IN reply to the Labour MEP for the North West Gary Titley's letter (LET, October 22) headed "Holidays Perk of EU Membership."

He's obviously deluding himself or living in cloud EU land.

He states "it was the EU that opened up Europe's skies" and gave us cheap flights to Europe and it was the European single market that enabled his friends to buy property in Spain.

I first went to Spain on holiday in 1968 in the good old days of the Spanish peseta when going to Europe was cheap almost 37 years ago and for the last 20 years I've holidayed and lived there.

In 1978 I owned a bar in Spain, Gary Titley states "only the rich could afford the sky high prices of 10 years ago," I'm a working class man born and bred in Blackburn. I'm not rich.

I know for a fact it was far cheaper and better quality 10 years ago in Spain, I have many friends who live there, English and Spanish, I was in Spain when they went over to the Euro, that day the price of some goods increased by about 66 per cent.

The value of the peseta was calculated at the exchange rate of approximately 166 pesetas to one euro.

A half pint of beer that previously cost 100 pesetas was conveniently changed to one euro, soft drinks, nuts and crisps, most bar snacks increased to one euro, a game of pool which used to take a 100 peseta coin increased to one euro coin.

The prices in all the shops and supermarkets were rounded up not rounded down.

It doesn't take a mastermind to see how much cheaper it was before the euro.

TOM PRESTON. Livesey Branch Road, Blackburn.