Well, it makes me feel not quite so bad about taking half of Spain home at 180 pesetas to the dollar two weeks ago. The thought of "cheap" and "expensive" is so relative. We went to a major concert that cost 3000 pelas (a little over $16). That was "cheap", but at the 1995 rate of 130 to the dollar it would have cost $23. And at the 1992 rate of 100, it would've been $30. Quite a difference!!
karen, whatever you do take into account that it's hard to get a good deal on Spanish currency while here in the US.
Trying to predict the currency markets is quite difficult. Few expected the Euro to be as weak as its been since its inception. I'm more optimistic than Eddie, I don't think it will go much below 150 pts to the dollar.
When I was in Spain for the first time in 1992-93, people thought of the dollar as 100 pesetas. The dollar dropped to 87 pesetas within the first few weeks and then slowly rebounded, reaching 100. So some of my fellow students decided to change all of their money to pesetas at the rate of 100. Well, through the year, the dollar kept rising ... 105, 110, 112, 115, 120, 125, 127, 130 and those of us who still had dollars smiled at each change while the people who had changed at 100 grumbled.