingdom has a north-south divide that can be found in politics, class, and even football rivalries. This north-south divide is something that is no longer found only in the UK.

A study done by Kelisto.es has found that Spain has a north-south divide of their own, especially in terms of the cost of living. It’s different from the UK divide, however, in that value for money is found down south.

            Cost of living in Spain

Research showed that the cost of living in Barcelona was as much as 30% higher than the national average cost of living. However down in the southern cities of Jaén in Andalucía and Cáceres near Extremadura the cost of living is over 10% lower than the average.

Higher living costs were found all the way across northern Spain including San Sebastián, Madrid, and Palma, the capital of Majorca.

The price of property is also cheaper down in southern Spain. It’s cheaper to both rent property in costa del sol and buy property in the south. An 80 m2 home in the northern states of Barcelona or San Sebastián would set you back on average between €241,000 to €328,000. In the south however it costs around €131,000.

Kelisto.se also looked at living costs and took daily living costs into account. These costs are how much tax people pay, the costs for public transportation in Spain, the cost of accommodation and petrol, the average price for daily essentials like bread and milk, and also the cost of leisure activities like tickets at the cinema and a meal for two including beer.

They took a look at 50 cities overall and there was a strong correlation between high wages and high costs of living in Spain.

The research showed that San Sebastián had a cost of living that was roughly 28% higher than the national average, but the average household income was also around 25% higher than the national average.

The inverse was also shown to be true. Teruel is the tenth cheapest city in the country where citizens pay approximately 8% less than the national average, but the average income there is also around 11% lower than the national average wage.