This is a great day for Relleu! The new estanco opened at 7pm this evening and laid on a spread for the villagers. I'm sure there were more non-smokers than smokers there!
To let everyone understand the excitement, the tobacconist in the village shut last summer. The couple who ran it retired childless, and so had no-one to pass the business on to. In those circumstances, it is permitted to sell the business, but the tobacconist licence has to be approved by some faceless body in Madrid.
This being Spain, they are so way behind in everything, it took months for the licence to be sorted out, and until then the new tobacconist couldn't open.
That left the village with nowhere to buy cigarettes or tobacco! The Law in Spain does not permit anyone but tobacconists to sell tobbacco, except through machines in bars. The prices are firmly fixed by the government. Whatever price the tobacconists sells at, is universal throughout Spain, and all machines have to sell at 15 centimos per packet higher. So, with the closure of the local tobacconist, everyone who wanted to smoke had either to pay the extra 15c per packet (which soon mounts up), or make a point of buying when out of the village. The nearest villages - Orcheta, Finestrat, Aiguas, Sella and Torremanzanas all have Estancos, but the nearest village is at least 8 miles away! Petrol is not exactly cheap here, so no matter what way you looked at it, it is an expensive time for all being without a tobacconist in the village.However, we finally have a new one, and at this point I do not know his name, but he is planning on selling newspapers, doubtless of the Spanish variety but nevertheless newspapers, some alcohol and stationary as well as tobacco and all related products including cigarette rolling machines. I did hear a rumour that he would sell lottery tickets too, and I forgot to ask him when I was being served, but this is something that the village would like, so I'll keep you updated.
