Re: Welcome to Spain
 

Since my wife makes a good living from interpreting for expats who don't speak Spanish, I need to watch what I say. I believe that some integration is desirable, and necessary if you live in a purely Spanish environment, but I also think if you try too hard to be a native it causes resentment.

I remember being invited to a local Pena meeting in Denia by a Spanish neighbour when they were discussing the next festivo arrangements. I didn't say very much but several members questioned why a Guiri was there at all. It caused an unnecessary argument and I never went back.

Re: Welcome to Spain
 

No. Another European national might carry an ID card from his country, but he still needs his Police paper. A fellow-European in Spain. They don't use flimsy police-papers in the rest of Europe (where you get a 'carte de sejour' or similar. In Italy its an 'EC Long-term Residence Permit' called a Permesso di Soggiorno Picture). Only here in Spain are we inconvenienced. Not all foreigners, of course. My wife is American and has a perfectly normal ID card, just like before. The problem with Continental ID cards and British passports is that they (obviously) don't have a Spanish tax identification number, a NIE on them.
So, to resume, yes, the Ministerio del Interior was taking the piss.

Re: Welcome to Spain
 

O come on, they can't have really spoken Spanish like CM does surely?;) It's as if he's discovered a secret language, nobody has ever spoken it before him or since.:rofl: Friends of ours all speak good Spanish, he wouldn't even get near to their son's level, all his time is spent with the Spanish, always has been. Another friend has spent more time in Spain than UK, she's a businesswoman, she'd lose him. He has the spelling level of a 10 year in English, I hope his written Spanish is better than his English.

Re: Welcome to Spain
 

I was only passing on what people were telling me. I'm sure there must be some English people who speak fluent Spanish on the Costas

Some may be better than me at Spanish, then great for them!

I am just happy that I can live, work and play in Spanish. I have business meetings most days in Spanish. Sometimes I may make a grammatical mistake but I can do the everything to the same level here in Spain as I could in the UK

Re: Welcome to Spain
 

The Govt. should hire you to welcome those pesky Brit immigrants when they arrive here. You could teach them how to hold a fork :D

Re: Welcome to Spain
 

[QUOTE=agoreira;10626134]O come on, they can't have really spoken Spanish like CM does surely?;) It's as if he's discovered a secret language, nobody has ever spoken it before him or since.:rofl: Friends of ours all speak good Spanish, he wouldn't even get near to their son's level, all his time is spent with the Spanish, always has been. Another friend has spent more time in Spain than UK, she's a businesswoman, she'd lose him. He has the spelling level of a 10 year in English, I hope his written Spanish is better than his English.[/QUOTE]

No comment. :lol:

Re: Welcome to Spain
 

years ago I went to an AMPA (parents assoc at school) meeting - my Spanish wasn't bad then, but not great - & I at the time barely understood a word of Valenciano

another mother proposed a vote that all meetings should be held in Valenciano, which would have very effectively excluded all non-locals - not just non-Spanish, since the parents of families from other areas couldn't speak Valenciano either


the vote went against her - I managed to put the point across well enough

she left the committee - & still crosses the street to avoid me :eek: - I took her place



btw - my daughter is in a peña.... the only 'guiri' in this particular one, although there are peñas in this town with totally international membership

Re: Welcome to Spain
 

Really? You think there are actually a few British who speak Spanish on the costas?

I am a little concerned about you. It's just so unusual for our resident expert on all things Spanish to stake his shining reputation on hearsay, rather than made-up facts.

Re: Welcome to Spain
 

I'm telling you what Spanish people have told me

The British people I met in the South spoke no or very poor Spanish. Even the kids who went to school there!

Re: Welcome to Spain
 

Yes, that is my experience too. Everybody who lives here speaks at least some Spanish, most are pretty good, and others almost native.

Incidentally the 'foreigners' here (non-Spanish and non-British;)) often prefer to communicate in English.

Even where I lived on the Costa (Estepona) the level of English amongst residents was pretty good. Trouble is there are quite a few tourists and I guess they often get mistaken for residents who can't speak Spanish.

Re: Welcome to Spain
 

Yep. If the entire world would only take the time to learn Spanish, we would finally be rid of all those sanctimonious types who like to believe that the only reason people have problems in Spain is because they don't speak Spanish.

Of course, that doesn't really explain why people who speak Spanish also have problems, but I reckon that's irrelevant.

Re: Welcome to Spain
 

We have a lot of Madrinelos in town at the moment, for Easter, noisy people who go around in large family groups. A lot of the locals don't like them which I suppose is similar to Londoners descending on Clacton in the summer.

They don't mind taking their money, though.

Re: Welcome to Spain
 

What is this Police paper you are talking about? I don't carry a piece of paper around. My NIE is on my driving licence which acts as a photo ID.

Re: Welcome to Spain
 

Exactly the same in Marbella. lots of madrileños have second homes. I would say that Semana Santa is busier than August. They aren't liked there either, probably because they demand better service.

Re: Welcome to Spain
 

Many people from Madrid come to the beaches on this part of the coast too and I have been told that they are not liked because they think that they are better than other Spanish people.

My own experience of staying in a hotel with people from Madrid and Barcelona during the Christmas period was that they were no different from the people that I mix with all of the time.

Rosemary