No wonder the Costa’s struggle for vacationers

IF nothing else austerity focuses the mind on cutting costs and prices to lure customers.

The housing market is a good example, but not in the rental section.

A friend, wanting to rent, considered a €450 per month offer.

As it was pre-recession price he was cautious. Then there would be a month’s rent as deposit.

Theoretically a reasonable request in case of damage or unpaid utility bill, but as there is one bad owner for every dodgy tenant, this is a tad lopsided.

And then the killer; €450 agent’s admin’ fee. So to get the key of the door you shell out €1,350; a lot of money for a key.

Benefits on tap

LAVAPIÉS is what is described as a multi-ethnic neighbourhood in Madrid. Its residents, or at least some of them, want it to be independent with strings attached.

Benefits and infrastructure remain on tap but the police service is excluded.

There have been confrontations between ‘residents’ with cases of police officers being forcibly removed from the area.

Residents, or at least some of them, are it is claimed unfairly targeted. It might just be that certain minorities are responsible for most crime of a certain type.

One can hardly blame them for defending their ‘living’, for want of a better word.

One undocumented resident protested he had been arrested.

Well he would wouldn’t he? Is it that immigrants feel laws should not apply to them?

It will all end in tears.

Time spent

ROUGH justice: A Spaniard, who married two women in four days that they might acquire residency permits has had his collar felt.

I hope the sentence will be light; a man with two mothers-in-law has suffered enough.