Spain's middle class spending €5,000 on show-off holidays
€5,000 for 15 days at the beach: a portrait of a Spanish middle class that pays for its holiday status with a mortgage and own-brand groceries.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Middle class, status and €5,000: the price of the show-off holiday
How much does it cost to look the part for two weeks? Around €5,000, according to the figures doing the rounds: €3,000 for a «chic» apartment on the coast and another €2,000 to keep up appearances. The real bill is paid the rest of the year, with a mortgage and own-brand items in the shopping basket.
The logic is all about status. Charo needs the «cool» restaurant for her WhatsApp photos; coming home with no stories to tell to the colleague who went to Sardinia would be a failure. Aspirational consumption that builds no wealth, only a feed. Yet the alternative does exist: twelve days in Vinaròs for €1,260, with a two-bedroom apartment, a pool and uncrowded beaches. It doesn't make it onto Instagram, but it lets you make it to the end of the month.
The cartoon that sparked the controversy only scratches the surface, some critics say: it leaves out the Mercadona paella, the ten-euro ice creams or the jellyfish invasion that ruins five days paid for in instalments. And behind it lurks overtourism resentment: «I've had it up to here with tourists», «go home». With the ironic consolation that, with so many holidaymakers on the coast, «the mountains are emptier».
Conclusion: while some pay for status and others for rest, the middle class remains trapped between showing off and the current account. Someone should draw that — but properly.
How much does it cost to look the part for two weeks? Around €5,000, according to the figures doing the rounds: €3,000 for a «chic» apartment on the coast and another €2,000 to keep up appearances. The real bill is paid the rest of the year, with a mortgage and own-brand items in the shopping basket.
The logic is all about status. Charo needs the «cool» restaurant for her WhatsApp photos; coming home with no stories to tell to the colleague who went to Sardinia would be a failure. Aspirational consumption that builds no wealth, only a feed. Yet the alternative does exist: twelve days in Vinaròs for €1,260, with a two-bedroom apartment, a pool and uncrowded beaches. It doesn't make it onto Instagram, but it lets you make it to the end of the month.
The cartoon that sparked the controversy only scratches the surface, some critics say: it leaves out the Mercadona paella, the ten-euro ice creams or the jellyfish invasion that ruins five days paid for in instalments. And behind it lurks overtourism resentment: «I've had it up to here with tourists», «go home». With the ironic consolation that, with so many holidaymakers on the coast, «the mountains are emptier».
Conclusion: while some pay for status and others for rest, the middle class remains trapped between showing off and the current account. Someone should draw that — but properly.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (11 replies).
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