The best deal in Europe by Sam Danford

One euro? Seriously!? Perhaps the best deal in all of Europe happens to be at our fingertips right here in Sevilla. Back in the U.S people love their cheap beer and are willing to pay anything for it. At a bar in the States, I’ve seen a tall-boy (16 ounce) of Pabst Blue Ribbon sold for 3 USD. That was considered the cheapest deal at the bar. At a measly price of one euro, you can purchase the same tall-boy (16 ounce) can of ice cold Cruzcampo to kick off your night. Here at the bustling Kebab shops of Sevilla, we are spoiled by affordable beer. I purchased a bottle of water at the same shop for one euro and twenty cents, therefore paying more for a water than for a Cruzcampo. Why is the beer so cheap? Perhaps it’s because the ancient Cruzcampo factory is located here in Sevilla and is consistently pumping out cans on cans on cans of ice cold deliciousness, while it only rains once every 3 months. Water is scarce, booze is not.

The Spaniards don’t seem to recognize this deal in the same fashion that my friends and I do. When discussing the price of beer here, the locals are pretty ho-hum about the issue. They aren’t bee-lining for the Kebab stores or Chino shops (where a 40 ounce Cruzcampo bottle can be purchased for only 1 euro and forty cents, absolutely the greatest deal on the Spanish market) with the same enthusiasm as the gringos here. Drinking is part of the culture in Spain, as engrained as Starbucks is to white girls in college. No one bats an eye at a cheap beer here compared to in the U.S where there would be traffic jams for miles to get these deals. It all comes back to the wet culture vs. dry culture, and in Spain they have it figured out. A beer with lunch? No pasa nada. A beer with lunch (in the U.S)? You raging alcoholic. Being exposed to a “wet” culture the past four months has allowed me to discover the real reasons people drink as opposed to the black-out mania that occurs in the U.S. Rest easy 1 euro Cruzcampo, I’ll be back to see you soon.