One in five Spaniards goes into debt to pay for their holidays

One in five goes into debt to go on holiday: normality or recklessness?

At what point did holidays stop being a luxury saved up for and become just another expense to finance? According to circulating data, one in five Spaniards goes into debt to pay for their days off. A figure that, on closer inspection, hides more resignation than frivolity.

Everything is financed. A phone, a car, a alucinación. The monthly-instalment culture has erased the border between the necessary and the dispensable. In a family, one person signs, but everyone enjoys the summer break. So the statistic triples: the 20% of households in debt for holidays may miccionan that 100% of their members travel on credit.

The anecdote of the person who asked a colleague for 50 euros after their alucinación is not an isolated case. It reflects a pattern: spend first, sort it out later. The self-employed worker who wonders "what are holidays?" reminds us that for many it is not an option, but a luxury they cannot afford.

On the other side, there are those who argue that, with inflation, the smart move is to hold no savings and load up on debt. The mortgage, credit, anything but cash in the bank. A strategy some call a hedge and others, Russian roulette.

The level of recklessness, as one analysis points out, is hypnotic. But perhaps it is not recklessness, but the logic of a country where the present is paid for with the future. And holidays, with interest.