Why does a simple and, I thought, comical comment about the new shopping mall have to descend into a litany of personal insults?
I worked for 43 years in the UK, 30 of them in the RAF. After I'd paid considerable sums of income tax and National Insurance contributions, I would do my weekly shop in Sainsburys, but I went to Waitrose for my meat because, quite simply, the quality is superb and, FOR ME, I felt it was worth paying the extra - this CHOICE didn't make me "idle", nor "rich". If my budget had allowed, I would have done my entire shop in Waitrose, because it was on my doorstep, but I was happy with the quality of the majority of produce in other supermarkets. If the supermarkets closest to me had been Morrisons or Asda, I'd have been happy to do my weekly shop in those. I wouldn't criticise people who made an alternative choice.
And I've easily translated my personal choices to living in Spain, where it's common to use a variety of shops, rather than being able to get everything in one place. I never shopped in Lidl in the UK, but I think the quality of their shops in Spain is very good and represents excellent value for money. Consum is great for a general shop, but I think Mercadonna has the best fish counter. Again, my personal choices: please don't vilify me for them.
I think it would be lovely to have a Spanish deli in Quesada, with speciality Spanish wines, meats and cheeses - but perhaps those who criticise Waitrose and Marks & Sparks' shoppers would tell me that I should be getting those things in the supermarkets? And that may be the knub of the problem - a dominance of British nationals living in Quesada will probably end up influencing which retailers can afford to open and sustain a business there.
I think people genuinely on the "bread-line" in the UK (and Spain) would probably be appalled at people who can afford to own property in Spain, whether resident or holiday home owners, criticising each other for their shopping habits
Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2017 12:00 pm
