Geographic arbitrage is the new prosperity. But comparing the Sierra Nevada ski area to Aspen and Vail, which is hedgie snow playground central, is hardly fair. Better to compare it to Pas de la Casa in the Pyrenees or Mt Waterman, above LA. A day ticket at Sierra Nevada is 45 euros ($51), not much less than $70 at Mt Waterman. I skied both in 1981 as a UCLA grad history student on a research scholarship in Spain After I learned Spanish in 1976 in Sevilla, when Franco's body was still warm, I lived in l'altre Espanya: Barcelona, where you now need at least 2000 -2500 euros/month to live decently. The University of Economics in Valencia, where I taught a one week entrepreneurship course, is a good school. And the cost of living is midway between Barcelona and Granada. Comparing Guejar to the cost of living in West Virginia or Montana would be more logical.