Condoms and plastic surgery fill shopping trolley

28 November 2005

MADRID – Catholic Spain is moving with the times, ditching traditional staples in favour of condoms and plastic surgery as a way of calculating its inflation rate.
 
In the official index of prices, fresh milk and beef will be replaced by condoms and plastic surgery from next year.

The change in spending patterns in recent years reflects changes in Spanish society.

Spain has one of the lowest birth-rates in Europe, with the average family now having just one child.

Cosmetic surgery is also hugely popular and not just with Spaniards.

Many people travel from Britain and other European countries to have facelifts, liposuction and breast implants then recover from operations in the Spanish sun.

The biggest cosmetic surgery companies, DermoEstetica, which has offices in Britain, was recently floated on the Spanish stock exchange.      

But these new must-have consumer goods have replaced more traditional items in the Spanish shopping trolley.
 
In the country whose national symbol is the bull, beef has lost its popularity like fresh milk.

Other products whose popularity is soaring include, smoked salmon, rum and beer. 

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news