MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Sinking pound makes Gibraltar a shopping haven for Spaniards

An article in the latest edition of the UK national daily ‘The Guardian’ describes Gibraltar as “a miraculous survivor in these days of international financial turmoil and sweeping recession, thanks to a sinking pound and an economy that grows at a rate comparable to that of China.”

The author Giles Tremlett portrays the Rock,“a tiny, sun-baked strip of land on Europe’s southern coast”, as a shopping haven where Spaniards flock in search of the bargains created by the strong euro and a falling pound.

It adds: “Spanish shoppers cram the Morrisons aisles, looking suspiciously at such quintessentially British foodstuffs as Marmite, baked beans and hot-cross buns, but snapping up everything from cheap milk to rice”.

Meanwhile Chief Minister Peter Caruana is quoted as saying that if Gibraltar “were a sovereign state we would be 13th in the world in GDP per capita.”

“That would put it above Canada or Switzerland. Growth will slow with the global recession,” he said, “but will not stop.”