Re: A General Moan - Things that irk you about Spain!
 

We sat outside a bar in the main square of our town this afternoon, as you say the sun was beating down. A middle aged Spanish guy wearing shorts came past, and a younger Spanish guy in a short sleeved T shirt and jeans. I saw nobody in a long winter coat, although the majority had long sleeved tops or light jackets on. A Spanish neighbour of ours sat at another table and on leaving we stopped to speak to her, we all commented on how warm the weather was. I remarked on the fact that I was wearing short sleeves in February and far from expressing disapproval of my not observing some imaginary Spanish custom regarding the right kind of clothes to wear at certain times of year she laughed and agreed it was like summer. She didn't have a coat or jacket on either, just a long sleeved T shirt.

For a moment I did think I should take their photographs and post them on this thread, but remembered I should not take photos of people in the street due to the privacy laws, and I couldn't be bothered anyway.

Re: A General Moan - Things that irk you about Spain!
 

My biggest moan is the Banking system. Ive had awful service. The worse ever So last year I shut down my account, moving all the direct debits to my Belgian account. That was a hassle, but Im so glad its all done now....

So not much left to moan about now :)

Jon

Re: A General Moan - Things that irk you about Spain!
 

Funny, I remember when we were in Australia 30 years ago and we'd get the International Express addition, they used to have a feature called, This bloody country about the UK. They've always been printing negative crap and I worked for them for a while.


As for clothes, I've been in shorts and flip flops most days. I could care what anyone thinks!

Re: A General Moan - Things that irk you about Spain!
 

I always find it funny that people judge and talk about the whole country. The thread title should have been: A General Moan - Things that irk you about Gijon
Most people hardly know all of Spain and where they live is only a small snippet of the country. Queralbs is only a 2 hour drive from where we are and it's like a different country, be it fashion, climate, food, architecture, everything is different.

Re: A General Moan - Things that irk you about Spain!
 

Wow that was a surprise to see the Express find this thread. Nothing better to report?

But I enjoyed the links in the article e.g the cheapest countries to live in and how Vietnam is no1. Also Bali.... And the town in Italy will give €5k if you go to live there... Etc
Jon

Re: A General Moan - Things that irk you about Spain!
 

I agree with you, each area has its own style. Having travelled to many areas in Spain the one thing that I have found to be consistent is the friendliness of the people. Always end up chatting to someone no matter where I have been even though I rarely instigate a conversation as I do not like to push myself onto people but tend to hold back.

Rosemary

Re: A General Moan - Things that irk you about Spain!
 

The thing I really hate about Spain is the coverage you get about it in UK tabloid rags which aren't fit to use to wipe your...

Re: A General Moan - Things that irk you about Spain!
 

Well said!!!!

Rosemary

Re: A General Moan - Things that irk you about Spain!
 

Perhaps this is just a local issue and not a national one? Especially since the scenario you mentioned involves sitting in a bar... outside. :)

Not a single international bank is present here which already rings alarm bells, and I too would be hesitant to go beyond the essential minimum in dealing with them. For direct debits I would have just shifted them to N26 which gives you a Spanish IBAN (as long as you open the account using the app when in Spain and provide a NIE).

Overall there aren't many things that irk me, especially when compared to the UK. I do see a lot of pluses though as the pros outweight the cons in most cases, and at the end of the day beer does taste better in the sun. :)

Re: A General Moan - Things that irk you about Spain!
 

That's the other thing though and a lot of people here don't really see reality in Spain. It's a different story when you made money abroad and moved to Spain later in life. Beer and sun are the last things people think of when they struggle to pay their monthly bills. It's often not all sun in Spain either and plenty of areas are colder than the UK during night and the extreme heat in summer can kill. It's not only Spanish who struggle but look at Cañada Real. I remember when it snowed and people were left without electricity.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/25/w...nada-real.html

Not much has changed and it's easy to believe it's all perfect when you stay in the touristic areas. Although this is extreme, you do see a lot of poverty in Spain

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ada-real-spain

Re: A General Moan - Things that irk you about Spain!
 

I have a friend that lives in my village who has a house with no electricity. Apparently it’s common in spain. He manages though. When the cold kicks in he goes down south and lives in the campo in Sevilla. He never complains about it just gets on with it.

Re: A General Moan - Things that irk you about Spain!
 

It is not really a moan but something of a fact: Spanish do tend to adhere to a seasonal dress code almost like was the case in Schools in UK in the 60s/70s. Remember how you could have a summer uniform and winter one? Well its still the same in many parts of the south of Spain although its not enforced just a generally done thing. My teenage son goes to a Spanish school and he alwalys abides by an unspoken rule of when to start wearing shorts. My neighbours would never appear in shorts and flip flops until the schools break for summer. It is just how things are. Not saying its good or bad just a recognised cultural thing. Where I work the boss always has to gently remind any new teachers ( usually from UK) that even in September or May you cant come to work in shorts. You must wait until July-August.

Re: A General Moan - Things that irk you about Spain!
 

I don't have to rely on newspaper articles about La Cañada Real to know about people living in such conditions. There is a settlement of chabolas, with a lot of families with children living in them, within my own municipality. They are on the edge of the seaside resort of Torre del Mar, with a number of recently built blocks of expensive apartments on the other side of the main road from them, and even more recently built and expensive villas have now been built on land directly above them. The chabolas have been there for more than 30 years and the Ayuntamiento (both when the PP have been in control and also PSOE) have promised many times to rehouse the people living there and demolish the shacks - needless to say absolutely nothing has been done except talking about it.

https://www.axarquiaplus.es/junta-y-...torre-del-mar/

https://www.diariosur.es/axarquia/20...914181606.html

There is, however, precious little sympathy for the inhabitants amongst the Spanish population, and if it was suggested that the chabola dwellers be rehoused anywhere near them there would be an outcry. There have been protests about proposals for rehousing them several times in the 16 years I have lived here.

Re: A General Moan - Things that irk you about Spain!
 

When you mention these types of dwellings and how local people react it reminds me of how the Gitanos are regarded: quite literally a case of institutionalized racism. There really is no other possible way to put it. I have never met a Spanish person who doesn't feel relaxed at pointing out the social position of these people.

Re: A General Moan - Things that irk you about Spain!
 

Of course there is little sympathy and many are Spanish citizens who live in such conditions too. It's always easy to talk down the whole UK but we are the lucky ones who can afford to live in the Spanish St Ives or equivalent.