Fredbargate

The best one I personally had was when crossing from Gib into Spain with a large engine part that could only be repaired in a specialist Spanish workshop.
I stopped at the Spanish customs and was in the process of making a temporary importation when they caught someone with a car full of tobacco.
I was immediately sidelined whilst they dealt with the smuggler.
2 Hours later when they had sent the smuggler on his way they resumed dealing with my legal importation.

teuchterpete

Happens everywhere in Spain in our experience. People just walk to the front. It is the selfish nature of the Spanish people i.e. " I want to get served, what you want, does not concern me" Thats why they park their cars in the middle of the road to visit a bank/shop, park on pavements/ pedestrian crossings etc.
However I was once in a check out queue in a superstore in Glasgow , when I felt somebody repeatedly hitting my ankles with a walking stick. It was an old lady behind me. The girl at the cash desk told me that she always does that, repeatedly until people get fed up and let her past so that she gets to the front of the queue. Wonder how the Spanish would deal with that?
Pete

Rosemary

I have no experience whatsoever of this, never found this to be true at all. Everyone in my town will ask when entering the bank, post office etc who is the last in the queue. The only time that someone goes to the front of the queue in the supermarket is when they only have a couple of items and other people have told them to go ahead of them.

Rosemary

Opinion

Never experienced it in Valencia city.

teuchterpete

Just last week, whilst waiting for a doctors appointment in the health centre, a woman walked straight to the front of a group of people waiting and when the patient in the surgery came out she just said " it's my turn" and walked straight in" Last year whilst on a visit to Cordoba I found that a woman had parked her car alongside mine in the middle of the road completely blocking me in. After several blasts on the horn, she appeared. I asked her why she had parked there, she just said " I needed to go to the farmacia" On a visit to Barcelona I was in a queue for the ticket sales in Saints railway station ( one queue dividing at the front to whichever kiosk became available) when a man just walked passed the queue and stood directly behind a person who was being served, several people came up to him and showed him where the queue was. I could go on as these are not the only incidents I have seen in my six years of living in Spain.
Perhaps I am just unlucky.

SportyPorty

Hmm, some very varied experiences by people. Sometimes I wonder if I'm being too intolerant and should just chill out a bit, but other times I get really annoyed that others are so rude and have absolutely no respect or consideration towards others (ie - Me 😀). We never know the shoes other people walk in, but even if they made a half hearted excuse or apology because they really needed to be quick for some reason, that would in someway make you a little more understanding. But that doesnt appear to be the case in my experience. So hay-ho, no point in winding myself up about it, and thanks for your replies as at least it lets me know it's not just me. Let's be nice to each other. 👍

markab

Why do English think they can pee and vomit in the streets of Mallorca?
Is it in your DNA?
Is it in your nature?

SportyPorty

I don't, and also I'm not English, so I have absolutely no idea. But a valid comparison.

bxpuser24710519

Queuing in Spain has been an education. My first experience was many years ago, in C&A in Sevilla. A long queue at the only till open, I was about 3 from the top when a lady walked to the front, dumped a big pile of goods on the counter on top of the lady being served goods and wanted served. By the time I got there she was still trying, very irate and gesticulating in Spain about it all. She dumped them again, on the top of mine, I picked up hers dumped them on the floor and pointed to the end of the queue ! Steam was coming out of my ears. I worked in retail and cannot stand sales assistants not dealing with queue jumpers as in, I am serving another customer just now I will deal with you when free. I invite people with one or two items to pass me by and find some are happy to wait. Sales assistants in many places get into involved conversations with people who just appear at the till point or head of queue, so rude on the queue jumpers part and untrained staff. On my recent journey here I was served by a sales assistant who spent my whole sale talking to the assistant behind me, never to me at all. In Scotland recently I was ordering a jacket with a young sales assistant, she was doing well with the order, no thanks to her superior who talked to her continually about a wall display of socks the girl had to do that morning. Re peeing on the streets, here in Huelva province I have seen men pee behind bins, behind low walls or just turn their backs, they look native and speak Spanish. I usually make a disgusted remark to them, same as spitting in the street a big bug bear of mine especially right in front of me as they pass by. They are always get called pigs.

teuchterpete

..... and why is it that in the middle of being served, if the telephone rings, the person serving you just picks up the telephone and starts talking to the caller , ignoring you. Had it happen in shops , bank, correos, health centre, etc.

teuchterpete

Having said that. I still prefer it here, to being back in the UK.

el collado kid

Agree 100% with your preference.I think after all it's Spain,

Opinion

Unfortunately yes, it is. Having respect is very quickly disappearing, I grimace when I see Brits wandering around doing things like that, and I see it too often.

Fredbargate

This happened to me yesterday in an office in Gibraltar.
However the assistant picked up the phone and said " I will ring you back when I have finished with my customers "
But I remember very well being in car dealers parts departments in the UK and being constantly interupted and sidelined by ringing phones

tebo53

I don't care when or how often these things happen....I'm here and I'm chilled.

Steve