The last two posts just about sum it up.
The cultures may be slightly different but the ppl.are much the same mix.
Ah bil just stuck his twopenneth in I was referring to the previous two to bils.

Afraid you got it wrong there bil, much depends where you live or have lived in the UK.
One of the first things that visitors mention about my neck of the woods in the UK is just how friendly folk are and how virtually everyone greets everyone else, strangers or not in a friendly cheerful manner.
Exactly the same where I live in the Valencia region.

In addition I've briefly stopped of at some fairly unpleasant towns in inland Spain where virtually no one spoke and I could almost feel a sense of hostility.

Quite so, there are more friendly parts of the UK. I found Liverpool far more so than Cambridge most of the time.

Having said that, the most friendly parts of the UK I experienced weren't as friendly as they are here.

A lifetime ago, I took a chance and started a business on the CDS, with a Spanish partner, the most sensible thing I've ever done.

I found that he was just as honest as I was, just as honest as our Gestor, Abogado, the local mayor, all the departments at the town hall, the police chief, our suppliers and our staff.

I had run a similar business in the UK, and the only difference was that I used a cheque book there, I had a cheque book in Spain but never issued a cheque in two years.

The difference between Spanish and British people? They sing different songs.

Yes, there are definitely differences in regions in both countries. I've found Glasgow and Yorkshire the most hospitable and friendly places in the UK - even for allowing for certain parts you just don't go as a stranger, day or night. There are places in the south-east (Oxford is a prime example), where you can visit a pub for 2 years, and no-one ever tries to be friendly with you or start up a conversation. I'm sure there are equivalent places in Spain, just I haven't come across them. And when you meet friendly folk in Spain, it's on a scale far and above that normally seen in the UK. When I went out for a drink on the weekend in Madrid, I had to be careful not to keep visiting certain bars too often - the owner or regulars would insist in "inviting" me to a drink. Which is fine, but the head certainly felt the pain the next day after one too many Gin-tonics. Of course they may have had an ulterior motive - perhaps the bar became more glamorous if guiris were known to drink there, or maybe they just wanted to practice some English (or laugh at my Spanish conversation). But it's certainly a more generous place in spirit and in spirits! Would an English landlord buy a Spanish customer a drink once he or she had visited the pub a couple of times? I've known UK landlords who never once invited their regular customers to a drink in years.
Edit: To be fair, from my experience on the Costa blanca 20 years ago, Brit bar owners were fairly sociable and I'm sure they would have treated regulars to an occasional drink. It may be just the system in the UK where the landlord isn't really the landlord, just a pub manager with no real say on finances.

Not in my experience Brits are far more friendly.

This is exactly what I was saying, they love you as long as you are spending money.

Isn´t it daylight yet.

Graham

Have a look from your cave

Are you the budgie smuggling geezer in that advert ?

That is not what I am saying........

The difference between Spain and the uK? The Spanish don't 'do' cheques.

Do other European countries do cheques either? I thought nearly everyone did money transfers, and it was just the UK (and Ireland) out of sync. with the cheques? Can someone confirm or deny this?

The UK still does cheques? I left in 2000 and I hadn't used a cheque for 5 years then...

I'm sorry, but I'm going back to when Bill Gates was still in short trousers.

You're feeding Matt2, there's no point.