If you haven't read the recent BBC News Magazine article, Sunny Side Down, click HERE and have a look before you read any further. Done that? OK, we'll carry on.Doom and gloom merchants abound whenever things get a bit doomish and gloomish. That's only natural. But in the midst of this impending meltdown there may just be some tunnel light that isn't the train headed straight towards us.
Yes, it rained. The most in 15 years. But the reservoirs aren't yet full, so as far as I'm concerned it can rain some more. Everybody else's apartments and villas may be rotting away under black coats of mildew, but ours isn't. Other Algarve residents may have been shivering, but we weren't. Income derived from UK investments has dwindled, but for those living within their means this is an inconvenience, not a catastrophe.
Some of the economic difficulties we have witnessed businesses and restaurants experiencing were those borne out of a strong pound and greed. Yes, the pound is no longer strong, but the greed remains. It may have been acceptable to charge near-on €20 in a restaurant for a €4 bottle of wine a year ago (Not to me, but maybe to others). This attitude must now change. Prices which were artificially high due to hedging against the strong pound must now be rationalised. Driving the customers away because they now won't pay inflated prices benefits nobody.
Look at the restaurants that cater for the Portuguese, one of the poorest paid nationalities in Europe. These establishments are heaving with natives. Why? Because they offer value for money. The owners are not attempting to extort money from their patrons under the guise of trendy chic. It's time to wake up and smell the coffee. Some fatal injuries are self inflicted.
For me, I'd rather be here where my property and car taxes are substantially less than in the UK, where my heating bill is substantially less than the UK, where my TV licence is... You get the picture (pun intended).
The sun is beginning to shine again. And that's not subject to economic fluctuations.
