No Banquet for Five Euros
I am the first to admit that I haven't the money to spend on five star hotels and three or four fork restaurants. In fact, when we went to France three years ago, we went by car, searched for the cheapest diesel, stayed at wonderful B&B's, ate mostly food from supermarkets at picnic spots, and bought very few souvenirs, mostly magnets. I think the most money we spent daily was for our accommodations, and I deliberately chose those that were the least expensive without being cheap hostel-type places. We enjoyed ourselves without mortgaging the house.
Many people on tight incomes who like to travel, have no option but to travel cheap. The tourism industry has adapted to them, even though the cities and towns they pass through wish they would leave more money. In fact, our regional government of Galicia has stated it would try to change our tourism to target more "moneyed" tourists. Good luck with that. They'll find that there aren't that many who have a few thousand euros to spend all in one week. One thing touted so much by the government, the Way of Santiago, is being used as an excuse for cheap tourism. After all, people see the country on foot, sleep in hostels that are extremely cheap or even free for pilgrims, and eat mostly food from supermarkets warmed up in a microwave. This year there are more pilgrims than ever that reach Santiago, but they are also spending less.
We did cheap tourism, and we knew exactly what to expect. The problem is when a few cretins do cheap tourism and expect to get the same service and products as those willing to shell out more cash. There was a tourist this summer here that wanted to pay for a glass of wine fifty cents. A glass of wine hasn't cost that for almost twenty years. Then there was the tourist in Noia that refused to pay more than three euros for a fried squid sandwich he had already eaten, saying that it wasn't worth more than that. And there are those who don't want to pay more than five euros for a ration of octopus (it's around ten or more). Or those who might drink a water or a soda and complain when the only tapa placed in front of them is a few potato chips or a handful of peanuts, or nothing at all.
In other parts of Spain, tapas are not free. They won't cost much, though. For some strange reason, Galicia never got into the habit of charging for them. In most bars, if you ask for a glass of something, you will get a little dish of food placed in front of you next to your drink. Some bars go for the least expense and work, and simply set out some olives, peanuts, or potato chips. Others have a house dish that they cook every day, or on Sundays or every weekend, etc., and hand those out. Sometimes the tapas are a nice way to eat a "free" meal. For the price of a couple of glasses of wine, beer, or Coke, someone who is accustomed to eating light will make a meal of it. Sometimes, though, there are tapa competitions in a city or town, in which different bars design different culinary works of art. Those aren't free, but even so, rarely cost much more than a euro each.
There are tourists that try to make a meal for the entire family from tapas. If their radar is wrong, and the bar they choose places only a few potato chips in front of them with their drinks, they will complain loudly. Sometimes, though, they'll take anything given them and ask for more. In a nearby bar that has since closed, some years ago, a family of tourists sat with some simple drinks and ate various bags of peanuts for supper. They would finish the peanuts supplied them and kept asking for more until they were sated.
Then there are those that think that just because they're the visitors, that things such as seafood should be cheaper for them. I still remember some years ago, sitting on a park bench behind me at a beach, two tourists from Madrid complaining. One was telling the other that seafood here shouldn't be as expensive as in Madrid, that it should be cheaper for the tourists to be able to enjoy it better. For, if they were to pay the same as in Madrid, there was no reason for them to come to Galicia. Fine, then don't come. The locals here earn smaller salaries than he and his friends, and can eat the local seafood only on special days, not whenever they want, like that tourist.
Be a cheap tourist, just don't spend five euros and expect fifty euro service or product. It doesn't go down well with the natives.
Many people on tight incomes who like to travel, have no option but to travel cheap. The tourism industry has adapted to them, even though the cities and towns they pass through wish they would leave more money. In fact, our regional government of Galicia has stated it would try to change our tourism to target more "moneyed" tourists. Good luck with that. They'll find that there aren't that many who have a few thousand euros to spend all in one week. One thing touted so much by the government, the Way of Santiago, is being used as an excuse for cheap tourism. After all, people see the country on foot, sleep in hostels that are extremely cheap or even free for pilgrims, and eat mostly food from supermarkets warmed up in a microwave. This year there are more pilgrims than ever that reach Santiago, but they are also spending less.
We did cheap tourism, and we knew exactly what to expect. The problem is when a few cretins do cheap tourism and expect to get the same service and products as those willing to shell out more cash. There was a tourist this summer here that wanted to pay for a glass of wine fifty cents. A glass of wine hasn't cost that for almost twenty years. Then there was the tourist in Noia that refused to pay more than three euros for a fried squid sandwich he had already eaten, saying that it wasn't worth more than that. And there are those who don't want to pay more than five euros for a ration of octopus (it's around ten or more). Or those who might drink a water or a soda and complain when the only tapa placed in front of them is a few potato chips or a handful of peanuts, or nothing at all.
In other parts of Spain, tapas are not free. They won't cost much, though. For some strange reason, Galicia never got into the habit of charging for them. In most bars, if you ask for a glass of something, you will get a little dish of food placed in front of you next to your drink. Some bars go for the least expense and work, and simply set out some olives, peanuts, or potato chips. Others have a house dish that they cook every day, or on Sundays or every weekend, etc., and hand those out. Sometimes the tapas are a nice way to eat a "free" meal. For the price of a couple of glasses of wine, beer, or Coke, someone who is accustomed to eating light will make a meal of it. Sometimes, though, there are tapa competitions in a city or town, in which different bars design different culinary works of art. Those aren't free, but even so, rarely cost much more than a euro each.
There are tourists that try to make a meal for the entire family from tapas. If their radar is wrong, and the bar they choose places only a few potato chips in front of them with their drinks, they will complain loudly. Sometimes, though, they'll take anything given them and ask for more. In a nearby bar that has since closed, some years ago, a family of tourists sat with some simple drinks and ate various bags of peanuts for supper. They would finish the peanuts supplied them and kept asking for more until they were sated.
Then there are those that think that just because they're the visitors, that things such as seafood should be cheaper for them. I still remember some years ago, sitting on a park bench behind me at a beach, two tourists from Madrid complaining. One was telling the other that seafood here shouldn't be as expensive as in Madrid, that it should be cheaper for the tourists to be able to enjoy it better. For, if they were to pay the same as in Madrid, there was no reason for them to come to Galicia. Fine, then don't come. The locals here earn smaller salaries than he and his friends, and can eat the local seafood only on special days, not whenever they want, like that tourist.
Be a cheap tourist, just don't spend five euros and expect fifty euro service or product. It doesn't go down well with the natives.
Love this.
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