This is very interesting, but the answer is simple. I just got back from Spain, talked to shooters there, watched a tournament, went to gunshops, quizzed the owners.
The reasons are EXACTLY the same for flat sales in the US as they are in Spain.:
1: Jobs
2: Jobs
3: Jobs
4: flat or declining income among the employed.
5: declining small game populations.
6: less access to hunting
7: higher cost for access to hunting
8: bureaucracy
9: cultural, generational change driving demand for OU's, semis.
10: increasing urbanization
The posh SXS is the MG or bugeyed Sprite of today. It may get you there, but its still mainly a curiosity for people with disposable income.
Which is a pity. If things dont change, the workshops of Eibar and Elgoibar are going to go the way of the passenger pigeon, and soon.
