I’d really like to be able to report, when asked about the state of the web market out here in Spain, that it’s got a clue. But I can’t, because it hasn’t.
The norm is for fixed content in fixed width, fixed height, fixed table layouts with fixed fonts, fixed firmly in the past. To give you some idea, I just came across this requirement in a job ad for a web developer: “Realización de la conversión de resolución 1024×768 a 800×600.” They’re looking for someone to convert their site to 800×600. Needless to say, this is an IE-only experience (at 800 x 600 Hz, according to the site…). This is par for the course.
Of course, this goes on everywhere, but here, I hate to confirm, it’s now what I expect to find. Obviously there are people doing good work, but it’s difficult to sell to a market that neither wants good work or even knows what it is. And that’s the problem – there will be no development of the local market if there’s no need to do good work, and there certainly won’t be much chance of gaining overseas clients. (Well, maybe there will once this market gets so depressed that Indian outsourcing companies start outsourcing here.)