Some good news!

Spain is having a rather tough time at the moment and even the monarchy is in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. It is difficult to find any good news at the moment but amongst all the bad news I did find one bright spot yesterday; the pound sterling reached a record high yesterday against the euro. It is rather ironic that this is good news because one of the reasons why the euro fell was because of Spain´s economic ills. But a strong pound is good news for the Spanish tourist industry. British tourism to Spain contributes about one percent of the country´s GDP and if Spain is cheaper for British tourists more will come here on holiday and they will spend more. It could even help the struggling real estate industry. It is as simple as that. In the days of the peseta the government would simply devalue it if the tourist industry was not performing. The system worked. A report in Britain said yesterday that 20 percent of wealthy Britons would like to move abroad and Spain is top on their list. A stronger pound could help seal their decision. The Spanish government needs to put the necessary legislation in place so that foreigners can settle in Spain easily and without too many problems. There are some difficult times ahead for this country but a good summer season would help create new jobs and even bring more investment. Spain´s biggest commodity is its weather and let us hope that it stays fine and the pound continues to rise.