Spain has been badly hit by the recession, construction has virtually ground to a halt and unemployment is at an all time high leaving increasingly more people struggling with debt problems. So what about Gibraltar?

Funnily enough Gibraltar seems to be doing OK out of all this because the currency there is still sterling and the pound lost a third of its value against the euro over the past couple of years. This has made Gibraltar something of a shopping haven. Spaniards in southern Spain have started doing their weekly/monthly shop there as it works out so much cheaper than shopping at home because of the strength of the euro against the pound – business at Morrisons is booming!. When discussing the number of Spaniards visiting Gibraltar every day to buy groceries, rather than the usual tax free bargains such as electronic goods, and bearing in mind the ill feeling in Spain caused by Britain retaining Gibraltar, Edward Macquisten of the Gibraltar Chamber of Commerce says, “This was previously unthinkable because food was never cheaper here …. but now, because of the strength of the euro, Spaniards are voting with their wallet.”

However, it is not only the Spaniards that are benefiting from this, and thereby helping Gibraltar to maintain a somewhat more stable economy than other places in Europe, but also the British expat community living in southern Spain. Many of them are on fixed pensions from home, which have of course become worth far less euros than they were before, so they too arrange trips to Gibraltar to do their shopping.

So maybe it is true, there will always be an England – even if it is in Gibraltar!