Torrevieja Aims to Be a Leading Crypto-Friendly City in Spain

Torrevieja, a beautiful city in Spain, is working to become a leader in using digital money, like Bitcoin, to make its economy more modern and 'crypto-friendly'. The local merchant association, called APYMECO, is leading this effort. They want to make it easy for shops to accept digital currencies as payment. This idea is to let people pay for things with digital money, connecting old-fashioned business with the new digital world. The city's Commerce Councilor, Rosario Martínez Chazarra, thinks this is a big step forward for local shops, making it easier for people who use digital money.

Since 2015, Spain has allowed payments with digital currencies, but APYMECO's President, Jorge Almarcha, said it's only now that they're really trying to use it in everyday shopping. In Spain, more people are using digital currencies. A study found that 17% of people said they owned or used digital money. Torrevieja is following the example of Lugano in Switzerland and El Salvador. Lugano lets people pay city fees with Bitcoin and Tether, making the city more modern in finance. El Salvador is building a special city for Bitcoin, where people don't have to pay taxes and can even get citizenship by giving crypto donations.

This city will use energy from the earth to mine Bitcoin, which might help the country's economy after the next Bitcoin halving in April 2024. These steps by different places around the world show a big change towards using digital money in economies. Torrevieja is joining these places in trying to make a future where finance is more digital.