Coffee and cake prices

[wineguy999]

I imagine you've traveled the Mediterranean coast of Spain, there are a lot of options I believe.

We were in Alicante in January, a city with its own life, not dependent on tourism, and with amazing public services. Public transport, mainly with electric buses, is incredible, and taxi drivers (and indeed everyone else) refuse to overcharge you. The Airbnb we stayed in, in the city centre was equipped and furnished to an extraordinary degree. Mrs. Pintor wants to live there now.

We did food shopping at El Corte Ingles (think Jumbo, but better) and their own-brand products were maybe 50% of the prices in Argentina. Not as cheap as Lidl in Ireland, but certainly less expensive than I expected.

Benidorm: yuk! Do you really want to wake up to a full English breakfast every day?

There are lots more towns and cities along the coast, though, I think it's worth exploring.

El Cortes Ingles is a favorite anywhere in Spain! In Madrid, Perrier-Jouët rosé is 15 Euro by the glass - usually the first stop for a bracer and a little jamón.

Benidorm was suggested for the income potential, what with 7-9 months of tourists around. Native English spoken in a business may draw UK vacationers. But really, I'm fine (prefer) catering to the locals in a larger city.

 

[FrankPintor]

El Cortes Ingles is a favorite anywhere in Spain! In Madrid, Perrier-Jouët rosé is 15 Euro by the glass - usually the first stop for a bracer and a little jamón.

Benidorm was suggested for the income potential, what with 7-9 months of tourists around. Native English spoken in a business may draw UK vacationers. But really, I'm fine (prefer) catering to the locals in a larger city.

You didn't consider Colombia? Cartagena is an amazing year-round tourist destination, with the historic walled city and the day excursions to the islands. Bocagrande is full, really, but new areas for residential apartments are opening up.

 

[wineguy999]

You didn't consider Colombia? Cartagena is an amazing year-round tourist destination, with the historic walled city and the day excursions to the islands. Bocagrande is full, really, but new areas for residential apartments are opening up.

Just so I didn't come off as completely naive in my answer, I did a quick dive looking for several common wines in Colombia, and looked at a few restaurant beverage lists. The results tell me that I might be very thirsty living there, and probably wouldn't be able to make a living with a wine bar.

 

[FrankPintor]

Just so I didn't come off as completely naive in my answer, I did a quick dive looking for several common wines in Colombia, and looked at a few restaurant beverage lists. The results tell me that I might be very thirsty living there, and probably wouldn't be able to make a living with a wine bar.

Oh dear, no, you will not prosper with a wine bar up there. It's rum, (ron de Caldas, which tastes like cough syrup), anis (mostly over-sugared), or beer, which is sometimes OK. Let's stay in Argentina and not go thirsty.

 

[Lanick]

We're still at least 10 months from the move, but the process is very much in the works. Have all but eliminated Madrid for the higher COL, though we love it. Our focus is now on Valencia or Barcelona. A friend of a friend suggested Benidorm, for the tourist business.

The goal is to take over or start a wine bar/tapas/music joint, maybe with a bit of an Argentine slant.

I’m near Benidorm. Not so near but within easy reach. Murcian coast to be specific. A lot of British people and they are serious wine consumers but Benidorm is a bit more like a mass tourism jungle. It’s closer to Alicante than Valencia but they’re all in Communidad de Valencia. We will live in Barcelona but this area is great as well. More like British pensioners with a let’s spend money mindset . Alicante is seriously beautiful but it could be very competitive for wine bar. Let me know if you need any info.

 

[Lanick]

I imagine you've traveled the Mediterranean coast of Spain, there are a lot of options I believe.

We were in Alicante in January, a city with its own life, not dependent on tourism, and with amazing public services. Public transport, mainly with electric buses, is incredible, and taxi drivers (and indeed everyone else) refuse to overcharge you. The Airbnb we stayed in, in the city centre was equipped and furnished to an extraordinary degree. Mrs. Pintor wants to live there now.

We did food shopping at El Corte Ingles (think Jumbo, but better) and their own-brand products were maybe 50% of the prices in Argentina. Not as cheap as Lidl in Ireland, but certainly less expensive than I expected.

Benidorm: yuk! Do you really want to wake up to a full English breakfast every day?

There are lots more towns and cities along the coast, though, I think it's worth exploring.

