I love Spanish culture
Earlier I wrote about a bunch of things I can’t stand about the Spanish culture (here and here). In order to both not sound ethnocentric and to remind you guys that I promise I love Spanish culture, I’d like to touch on a couple things that I really wish my home culture would take from Spain’s culture.
Walking
Oh my dear lord do I love this! In the United States, we have countless diets and exercise regiments and, of course, health experts recommending 60 minutes of activity every day, which most people don’t pay attention to (though now that I’m back home, I brought this bit of culture with me!). When you live in Spain, or Europe for that matter, and you’re forced to deal with a culture that lacks the car-heavy culture that the States have, you walk everywhere and it feels absolutely amazing. I could see my body changing and feel my body getting healthier, and all I was doing was going to work every day! If that’s not a reason to love Spanish culture I don’t know what is.
International population
Everybody travels to Europe. Of course, there are two different kinds of international culture, and Madrid has an expat culture, which I appreciate so much more than being surrounded by tourists. Because Spain has so many expats, I find Spain to be much more open-minded than the United States. Spaniards are generally much more accepting of those who are different from them (it’s worth noting that Spain legalized gay marriage over a decade before the US did) and are thus happier, more loving, and much kinder.
Public transportation
Spain, and specifically Madrid, is well-known for their public transportation. While their metro system obviously only serves Madrid, the country as a whole has very well-developed and comfortable bus and train stations. You can get anywhere you could possibly want to go, and for very reasonable prices; for example, my bus from Madrid, in the center of Spain, to Seville, in the south, was only 20 euros! Also, Madrid has recently upgraded their abono joven system – if you’re under 26 years of age, you can go anywhere in Madrid (even to Toledo!) on an unlimited bus pass for only 20 euro a month.
The history
The best reason to love Spanish culture: coming from the United States, a country that’s only 300 years old, being able to walk through history on a daily basis is an amazing feeling. From Barcelona, with its medieval walls and fragments of Civil War memories, to Toledo, with architecture left untouched from the 1500s, to Andalucia, where its Muslim roots are still portrayed proudly; when you have the ability to share streets with ancient Monarchs, you’re left with a feeling unlike any other.
Jamie
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Very interesting post, I did not know a lot of this.
If it gets up to 104, they need air conditioning!
In England most washing machines are in the kitchen too, it is weird to me, so interesting that is how it is in Spain too.
Yes, I think they need air conditioning as well, but I suppose they’ve gotten used to grinning and bearing it!
I love cultural insights. Being Australian I think we have a lot in common with our expectation of space and airconditioning! In fact, it is the lack of space that really bugs me living in the UK. There are people everywhere and I feel claustrophobic sometimes. Having said that, the focus on family, ‘just enough’ stuff and spending time with each other instead of in our rooms is increasingly important to me now I have my own children. I’m hoping to take ‘the best bits’ of the cultures I experience and make them my own. Thanks for sharing Jamie
Taking my favorite bits of foreign cultures and putting them into my everyday life is one of the most important parts of travel to me, as well. I mention in another post about how living in Europe made me more physically active, even when I’m back home in America. I love it!
Sorry, but as a Spaniard I have to say your impressions about wine and beer make no sense at all to me.
Most mid-budget restaurants upwards, and many cheaper ones definitely have more than just “red wine” or “white wine”. They’ll have at least a few reds, a few whites, and maybe rosés and sparkling wines. In many cases, they’ll be listed in a special section on the menu, in others, mainly in more upmarket restaurants, there’ll be a wine list. I honestly don’t know which restaurants you may have frequented in Spain, where they were and how many different ones to make such baffling generalisations about “restaurants in Spain”.
As for wine being cheap in Spain, sure, if you go for the cheaper ones or order a glass of the “house wine” without asking what is it. Do some research online, though, and see if you find a shortage of more expensive Spanish wines (hint: you won’t).
Never order a “cerveza”? Why not? If you don’t specify, the waiter will ask if you want a “copa”, a “caña”, a “doble” and so on, and you can always order bottled beer if you prefer it. Many cheap regular bars won’t have more than one kind of draught beer, as you say, but even those will probably have one or two other brands of bottled beer for sure. And that’s your more basic neighbourhood bars. Anywhere else, you’re likely to have a much wider choice of both national and imported beers.
I apologize if I come across as a little blunt, but it seems to me you’re making generalisations without having the necessary knowledge and experience to do so.
I understand if you feel I am making generalizations, because I am, quite frankly. These are general trends that I’ve noticed in Spain. That isn’t to say that different restaurants aren’t different, or that someone else might experience something more similar to your experiences! As a foreigner living in Spain, these were things that stood out to me, as they were different from my experiences back home. These were my impressions and nothing else. Maybe I only happened upon the restaurants that did these things, but that is the way of the traveler - it’s hard to truly experience life the way locals do, especially in international cities.
Thank you for your input, it’s important to get a local’s idea of my own experiences as a foreigner!