Over the years, one thing has become apparent in the crypto industry and that is the fact that crypto use is not the same across the board. While some countries have made a lot of effort to be welcoming towards the industry, others like China have outright banned it.
But one country is emerging as a leader in crypto acceptance; Spain. While other European countries like the United Kingdom tend to dominate the crypto headlines, Spain is fast becoming a hub for crypto activity. One city, in particular, has become the face of crypto adoption in Spain.
Torrevieja, the city in question, has announced plans to become a crypto-friendly digital economy. These efforts are being made in conjunction with the Association of Small and Medium Merchants of Torrevieja (APYMECO). These plans are being unravelled in various phases and the first of these is to integrate crypto into the local economy.
The city sees a decent amount of tourism each year, so this initiative is working to educate local merchants about crypto and provide them with the infrastructure to accept crypto assets. By doing this, both locals and visitors can complete transactions using cryptocurrency.
This development is quite timely as crypto use within Spain has been on the rise for the last few years. Thanks to a combination of crypto’s rising visibility, the progress of specific tokens like Bitcoin, and a tech-forward population, more people are using crypto than ever before.
For cities like Torrevieja, the possible uses of crypto are endless. Take gambling, for example. Many tokens are being accepted by gambling sites and this offers speed, privacy, and control for users. Even those who don’t want to deal with the volatility of the crypto space can opt to use stablecoins instead. Options like this site let people gamble with tokens like Tether, which is arguably the most famous of all stablecoins. Then there is the use of crypto for purchasing products. Many brands around the world already take crypto for various products, from electronics to food, so structures already exist to facilitate this.
Torrevieja has all of the trappings of a tourist destination like gift shops and restaurants so there will be many avenues for customers to pay with crypto. And considering the plans to educate local business owners and empower them to set up their own crypto payment structures, the transition should be rather straightforward.
The fact that this development is being supported by the government also means that businesses will be emboldened to embrace crypto. Some of the challenges that businesses face when trying to adopt crypto include concerns about being unsupported by their government. This includes taxation, registration of their business activities, and so on.
APYMECO President Jorge Almarcha has spoken publicly about this, acknowledging that even though crypto use has been legal in Spain for years, this move is groundbreaking.
“In Spain, since 2015, it has been legal to be able to pay with cryptocurrencies. However, it has not been until today that there has been a desire to democratize its use as a means of payment in standard, neighbourhood, and traditional commerce,” he said.
If this initiative is successful, we could see more areas within Spain, tourist destinations or not, adopt a similar strategy. With a framework for this sort of crypto use already set up, others will be able to follow. Soon, we’ll probably see Spain’s crypto adoption numbers significantly increase.
Besides the private use of crypto businesses and consumers, we’ll also probably see more efforts from the government to support these ventures if they prove to be profitable.Crypto adoption around the world has never quite been uniform and some countries have been more accepting than others. But the upcoming changes in Spain could make it a bigger player in the crypto scene within Europe. If the initiative in Torrevieja is successful, local businesses, residents of the city, and tourists will be able to take full advantage of cryptocurrency whether gambling or visiting local businesses, crypto use and all the benefits that come with it will be available to all.
