U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama smiles Wednesday while she visits Marbella, southern Spain. The White House says first lady Michelle Obama is in Spain for a private trip with longtime family friends.

Washington ? As the economy endures high unemployment and a jittery stock market, President Barack Obama has preached sacrifice and fiscal discipline. But the pictures coming out of a sunsplashed Spanish resort this week may be sending a different message.

First lady Michelle Obama is in the midst of a five-day trip to a luxury resort along with a handful of friends, her youngest daughter, aides and Secret Service. Her office said the first family will pay for personal expenses, but won’t reveal the taxpayer cost for the government employees.

Elected officials — Democrats and Republicans — were reluctant to weigh in, not wanting to appear critical of the president’s wife. But the trip provided plenty of fodder for television news shows, talk-show hosts and bloggers.

Critics portrayed the foreign getaway as tone deaf to the deep economic anxiety back home. Earlier in the week, the first lady was photographed walking through the streets of the Costa del Sol region wearing a one-shouldered Jean Paul Gaultier top.

Every First Family takes vacations. The criticism aimed at Michelle Obama is that she chose to visit a foreign country rather than remain in the U.S. and support its fragile economy.

Just last month, the first lady flew to the Florida panhandle, a tourist draw hit hard by the oil spill crisis, and delivered the message that for parents “looking for things to do with their kids this summer … this is a wonderful place to visit.”

The opulence of the European trip also has drawn scrutiny. The president has urged frugality in lean economic times. He once cautioned that families saving money for college shouldn’t “blow a bunch of cash in Vegas.”

Michelle Obama is staying at the Hotel Villa Padierna, a Ritz-Carlton resort in the mountains outside Marbella. The resort boasts two golf courses, a posh spa with Turkish baths, views of the Mediterranean Sea and a high-end restaurant specializing in avant-garde fare. Room rates start at $400 and rise to $6,500 for a two-bedroom villa with a private pool and 24-hour butler service.

The danger for the Obamas is that the trip may feed perceptions they are elites, out of touch with struggling American families, said Chris Wilson, a Republican pollster.

“This in and of itself doesn’t hurt President Obama, but it plants a seed in voters’ minds that she’s not like me, that they’re not like me,” he said.

While her friends arrived in Spain on their own, Michelle Obama flew in on a type of aircraft that is also used by Vice President Biden. It costs the government $11,555 an hour to operate the plane, according to the Air Force. Assuming a nearly eight hour flight to nearby Malaga, the total round-trip cost of the flight is about $178,000.

The Obama family will reimburse the government an amount equal to two first class tickets — for mother and daughter Sasha, Air Force officials said. A round-trip first-class flight to Malaga costs about $7,400 apiece, without discounts or restrictions.

Anita McBride, who was chief of staff to former first lady Laura Bush, was not surprised the trip has its critics.

“When you are a public figure, it can be difficult to lead a private life. Despite the fact that much of this trip is paid for personally, the American people know that there are costs borne by the taxpayers and it’s to be expected that the more expensive the trip, the greater the risk of criticism,” McBride said.