How do other Europeans view Iberian countries? and non Europeans? (Germans, English)
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No International Spanish. Only one Spanish, the Spanish standardised by the Real Academia de la Lengua Española founded in 1713 and with 21 chapters in all Spanish speaking countries.
Spain: Early on, Spain was one of the countries that I felt was "optional" on a trip around the Continent. However, that's the one I spending most of my time in when I realized I had to be more realistic when trip-planning. I visited Barcelona, Basque Country (Guipuizcoa), Madrid, and Andalucia.
To me, Spain is a modern European country with high youth unemployment and a low fertility rate. People don't marry until late, and stay with their parents due to relatively high costs and unemployment much later than American or Northern Europeans do. It has a long Catholic heritage that has produced many famous saints (St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Josemaria Escriva), but was also brutal at times. A large percentage of Spaniards rebel against the Catholic Church and its teachings, yet deep down inside, it is a part of them, and that cannot be denied. It's almost part of their DNA. It also seems much more visible on the streets than in the U.S., with nuns and monks and priests in full habit walking down the streets of Madrid, beautiful churches everywhere, etc.
I feel that Spaniards often shy away from trying new things and are very cliquish. These cliques are reinforced by walking in a group whenever possible. Madrid is Spain's largest city and a "big city" by almost any standards, but the selection of international restaurants in about on par with Des Moines, Iowa. Not that that matters much for the tourist, because Spanish cuisine and the cuisine of the different regions is uniformly delicious.
I remember the old people of Barcelona as brusque and unfriendly, while the young were generally very helpful and courteous. I don't know why this is, or if it's only me, because it's quite the opposite in the U.S. As far as I know,
I found the inhabitants of San Sebastian to be either very kind or somewhat cold; the owner of the hostal I stayed at in San Sebastian even hugged me on my last day and gave me a cheek-kiss, and was very interested in my plans for the day. San Sebastian is the most beautiful city I've ever seen, and very strongly worth a recommendation. The hostal I stayed at on the first night, though, had a brusque owner. I also visited Hondarribia, as when planning I found it when I searched for "still speak Basque" in Google. I found Madrid to be overhyped, but the small cities around it have some very interesting things to see. Especially overhyped is the nightlife, at least for a solo traveler.
Granada was another city I visited, very beautiful. Its inhabitants were generally friendly. Their friendliness was somewhat similar to what you'd experience in the U.S. The city was covered in graffiti. The Alhambra is somewhat over-rated, with an awful audio guide (as of 2008), while the Albayzin was not. Perhaps the tourist section is designed more for guided tours, or they just want you to buy a book.
On the train from Granada to Algeciras I met a guy about my age. He was of my build - stocky - (odd in Spain) and worked as a security guard in the Alhambra, and sat next to his beautiful girlfriend. He actually initiated the conversation, pointing out my GPS. We discussed hobbies, and his were similar to mine. He told me he bought a lot of things from the U.S. off eBay because it was so cheaper (this was at the time the Euro was at its maximum value compared to the USD): his iPhone (prior to its introduction there), his DSLR, hiking clothes, etc. They got off in Ronda.
Algeciras is a city I've always had a curiosity about, and it's not really that much of a city. However, if you want to experience the TRUE Andalusian accent, I recommend going about that far south. There were also a lot of Moroccans. I stayed the night there, and caught the bus to Tarifa the next morning.
Tarifa is Europe's gateway to Morocco (where I continued my trip), a major windsurfing destination, but only for a month or two, and has a very international vibe. I swam in both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean there, and, in the "medina", ate a spicy samosa and dined at a cafe where the proprietoress had put up nude art photos of herself for sale, as well as tried to have my clothes washed at a laundromat owned by a German woman who spoke neither English or much Spanish.
I then wished Spain goodbye as I departed on the FRS "fast ferry" for Morocco.
