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Agreed. I was just talking to a very light-complected Serbian woman with natural red hair, pale skin, and a lot of freckles. Not typical Serbian, but the entire continent is all mixed up.
I spent six months in Spain; but overall impression is that most Spanish look NOTHING like how people say they will. Most look very generic European. The black-haired, dark-skinned Spanish female image is not the norm, but more of an exception - or so it seemed to me, as I was living between Valencia and Barcelona - where I saw very very few who looked like that.
In those areas, nobody is from anywhere. For example, many people in Valencia are either Andalusians or from Aragon. The same goes with every large city. If you want to find how people looked generations ago, just move to towns without much moivement.
People will have more homogeneous look are their mobility goes down, so it's quite leikely that a little town in an isolated valley everybody is inbred and looks similar. Problem is that those little towns, hamlets and parishes are disappearing, only old people.
That is part of it but it is much more complex than that there is no need to pretend to be what we are not people from the Isles and Germany can clearly see that there is a difference. We are descended from the Celtic-Iberians, Phoenicians,Greeks, Romans, Goths(Germans), Alans, Jews, Berbers, Arabs, and even a small amount of West and East African. In addition many Europeans from other nations settled in Portugal during the Reconquista.
There are very few Portuguese that look like they are from Scandinavia. The term nordic is rarely used any more except by racists. I have seen recently Youtube videos posted of the North of Portugal with cherry picked light complected pictures and with Celtic music by played the whole thing looks like a desperate attempt to convince people the Portuguese are just like the Isles if you ask me, we are much more diverse than that.
Indeed, Portuguese populations as well as other Southern European populations show a much greater genetical diversity in comparison to Northern European populations particularly those of the British Isles and Scandinavia. Nonetheless, Sub-Saharan African ancestry is still of a negligible importance in the White Portuguese population.
I should clarify that when I stated the word Nordic isn't used any more I was referring to "Nordic race" derived from nordicism (a racist separatist ideology) linked to Nazism and Fascism. These are ideologies based on ignorance however elements of it unfortunately were accepted as fact remain ingrained in the sub-conscious of some people particularly in the new world, reading posts on the various forums I notice a pattern possibly indication that some individuals of European ancestry have internalized this Bull**** theory and place people with blonde hair, blue eyes, very light pigmentation, and who are tall on a pedestal.
I think the takeaway from all of this is, Portugal and Spain are really not terribly similar, and for a lot of reasons.
Portugal has a pretty consistent nationalistic identity, but you'll also find people function incredibly differently when going from cities (Lisbon, Coimbra, Oporto) into large towns and then in villages.
Spain has no national identity. As people have pointed out, you find stark differences going From Anadalucia to Catalunia to the Basque region... it's impossible to characterize the country as one. Barcelona and Madrid are the largest cities, and they could not be more different - and then you go down to Sevilla or Grenada, and again it feels like you're in a different country.
As a proud Portuguese, I'm not going to argue that one is better than the other (though there's obviously a clear winner ), but the two countries are very distinct from one another, and Spain within itself.
Both are indeed different. During the many times I drove from Portugal to Paris I had the opportunity to notice how dramatically the landscape changes. Buildings styles in Spain makes typically use of red brick, another thing I have noticed is how different Portuguese sound from Spanish when speaking French or English as far as accent goes.
I think the takeaway from all of this is, Portugal and Spain are really not terribly similar, and for a lot of reasons.
Portugal has a pretty consistent nationalistic identity, but you'll also find people function incredibly differently when going from cities (Lisbon, Coimbra, Oporto) into large towns and then in villages.
Spain has no national identity. As people have pointed out, you find stark differences going From Anadalucia to Catalunia to the Basque region... it's impossible to characterize the country as one. Barcelona and Madrid are the largest cities, and they could not be more different - and then you go down to Sevilla or Grenada, and again it feels like you're in a different country.
As a proud Portuguese, I'm not going to argue that one is better than the other (though there's obviously a clear winner ), but the two countries are very distinct from one another, and Spain within itself.
Even with the problems with Catalunya and Basque country, Spain has a VERY strong national identity. You definitely feel it when you live there.
I think Spain and Portugal are quite different, but we can also say there are some similarities between the cultures. Its not like comparing Finland to Spain. There are no winners or losers, only strong emotional ties to nationalism. Lol
Even with the problems with Catalunya and Basque country, Spain has a VERY strong national identity. You definitely feel it when you live there.
I think Spain and Portugal are quite different, but we can also say there are some similarities between the cultures. Its not like comparing Finland to Spain. There are no winners or losers, only strong emotional ties to nationalism. Lol
So I guess my follow-up question is where in Spain did you live? If you felt nationalistic pride, I'm guessing it was not in one of the "discontent" regions (is there a better word for that? haha)
Even with the problems with Catalunya and Basque country, Spain has a VERY strong national identity. You definitely feel it when you live there.
I think Spain and Portugal are quite different, but we can also say there are some similarities between the cultures. Its not like comparing Finland to Spain. There are no winners or losers, only strong emotional ties to nationalism. Lol
The South West of France (Basque Country, Aquitaine, Haute Garonne, Languedoc Roussillon) has certainly much more affinities with the neighboring Spanish regions than it is does to anywhere in Portugal. Other than with Galiza I do not know of any real affinities with Spain, that's how little I know about that country.
So I guess my follow-up question is where in Spain did you live? If you felt nationalistic pride, I'm guessing it was not in one of the "discontent" regions (is there a better word for that? haha)
I was in Castilla y Leon studying literature and culture. I did spend some time in Catalunya and definitely saw strong regionalistic pride, but this happens in other countries as well. I found Spain to be a multi-cultural country with all of these sub-cultures forming an integral part of the culture. That is my personal observation.
The South West of France (Basque Country, Aquitaine, Haute Garonne, Languedoc Roussillon) has certainly much more affinities with the neighboring Spanish regions than it is does to anywhere in Portugal. Other than with Galiza I do not know of any real affinities with Spain, that's how little I know about that country.
If you know little about your neighboring country, that is deliberate ignorance on your part.
Like I said, I think there are some similarities, even if superficial. It's not like comparing Finland to Italy, or Germany to Greece.
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), but the two countries are very distinct from one another, and Spain within itself.
