I know I´m focusing a lot of recent articles on pricing here in Spain, but as it seems to be one of the hot topics of discussion, I´ll throw in another thought.

In the UK, when it comes to retail outlets, there seems to be a terrific choice. For instance, if you take the clothing retail sector, you have the choice of the high-end designer shops, the budget sector with shops such as Primark and Matalan, and a huge variety of high street chains and independents offering mid-range pricing. Obviously  this range of choice actually drives a huge amount of competition and discounting, meaning that the customer is virtually guaranteed to stumble across a bargain or two as he/she ventures along the high street.In Spain, things are different. I live on the Costa del Sol, and when it comes to most things, from furnishing a house in Spain, to buying clothing, there are normally 2 distinct choices – either the cheap end with stores such as Zara, Mango and H&M, or the high end stockists at the designer end of the spectrum. Apart from a few independents and dodgy Spanish chains, there is not a lot of competition in the mid-market sector.

The same applies to buying furniture for your property on the Costa del Sol – lots of designer gear at top-end prices, plus the usual out-of-town places such as IKEA,  but not a huge amount of competition in the middle.