I wanted to say a little more about the place we had breakfast yesterday. She runs a bar and a little tienda.
The tienda is separated from the bar by this glass divider. You can see some of what she offers on the shelves, and the next photo shows the rest of the stock.
While we were there 10-15 people came to the tienda counter. Most bought baguettes of bread, one got bananas, one cigarettes, one a newspaper. As we were walking out the potato guy came in carrying a clear plastic bag of maybe 40 pounds of potatoes.
I note all this because, to me, this is a perfect example of how the capitalist economy should work. People at the top of the hill (it is a steep walk into town), mostly older people, need things like bread and the other things she sells. She gets deliveries from little vans that come by with bread, potatoes, etc. She then sells these things that people need at a small profit. She saw a need and filled it.
It was also somewhat of a social center. Some people got coffee. Most people stayed and chatted with the owner and each other for a while.
Spain is filled with these small, independent businesses filling people’s needs, The US was also filled with places like this 50 years ago.
Now Walmart and Amazon fill those needs but, obviously, it is not the same. It is a matter of opinion which is better, both have their good and bad points. We love to patronize and observe these small businesses and we are glad to we can go to Spain and do that.