El Corte Inglés is more like Bloomingdale’s or even better selling designer clothing and some food as well.

 

[Quilombo]

I think for those who are arguing that Argentina is still affordable are those with properties. When you part with between 30% and 50% of your income on rent/expensas/ABL/luz/AySA/MetroGAS/etc. it's difficult to save/trim/adjust, and while Milei and Co. like to celebrate an alleged "recovery" dismal few Argentines are actually able to get mortgages, and those that do are likely the wealthy moving to bigger homes or have a downpayment from the Bank of Mom and Dad.

The adjustment to the adjustment is coming; I don't know when or how, but this ponzi scheme isn't sustainable. You can't have a country where most people earn around $500/month paying $4 for a bottle of coke, or prices second only to Switzerland for a Big Mac, and bachelors apt going for $500/month in CABA.

My personal bet is the IMF is telling Milei and Caputo they can't piss away millions per month intervening in the MEP/CCL markets anymore which is why both are gaining around 8 pesos per day, way above the BCRA dollar, and that another disbursement is dependent upon ending the cepo. If this is the case, it's an implied devaluation, but probably nowhere near what it should be. The balloon is going to pop, but we don't know when, because the only other alternative would be massive hikes in income (not happening) or deflation (only happened with dollarization, which Milei has given up on, so not happening) so the peso must align itself with reality sooner or later.

One question I'd love to ask the Milei fanatics is this: if inflation in Argentina is caused by issuance, and Milei is keeping the M2 under control, why are you afraid of a devaluation? Are you suggesting devaluation would cause inflation? Why would this happen? Don't the markets trust Milei and the chainsaw? Won't they regulate themselves? Why does Milei and Caputo need to dump millions of dollars everyday in to the MEP and CCL? Why can't we leave the cepo already? Make it make sense.

 

[wineguy999]

I’m near Benidorm. Not so near but within easy reach. Murcian coast to be specific. A lot of British people and they are serious wine consumers but Benidorm is a bit more like a mass tourism jungle. It’s closer to Alicante than Valencia but they’re all in Communidad de Valencia. We will live in Barcelona but this area is great as well. More like British pensioners with a let’s spend money mindset . Alicante is seriously beautiful but it could be very competitive for wine bar. Let me know if you need any info.

I may shoot you a PM in the near future - thanks!

 

[Vossos]

I’m near Benidorm. Not so near but within easy reach. Murcian coast to be specific. A lot of British people and they are serious wine consumers but Benidorm is a bit more like a mass tourism jungle. It’s closer to Alicante than Valencia but they’re all in Communidad de Valencia. We will live in Barcelona but this area is great as well. More like British pensioners with a let’s spend money mindset . Alicante is seriously beautiful but it could be very competitive for wine bar. Let me know if you need any info.

As a Brit, an alcoholic (though a beer drinker), and having slow travelled from Valencia to Malaga, if I were to open a wine bar Alicante would be the clear winner in terms of demand. However I’ve not been to Benidorm and expect that might take the cake.

On the flipside I’d live in Malaga above anywhere I went on the way that trip

 

[LuckyLuke]

One question I'd love to ask the Milei fanatics is this: if inflation in Argentina is caused by issuance, and Milei is keeping the M2 under control, why are you afraid of a devaluation? Are you suggesting devaluation would cause inflation? Why would this happen? Don't the markets trust Milei and the chainsaw? Won't they regulate themselves? Why does Milei and Caputo need to dump millions of dollars everyday in to the MEP and CCL? Why can't we leave the cepo already? Make it make sense.

We're on the wrong thread for this chat, but let's pretend we're having it over coffee and cake.

Inflation is simply a sustained increase in the general price of goods, it is not purely an M2 phenomenon. It can come from internal or external sources depending on the sectors. You have a government that has stopped peso issuance, which can reduce inflation. But also stopped subsidies, which can increase inflation. You can reduce domestic taxes to reduce inflation, but also intervene in foreign markets to increase inflation. It depends on the sector and it's exposure to imports/exports. Not every sector will react the same to each of the strings Milei is pulling.

A devaluation will most certainly be inflationary for import sectors and deflationary for export sectors. Getting rid of the CEPO suddenly may cause capital flight, this is why the IMF loan is needed to avoid a sovereign debt crisis with both domestic creditors (Argentine financial instruments denominated in dollars) and foreign creditors (international debt and credit required for the free flow of trade).