The Local Authority, via the Government.

Well here's a thing. Chips are first recorded in the Spanish Netherlands, now Belgium, in 1680, but in Britain the first record of a chip shop is from 1860.

"Some speculate that the dish may have been invented in Spain, the first European country in which the potato appeared via the New World colonies, and assumes the first appearance to have been as an accompaniment to fish dishes in Galicia, from which it spread to the rest of the country and further to the Spanish Netherlands, which became Belgium more than a century later."

Doncha just love Wikipedia!

Some great things come out of Galicia.....

Chips have always been a part of some Spanish dishes. You'd have to be stupid to think that they got that off the British

I'll take that one with a pinch of salt.

Maybe you can explain why McDonalds are doing such a roaring trade in areas where there's rarely a tourist in sight ?

In the UK and US they are mainly regarded as belly fill for a quick snack when out and about.

I now see whole Spanish families trooping into them for a special treat or meal out especially at weekends, whilst Spanish workers and business travellers use them quite a lot through the week, the free wifi being an added bonus or attraction in the latter case.
Habits are changing fast and kids soon become addicted to junk food and appear to be getting more podgy by the day as previously mentioned.

Likewise in the UK, habits have also been changing, but often in the other direction.
The number of chippys that have closed down or switched over to international menus in recent years is in itself fair testimony to that.

then either she wasnt listening or someone didnt do a course introduction properly.
these thing should be made known to all course attendees, especially as there is usually one or two with "special diets".

Here you go, you called for this...

http://www.abc.es/20110919/sociedad/...109191344.html

I'll help you out, the headline says "Spain, the country that spends the least of fast food in the world"

British people spend 5 times as much on fast food per person each year. But then, I did say that earlier

Fast food isn't just McDonalds...lots of chains come under the title. Anyway that's probably cos Brits have more money to spend

I'll take that with a pinch of salt
the potato is indigenous to the Andes so it is likely that Sir Francis Drake brought them back as part of his wanderings in the Americas back in the mid to late 1500's.

Because there is no record of a "chip shop" before 1860 doesnt mean the Uk hadnt met potatoes before that date, just nobody could be arsed to record it, especially if it had been known for 250 years prior to that.

Doncha just love Wikipedia - lethal in the wrong hands.

I suppose you will tell us next that tobacco wasnt known until the mid 1800's because that is the first time we had cigarettes - although tobacco is recorded as being indigenous to the America's with documentary evidence preceeding the 7th Century, so again possible for Drake to have brought it back from his holidays.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1KbtLrBZ0k

We have a McD's here in Granada - it doesn't open until 1200
so not much chance of pigging out there for a pre-lunch snack
and the prices are higher than the UK

why not the Poles did, and they didnt even bring the kids to the Uk, stayed home with mom

As I said I'll take it with a pinch of salt. Most of these surveys either have a vested interest or a point they're desperate to prove.
Had it shown the actual long term trend it might have been of some use.

The fact is that Junk food was late arriving in Spain mostly after Francos time.
In the early days it naturally concentrated mainly on tourist areas and its only more recently they have realised that the Spanish are lapping it up and so started moving into more all Spanish districts.

Give them a few years to become established throughout all the smaller towns and then you'll see the true figures.

Anyway as previously mentioned the Spanish kids are already addicted to their own version of junk food.

True enough.
The Spanish almost look upon it as an upmarket sort of thing for special treats.

That doesnt say a great lot about their own regular grub.

I think it is a place to take the kids, so they can go to school and impress their chums
I recall it used to be, and probably still is, the place to take 10/20/30 kids for a birthday treat, used to be a status thing that the parents could afford it.

Just look at the advertising budgets and link ups they have with for example the Disney Paris

I went into the one in Granada for a pot of Coca Cola to drive home with, they wanted me to have a €4.99 meal with it, and at 3pm it had 6 customers, with 5 staff - so not exactly busy, but probably got so later in the day.

Do they now? Even though Brits eat five times as much?

The Spanish people I know wouldnt be seen dead in one of these places

You guys just want to say how poor and stupid Spanish people are again and again. It must make you feel better about yourselves I suppose