JLFS

This business of creating a ghetto of immigrants in happening in every country, the UK included. Immigrants live within their own community and some never venture outside it, as they have their own shops businesses, healthe care etc.

The same happens in Spain, although I am not totally in favour of this, what I really dont like is when the "incomers" start with their criminal ways, that they brought from home.

They dont seem to respect the laws of the land.

missile

Each to their own I guess

In the hairdresser, I could not help but overhear one of the blue rinse brigade - I don't understand why some love to shout

She was chatting to the only english hairdresser.
"How is your spanish coming along dear?"
"Really good, we been practising oor numbers"
"What have you learned?"
"Una, dos, tres, er, quantro"

I nearly fell off my chair.

dr_designer

I would say there is a difference between an ethnic community and a ghetto. For what it is worth, while I love Spain and like the Spanish, I see no wrong in national communities forming. There was a Chinatown and a little Italy in London long before I was born. I even quite like 'little Britain' in Benidorm—though it infuriated my brother, who lived in Madrid, and will probably put me in a real minority of 1…

HBG

I'm always interested in a discussion about where the million or so of us expats live in Spain. Because of the size and relative emptiness of Spain, we have a confusing choice, and that's without thinking of our individual preferences.

Very few of us came just for the weather, but often say it tongue-in-cheek, or to annoy the ones who go over the top in singing the praises of Spain.

I live in what sone ill-informed people call a 'British ghetto', although some small parts of the area could live up to that name. But the town's population is still 80% Spanish and the holiday makers who visit in July and August are nearly all Spanish, and nearly all from Madrid.

I came to Spain for the weather, the cheapness, the friendliness of the local people, the excitement of living in a different culture, a few other reasons, and superb beaches. I didn't come to integrate totally, I would find that impossible, but I've integrated to an extent I'm comfortable with, and my Spanish friends seem to appreciate the efforts I have made.

JLFS

When I said Ghetto, I meant an ethic community.

cricketman

That sounds good enough to me

I dont expect everyone to be able to speak Spanish perfectly, to always eat Spanish food or even to always send their kids to Spanish schools.

But I do expect a bit of curiosity and enthusiasm for Spain. I've met British people who can't name the Spanish PM, think Mexican tacos are Spanish food, havent got a clue what a tortilla is and talk about "the Spanish" as if they were an Amazonian tribe.

They are the same people who only watch Sky TV, only read English papers and listen to English radio, only know the who is top of the Premiership and not on La Liga and only go out to eat English food and down pints.

I have always though that Spain as a nation is incredibly tollerant. They have seen an "invasion" of 6 million immigrants in the past 20 years and with unemployment being at 20%......

If I was a person my age growing up in a place like Mijas or Fuengirola when I was 16-17 I wouldnt know whether to run away or burn down all these foreign urbinizations. To be fair, I think the communities are so segregated that most Spanish people only deal with foriegners through work or maybe the odd one at their children's school. I guess family life continues as normal and that is what a lot of Spanish people are most passionate about.

chrisfromusa

I have to agree with the above posts, creating ethnic ghettos is pretty much a rule of thumb throughout the world. We have that same serious problem here in the U.S., but instead of Brits, it's the Hispanics, particularly the Mexicans. There's about 34 million Hispanics here that speak Spanish as their primary language (like me), but only about half speak English very well. Also I heard from my British gf and I was REALLY surprised by this, but she found an internet survey that American tourists were ranked better company than British tourists in a survey because Americans were more likely to learn foreign phrases (and be seen with such a book) than the average British tourist. I thought it was the other way around

cricketman

Yes, well in a way Americans are more exposed to foreign languages than Brits. Hispanics (man, how I hate that term!) make up one in four people in the USA now, meaning that there are more Spanish speakers in the US than there are in Spain.

I can see the US being a 2 language country soon just like it is already in parts of California, Florida, New Mexico and Texas. I guess these have always been Spanish speaking states throughout the past 400 years anyway

chrisfromusa

They have been actually. California, Utah, Texas, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico were Mexican states until the 1800s when we went to war with Mexico (Mexican-American War) and they lost and give up their claims to those lands. We got Florida from Spain via treaty. The real question is, if my homeland of Puerto Rico becomes the 51st state, will we then have to be a bilingual country? Because Puerto Rico would be the only state then, where 99% of the population only speaks Spanish, and us too we were part of Spain from 1492-1898 and part of the U.S. since 1898, and whenever the federal government tried to dictate to our education department that we have to learn more Englis, we fought tooth and nail to prevent that, and now English is taught only in high school, the only English language newspapers in Puerto Rico went bankrupt due to lack of readers, and all local TV is broadcast in Spanish, and the cable companies down there all broadcast in the Spanish audio track by default unless no Spanish audio track exists for a certain program, all this and you'll notice the US flag flying above government buildings, and we use the US dollar and we're Americans so, I don't know what would happen. Funny to note also our last Secretary of Education under the previous governor was a Spaniard

HBG

How interesting. I struggled to learn Spanish and always thought, 'Why bother, in Europe they only speak it in Spain'. But somewhere along the way I read that 750 million people in the world speak Spanish and 750 million speak English, a draw, which made me feel better after all that studying.

I've travelled both to Florida and California and was amazed by the sheer amount of Spanish speakers there, and the Spanish speakers were always amazed to hear a non-Hispanic speak their language, it seems other Americans don't bother to learn it.

In fact, none of the US speak proper English anyway, my spell check tells me so.

missile

The Canadians seem to manage bi-lingual OK

I find it strange, those who have never been out of New Jersey but still call themselves irish american

chrisfromusa

Well we don't have a situation like Canada Thought hat may change if Puerto Rico votes itself in as the 51st state and Congress approves, whihc it will.

Americans always refer to themselves as (xyz)-American but most of us call ourselves American, except Hispanic-Americans which they always call themselves Mexican, Dominican, etc. despite being born and raised here

missile

I always thought of England as the 51st state

chrisfromusa

Yeah along with Canada and Australia, our 2 other lapdogs Though Australia is our current favorite right now