One of the more vivid memories from my recent Europe trip is being startled by a small pack of drunk young Americans rushing out of an alley chanting “USA” as we were strolling through Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter. Later I learned that the U.S. had pulled off a first-round upset by drawing against mighty England.
The World Cup followed us everywhere in the Old Continent. TV broadcasts, newspapers, menu boards outside bars and restaurants, the conversations of passersbys and those sitting at neighboring tables were punctuated by references to nations involved in World Cup finals play. I doubt that Korea, Ghana or Nigeria are on the lips of Europeans in the Cup’s absence.
The other ever-present topic was the European debt crisis. We saw controlled rallies against austerity measures in Italy and Spain. Restaurants offered “anti-crisis menus”. But there was no shortage of crowded tables on the piazzas of every restaurant quarter. Many waiters wore martyred attitudes as they covered the vast distances that separate kitchens from outdoor tables. Once summer comes the restaurants proper empty as customers casually plop down at tables that are often a busy street crossing away.
If there is widespread apprehension about a looming financial crisis, we couldn’t tell by the relaxed faces at the tables. They wore sunny vacation expressions, and in fact most seemed to be on vacation. There were a few Americans but most were Europeans participating in the summer-long game of musical chairs in which Germans populate Spain, Spaniards and Italians fill cafes in Provence and French is heard practically everywhere in southern Spain and northern Italy. At least that’s how it seems from the languages being spoken (though realistically most of the tourism revenues of even France, the top international draw, comes from domestic visitors rather than the 74.2 mil. who visited last year from other countries.)
Tourism is the industry fueling the relative prosperity of southwestern Europe, the European Union’s well-fed belly (if Germany is the weight-bearing backbone). In Spain it accounts for well over 10% of the national net income, far more than France’s 6%. Though France attracts more international visitors, Spain doesn’t have to spend much to attract the third largest contingent of international visitors (after only France and the U.S.), making tourism the industry that has been driving one of Europe’s leading per-capita GDPs (on a PPP basis) since the 1950s. In fact, its thriving tourism industry helps put Spanish per-capita GDP even above Italy’s. Its magnificent old buildings and hardworking waiters are keeping the country afloat.
Nothing I saw in Spain suggested that the country is suffering 20% unemployment. Here at home I can’t enjoy the ambience of Santa Barbara’s State Street or Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade without contending with pandhandlers. Not one single pandhandler bothered me in Spain though I did encounter one in Genoa and was moved to dig out some change in Nice and in Torino. My theory: many Spaniards collect unemployment while working in the family restaurant or shop.
And despite my serious misgivings about Europe’s economic viability while booking the trip, I left Europe generally impressed with its hotels and accommodations. The toilets were all vaccuum-powered and flushed magnificently. The showers dispensed full and even streams of temperature-controlled water (though those ubiquitous glass half-partitions sometimes subjected us to the annoyance of wet floors). Parking was generally available — albeit often at a high price — and were often well-protected with security gates. Internet access was reliable in most rooms. That represents a quantum improvement over my last Europe visit when I found hotel rooms ridiculously cramped, inconvenient and overpriced. Old Europe seems to have invested heavily in its leading industry.
My most serious misgivings about Europe involved encounters with the financial sector. In Genoa I was told by the old man at the door of a bank that I could indeed exchange some of my dollars for Euros there. I waited in line for 25 minutes while a female bank clerk — who appeared to be the only person working despite the presence of several male colleagues at their desks — served a line of customers. Each transaction seemed to take an eternity. When it was finally my turn, she told me that the bank was not exchanging currency “that day”. I found two other banks only to be turned away. The hotel clerk told me later that banks were required to exchange currency by law. In Nimes I dealt with the inconvenience of finding all the banks closed between noon and 2:30 p.m. It isn’t hard to imagine what would happen to any U.S. or Asian bank that dared to lock out customers in the middle of a business day. And it’s easy to see what will have to happen to Europe’s financial sector before it can put the crisis behind it.
The other black mark against Europe is the scourge of ubiquitous cigarette smoke. The only smoke-free meal we had during our two-week trip was in a delightful buffet restaurant in Zaragoza, Spain. It actually had a non-smoking section. Every other of our meals — most of which were taken outdoors — were marred by mini smokestacks puffing away at nearby tables, unhindered by legal restrictions. In this regard Europe is every bit as bad as most Asian cities.
I was generally impressed by European attitudes and manners. Hotel clerks and workers were conscientious in taking care of our problems. Waiters were patient and helpful even in France, and even to customers who insisted on speaking rusty French. This was a big surprise to me. People we encountered on the streets were mostly courteous and respectful. Even the drunken youth who packed to overflowing the central plaza and alleys of Toulouse for a summer solstice festival were well-mannered and full of good will to foreign visitors. As far as we could tell, Europe seems to have evolved into the kinder, gentler society promised by a recent U.S. president but not yet delivered.
And so I left Europe with a more positive impression of its prospects than I had before the trip. For developed economies the service sector is the key to growth and prosperity. Tourism is one of the most profitable of service sectors, fully capable of being the engine of a national economy in this age of a booming, globalized middle class. Few know that thanks to a high value-added tourism sector the U.S. topped the world in tourism receipts at $94.2 bil. in 2009 despite the fact that it ranked a distant second in international visitors with 54.9 mil. to 74.2 mil. for France and 52.2 mil. for Spain. With its increasingly service-oriented people and its superabundance of beautiful places, the Old Continent appears poised not only to survive the crisis but to thrive for decades to come.
