The euro has changed that. The reasons seem clear. This is not the sort of massive, clever money laundering favoured by cocaine cartels or global mafia groups. This is amateur tax-cheating, a com mon enough pastime for millions of EU citizens terrified of losing carefully hoarded, and hidden, pesetas, francs, marks and lira notes which become redundant on July 1 next year. The smugglers at La Farga de Moles are mostly well-off, retired couples.
Money is hidden in spare tyres, the linings of fur coats or crudely made false linings to handbags.
There are plenty of these around. Any opportunity to exchange cash for goods is wel come. In luxury restaurants and hotels from Madrid to Marbella the 10,000 peseta note is king, replacing the Visa Gold or the American Express Platinum card as the favoured means of payment. House prices in Madrid, the Balearic islands and Barcelona are rising sharply, despite the fact that interest rates have been increasing. Agricultural land, where cash often changes hands, has also leapt up in price.