Euro gleich Teuro?

Der Euro in Europa - Spanien

Spain

Growth
Growth has declined sharply since Spain joined the euro in 1999, when growth was 4.2 percent. The growth rate in 2002 was 1.9 percent and the downward trend is expected to continue in 2003.

Jobs
Spain has the highest rate of unemployment in the EU, at over 11 percent. This rate has increased since the launch of euro notes and coins, moving from 10.6 percent in 2001 to 11.3 percent in 2002.

Prices
In Spain the euro is know as the “redondo”, from the Spanish word “redondeo”, meaning to round up. There is widespread evidence that the euro has led to price hikes. A study by the Spanish newspaper El Pais has compared prices for a basket of 60 goods varying from meat to vegetables to bottles of detergent from December 2001 to December 2002. In December 2001, the basket cost €170.44 but in December 2002, the same basket bought at the same supermarket cost €201.12, a rise of over 18 percent. Fish and meat rose on average by over 30 percent and vegetables by nearly 25 percent. Examples include, 2 kilos of bananas which cost €1.74 in 2001 are now €2.80, shower gel €1.89 in 2001 now €2.35 and 1 kilo of steak €9.50 in 2001 now €11.90.

Public opinion
98 percent of Spanish think that prices have risen since the euro was introduced. An “Eroski group” poll of 1350 people throughout Spain asking people how the euro has affected their daily lives was reported by a Spanish consumer magazine in January 2003. Of the 98 percent who said prices went up, 81 percent “stressed that there has been a big increase in prices”. Only one quarter of people think in euros, the remainder still having to mentally convert mentally from pesetas.

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