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| Will 1 pound soon equal 1 euro? |
Following Britain's downgrade to its credit rating last week, there was an immediate run on the euro, as many expected the pound to slide even further. The exchange rate last week fell to 1.12 and some people are of the opinion that it will slide even further.
This is certainly not good news for anyone - holiday makers will get less euros to spend for their hard earned pounds and worryingly, ex-pat pensioners living here will find they are getting less euros too.
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| Yesterday´s Sun article with a picture of Poniente beach |
A story in yesterday´s "Sun" newspaper highlighted how ex-pats claimed 92 million pounds worth of benefits last year - and emphasized that many still claim the Winter fuel allowance despite emigrating to "the sweltering shores of Spain"! Well let me assure you of one thing - yes it can be unbearably hot in July and August, but during the Winter it DOES get very cold here too. I remember when we moved from the UK, the first lot of visitors we had were amazed that we had central heating! As far as Im concerned, those pensioners who have paid into the system all their lives should be entitled to the payment. Also remember, VAT in the UK is only 5% on gas and electricity whereas here in Spain we are charged the full 21%... imagine paying an extra 13% on top of your bill!
Its the benefit scrounging leeches, turning up on UK shores from certain parts of Eastern Europe that the UK Government should be worried about, having never ever put a single penny into the UK Tax or Social Security system but extracting billions. From 1st January 2014 there will be a deluge of Romanians and Bulgarians entering "soft touch" Britain - there´s nothing for them to get here so they quickly cross over the channel to the "land of plenty".... But in today´s news it is reported that the Government may look at ways of cracking down on so called health tourists and newly arrived immigrants to free care, by introducing some type of entitlement card - I´m sure that the do gooders and civil liberty nutters will be up in arms at this prospect!
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| You get the worse exchange rates at the airport - so avoid! |
But going back to the subject of exchange rates, although many don´t seem to worry or think that a few cent change in the rate will affect them, it will. Imagine if you are about to change 1000 pounds for a 2 week holiday, which gives you just over 70 pounds per day, so not an excessive amount - especially if you are planning on visiting the theme parks... in which case you would need to double that! At an exchange rate of 1.18 you would have received 1180 euros but at the current rate of 1.12 you will only get 1120 euros - a difference of 60 euros!
For those of you which have booked your accommodation separately and due to pay on arrival then it will cost you more - same goes for car hire too. All of these things soon add up and you quickly realise what a couple of cents difference makes to your spending power. Although prices of beer and cigarettes are still far cheaper in Spain than in the UK, it will affect your spending power. So keep an eye on the rates, particularly if you have already booked your holiday and remember the golden rules: never ever change money at the airport and never withdraw money from an ATM using a
credit card abroad - you will be charged interest from the minute you withdraw and get a bad rate too.
