The Russians are coming

It's a recurrent theme this year when looking through smaller or bigger newspaper: the Russian tourists. They are coming in ever bigger numbers to Catalonia and Spain; Barcelona is their second favorite city in the world after New York - and they spend more money than the average tourist from other places. And one notices the menues and real estate advertising in Cyrillic letters, be it in Cambrils or La Pineda on the Catalan "Gold Coast" [Costa Daurada], or in Figueres in the north, close to the Costa Brava. According to La Vanguardia newspaper the Russians spend 250 - 280 EUR per person per day - and they stay longer than other tourists. They like luxury goods so that the brand stores on Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona already make sure to have Russian speaking staff. They are sure to visit all of Barcelona's attractions but also Port Aventura near Tarragona, the vineyards of the Penedès region - and maybe Paris (France) for a day too... Unfortunately, not all of them are well behaved, Chekov citing cosmopolitans - but neither are all of the tourists from Northern Europe or Britain; and in times of economic crisis such as the present one, that leaves about 20% of the local population out of work, hotel-, restaurant-, and shop-owners are prepared to tolerate quite a lot to accomodate well paying customers...