I would be perfectly willing to visit Spain again. I found the regions of the most touristic interest - regions that I could imagine taking a week-long vacation to if I lived in Europe - are the Basque Country and Andalusia. For Andalusia I recommend renting a car for a few days and seeing the countryside and small towns like Pitres, Guadix, etc. I visited the Alpujarras when I was in Granada, but it was by bus, and I wished I had a car for flexibility. Barcelona is probably the most expensive of Spanish cities. I would see the Sagrada Familia and some of the other works of Gaudi, take the telesferico up to Montjuic, and maybe spend a little bit of time walking L'Eixample (impressive early 20th century architecture) or the Barrio Viejo and then run. In Madrid I would only spend about three days, with special attention given to El Prado and the National Museum of Anthropology.
Sadly, despite Nordic countries reputation of being quite liberal and whatnot.....they tend to look down at Mediterranean Europeans as not quite "white" enough and would rather not want them to live in their countries (especially with the increasing numbers of Spaniards trying to find work in other EU countries due to their home country's economy being in a poor state).
Not that it matters, but unlike Mexico, most Spaniards are white European. They merely have darker hair and somewhat tan complexions the more South you go due to climate.
nice report from an american point of view. but dwd, you miss Lisbon. Although Im biased (I live here) some ppl would agree it´s the most beautiful in Iberia, even more than Barcelona or San Sebastian
nice report from an american point of view. but dwd, you miss Lisbon. Although Im biased (I live here) some ppl would agree it´s the most beautiful in Iberia, even more than Barcelona or San Sebastian
Sorry, I left out Portugal because I didn't go there sadly.
When I think of Portugal I think of beaches, Fatima, and corny pop-kuduro-pimba music.
Next time you must abandon downtrodden paths and shy away from touristic cities. Try Palencia, deep Galicia and Asturias, Leon, Zamora, Burgos, Jaen...You'll need a car, though.
Indeed. As I said, I really liked what I saw of Andalucia and the Basque Country. San Sebastian was definitely the most beautiful city I've ever seen with my own eyes.
If I was to again, I'd probably spend a week in the Basque Country and a week in Andalucia, though with my (newly-developed) epilepsy, I don't know how realistic renting a car would be.
How on earth are Iberian countries more traditional than the UK?
And what does "more agressive means"?
And what "more advanced" means?
Do not take this too personal, Mr.
No one is really generalizing anything in particular.
Let me put it lightly Iberian countries are more rigid in mentality and by that I mean Iberian people are staunch especially when it comes to marriage or relationships, in the sense they will only marry Iberians and no one else unless they are Catholic.
They are also aggressive in their passion for their culture when events come up like immigration or if not when it comes to women and equality, the women get treated more different.
The UK in this sense is more advanced than Iberia which is quite backwards, less up to date.
I mean look how Iberians dress compared to British people.
No one is really generalizing anything in particular.
Let me put it lightly Iberian countries are more rigid in mentality and by that I mean Iberian people are staunch especially when it comes to marriage or relationships, in the sense they will only marry Iberians and no one else unless they are Catholic.
They are also aggressive in their passion for their culture when events come up like immigration or if not when it comes to women and equality, the women get treated more different.
The UK in this sense is more advanced than Iberia which is quite backwards, less up to date.
I mean look how Iberians dress compared to British people.
I'm not taking this too personal, i just feel sometimes people talk about European Southern countries like they were static in time and nothing changes there.
Down here, i look at UK and i think they are quite traditional, with all the "Sir movement" and so on.
I'll give you a good example, using your own words, of another example of generalization: Catholic marriage in Portugal.
I have the feeling that most of foreigners when visiting or knowing a little bit about the country they think it's still very, very religious ("very rigid", like you have said), not realizing the shift that occurred in the society in the past 40 years.
* There was 2.3 times more weddings in 1974 than in 2012; there was 2.1 times more weddings in 1990 than in 2012.
* In 1990, 72% of all weddings were Catholic; in 2012, only 38% of all weddings were Catholic: most of the weddings in Portugal since 2007 are non-Catholic (and the percentage is climbing an average of almost 2 points every year since!) The percentage of non-Catholic weddings was in 2012 3.2 times higher than in 1974.
* There were only minus 9043 cases of divorces than weddings in 2012: this means that in 2012 for every 100 weddings there were 74 divorces, 2.4 times more than in 2000 and 5.6 times more than in 1990.
* There were 2.7 times more divorces in 2012 than in 1990 and 32.6 times more than in 1974.
ps - i will not talk about clothes.
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