A fruit vendor attends a client at a market in Madrid, September 1, 2012. Cash-strapped Spanish consumers and small business owners adjust on the first day of a higher value-added tax imposed to cut the public deficit while the country's second recession in three years drags on. Spain's VAT tax rate surges to 21% on a range of goods and services as part of a government plan to boost revenues and cut the deficit in order to avoid a full-blown European bailout. REUTERS/Paul Hanna (SPAIN - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY BUSINESS)