paintermujer

I often hear people talking about "real Spain".

Im interested in hearing other opinions.

Surely Spain is "real Spain" wherever you are-city or campo.

What do you think?

Madridboy

I certainly wouldn't class Benidorm as real Spain but Madrid is also difficult to class as real Spain due to its' diversity. It all depends on what you call real Spain. If you mean out in the sticks then this is just countryside living and I'd imagine this is pretty much the same in any country with regards to people that aremaybe more laid back and possibley set in their old ways. Real Spain is changing with the times just as the real UK or the real France, etc.

lynnxa

I don't especially like Benidorm either - fine for the odd day out though

Spanish people seem to love it though

paintermujer

OK

What do you imagine as being the "old real Spain" and what about the "future real Spain"-what do you reckon that could be like .

Madridboy

Old real Spain....honestly never been anywhere "old" but I'd imagine somewhere that hasn't been "spoilt" by tourists or immigrants. New Spain....I'd have to go for Madrid or Barcelona.

ShinyAndy

Maybe it's just like Ye Olde England where buxom wenches cheerily serve you warm pints of beer in wooden jugs after a day working the fields by hand while you watch Tiny Tim hobbling past with a loaf of Hovis on his way back to the workhouse

jojojojojojojojojojojojo

I guess Mijas and Benalmadena Pueblos are expamples of "real Spain", however, whenever I've been to either, they're full of tourists, souvenier shops, donkeys, "real" paella...... which isnt really real. But its what the tourists seem to want!!??????

Jo xxxx

Madridboy

Wooden jugs! I've heard of wooden legs before but that's a new one for me

ShinyAndy

Medicine wasn't what it is now

paintermujer

Exactly.

It means different things to different people.

snikpoh

Certainly when I use the term, I use it to mean 'unspoilt by tourism' and certainly not 'Brit Vil' like some parts of Benidorm (for example) with kiss-me-quick hats, English bars and fish 'n chips restaurants.

The old part of Benidorm, though, is very different and quite nice - could even, possibly, be classed as the real Spain.

jojojojojojojojojojojojo

Its all real spain tho isnt it - cos thats where it is and what it is. Europe is turning all countries into a bit of an amalgam. But Modern Spain as it is at the mo is how the Spanish want it to be - even if there are no donkeys or Paella!


Jo xxx

JLFS

That seems sensible to me "real Spain" is wherever you are in Spain.

Its like asking "where is real England"

could it be the Lake District, the gangland estates of Liverpool or Manchester, the old mining villages, where most men lost their jobs, an isloated farm in Yorkshire, or a small fishing village on the south coast?

cricketman

There is no such thing as real Spain, Franco liked to think there was, but there isnt

I've lived in Catalunya, Asturias and Malaga and I cant say they have much in common. They are very "real" though.

It is true that a lot of British expats live in "Britain in the sun" or expat ghettos where they dont interact with many Spanish things. That certainly isn't Spain, well not by any way that a Spanish person would recognise it anyway. I've been to some cafeterias there and asked for a Spanish menu for my OH and they didnt even have one!

Sometimes I think the Spanish goverment should follow the Catalan example and make all companies have a fluent Spanish speaker available at any time. That would shake things up

HBG

We’re about to get a real Spanish taxi to go into a real Spanish town, then into a real Spanish bank to pay some real Spanish bills.

Then we’re going to treat ourselves to a real Spanish meal in a bar overlooking the sea. I’m going to have a Russian salad along with my patatas brava and a French omelette, and I might have a small Heineken instead of the San Miguel which is a bit fizzy.