How come the most developped and richest European countries all have uninviting climates (for hal of the year at least)?
Had the USA or the UK annexed parts of Spain, Italy, Greece or Portugal they'd be thriving. Look at Gibraltar, it's doing better than any place in Spain economically.
Also look at post-British ruled places like Malta and Cyprus doing much better than Italy and Greece. It's obvious the Anglo/American models brings prosperity more often than not. Heck, the only reason Germany was able to thrive after the war is American influence (it was a mistake btw as the EU feels like Germany's own club and the results aren't pretty).
Athens has a climate more or less like San Diego, it's a major city and a capital with nice beaches in its suburbs, yet it's a poor dump of a city. Some places in old town look as derelict as the US rust belt.
It's a sorry thing to see the Californias or Floridas of Europe be so undevelopped as they obviously can't rule themselves. As much as I hate British snobishness, one thing is sure - Cyprus and Malta would've done worse had the Brits never been there. Can't Spanish authorities at least lower the corporate tax or something? And invest in tech and IT rather than rely on tourism for money? It's sad to see how Andalusia is so poor while Gibraltar is thriving.