johnnyone

I'd like to join in this thread, but I need someone to define what a Brit is first.

paintermujer

A brit is much more reserved and may appear unfriendly at times.

Its not a dig just a cultural thing.

Spanish are open and will speak to anyone or sing in the street to themselves.

There is no set of rules for conduct though its usually very nice.

paintermujer

Apart from the areas with lots of tourists yes Id say youve got to watch where you walk.Always poo central.

We have fun about them.Deciding what size dog did it,how long ago and we really laugh when we see the skidmarks.Pooor person.

We see dogs doing it with their owner standing proudly watching them do it.its funny when its "the runs".

We dont own dogs.

We have to look where we walk.

cricketman

There very much are cultural rules, you just arent aware of them as you havent grown up with them.

For example, whenever there is a new person in our Spanish football team, the players (normally started by the captain) go out of their way to make sure the new person fits in and that everyone knows their name.

In the English team I play for, the new player is ignored and put on as a sub for the last 5 minutes, only after they keep turning up for a few months do people start to speak to him. And then they respect him for his perseverence.

Only one example I know, but to NOT make a stranger feel part of the group in Spain would be cuturally unacceptable and seen as incredibly rude. The same happens when I go out with Spanish friends, you get to know everyone pretty quickly, while it was more cliquey in the UK, you had to wait until people were drunk to start talking to them

dios41

[QUOTE=cricketman;9158929]Well, this is very difficult because people vary so much within Spain and within the UK - and of course we are all individuals

I dont actually agree with any of the examples you quoted. I havent seen much dog mess, noise and rubbish anywhere where I have lived in Spain! (Barcelona, Asturias and CDS).

That's really funny because all of my friends and family are Spanish and they totally agree with me.

cricketman

[QUOTE=dios41;9159077] And half of my family is Spanish and they agree with me

Maybe it just depends on whether you live in a nice neighbourhood or not

The people here in Benalmadena Pueblo almost always dispose of their dogs waste, Spanish and non-Spanish alike, while I used to live in Oviedo, regularly voted the cleanest city in Europe. I also lived in Barrio Gotic in Barcelona which while a little dingy had constant cleaning teams making sure there was no rubbish lying around.

HBG

The differences between the two countries? The climate and the language.

You can go on forever about daft things like dog shit or rubbish collections, but they’re pretty irrelevant, of course rubbish is collected on a daily basis in Spain, you couldn’t let it rot in 40 degrees for two weeks, and of course the streets are swept weekly, otherwise we’d all be up to our knees in the stuff.

If my big dog couldn’t wait until he got to the proper place, I would need to walk him with a wheelbarrow in tow.

Other differences? I can’t think of any major ones. Unless someone mentions that the Iberian peninsula speaks Spanish with a lisp, which they don’t in Mexico. It took me ages to learn the authentic lisp.

agoreira

You must play with some complete weirdo´s, I simply cannot see someone joining a football team anywhere in the world and being totally ignored for months on end. And irrespective of how good he maybe, he only gets on for 5 minutes. You make it up as you go along. Anything to make the Brits look bad and the Spanish look good.

dios41

Shaved heads, earings, very often drunk, lots of bodily tattoos? Oh, and quite often dressed in shell suits, and that's just the women!

agoreira

As a Brit, I fail miserably on all the above! As a family of four, we must be unique, not a tatoo between us! The wife does qualify for the earrings though.

dios41

That's great. But do you pick your 'big dog' mess up or leave it for other peoples shoes to find?
The only people in España who speak using a lisp are in fact Andalucians. The rest of the Spanish people definitely do not speak with a lisp. I hope that you live in Andalucia, or you have wasted your time learning to lisp like it.

Madridboy

OH noticed this recently when 2 English girls used their very broken English to ask for directions. He replied to them in perfect English but they sussed he wasn't English, OH said was it for the accent to which one of them replied "No, if you were English you'd have ignored us and carried on".
I've noticed this as well as to how encouraging the Spanish are at making you feel welcome and part of the group wether this is at the workplace or amongst new friends.

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed how tattoo'd the Spanish are becoming as well now?

As to the dog mess replies, I've never noticed it over here and always pick up after our 2 have done theirs but when I lived in France the amount you could see and the smell of it during summer was enough to make you want to vomit.

jackytoo

Another one who came from a sink estate

dios41

No you are not alone, thank goodness there are lots of normal British people living here in Spain, but unfortunately those who do get known about and are consequently remembered by many Spanish people are the ones that I mentioned before in the description of 'Brits' (British people), for those who didn't understand the meaning. And please don't forget that the Spanish people also have their fair share of these types.

dios41

I have heard of CHT's, but what's a Sink estate?