I have been living and working in Spain for awhile and probably, because of my job, I am more involved than most. Although I can have an off day too I have never found the Spanish other than friendly and eager to help. On the other hand a lady friend finds their attitudes appalling. Who’s right? She does seem to be in a minority.
In my own experience and regardless of race or nationality I find people are friendly. The key to it is body language. Think of people as mirrors who will mirror your attitude. In other words if you, because if you have attitude or expect others to be less than friendly, you will send the wrong signals. If you scowl, they will. If you smile, they will. Try it.
No one is saying that a person with a sunny disposition won’t occasionally encounter surliness but they will see it less often and shrug it off without a thought. The lady I mention by the way is persistently angry and sounding off. Says it all really. IMHO of course. Sunny Michael. ;o) 

There is a small minority in any country that will try and screw you (This means too Con you) or give you attitude “THATS LIFE” Spanish people generally are always eager to help and will stick there neck out in doing soo (Sometimes).....

Personally my worst experiences in my travels has been the following

Dutch (Racist EXTREMLY!!!)
French (No time of Day)
Welsh

And before people start yes I was born in England but my Blood line is Dutch, German, Irish, Scottish, US (Dads Family Traveled)

What can I say except I am Screwed?!

One of the things I’ve enjoyed about living in Spain is how friendly and helpful the people are, in general. We can all go on about poor customer service issues with many of the larger companies, but that’s more of an institutional issue.

In my line of work though, I deal mostly with smaller or family run suppliers, all of whom I can’t praise highly enough. They literally pull out all the stops to make sure I get everything I need, when I need it.

I’ve also found it easy to make friends with the locals, simply by making the effort to learn the language and integrating. I totally agree with what Mike says about “Think of people as mirrors who will mirror your attitude.”

If you’re friendly and approachable, then I find you’ll receive the same response in return. OK, there’s miserable gits too, but that’s the same world over. 😉

Never have I felt more welcome in a country and more settled, and I have travelled rather a lot.

I have mixed views on the subject.

I`ve met all kinds of people from all over the EU in Spain, some good, some weird, some nasty and some friendly.

I don`t believe Nationality makes the person, In so much as to say all Spaniards are friendly or nasty.

We can only judge on the people we meet and how they act towards you.

I know people who hate blacks, but there friendly to there face, because not to be would do them harm.

Most of my views come from being involved with Spanish in my life, my OH being Spanish etc etc.

My family have always been kind and friendly towards me, when we got married in Spain the wedding meal and afterwards was amazing, both Nationalities mixed very well and everyone had fun.

But on the other side when my uncle arrived in Spain for the wedding, his flight was at 7am, I had no vehicle, none of the family or friends went to pick him up from the airport, they left him to make the bus and then train ride to the town. Its a 30 minute car ride away.

Yet when family visit the UK, I`m expected to make the 6 hour round trip to Stanstead.

Thats how I find Spaniards and thats how Spaniards have been explained to me. They will be friendly to you, but more than that can be an issue.

But ofcourse everybody is different.

I always measure someone by there actions.

Maybe its me, but I find actions speak volumes.

A simple hello in passing is easy, you don`t need to care about them.

what planet do you guys live on, spain is the worst country to be in as a migrant, they have a racism problem, there was some statistic going around recently, i think i saw it on yahoo. Spain’s regarded as the most racist country in the world.

eg..    kick the south Americans out because there’s no jobs, didn’t you guys hear that one

alex-armstrong - 12 August 2009 01:56 PM

what planet do you guys live on, spain is the worst country to be in as a migrant, they have a racism problem, there was some statistic going around recently, i think i saw it on yahoo. Spain’s regarded as the most racist country in the world.

eg..    kick the south Americans out because there’s no jobs, didn’t you guys hear that one

You know I have to agree with Alex… I have been quite nice to Spain with all its faults etc… But Now FECK IT….

I told my mum (Who Is Spaninsh) that you know soon there be a War with Spain because if The Americans really knew what Spain is like there would be many many problems…

Spain still is in Francos Era and thats that its all corrupt…

brennie - 12 August 2009 05:23 PM

Hi Mac31, are you still allowed to say that b****rd dictator generals name in public anywhere. If you really believe Spain would not spit on him then perhaps you have not been so nice to Spain. In Catalyuna if you mentioned his name you would be looking for new friends. Ask someone from the Basque country about how he invited the Nazi’s to test their new fighter planes.

MMMMM Odd There the ones that talk about it and no I do not need to find new friends when I talk about him… As Most of Catalans think that He is still alive and well in Politics…

Go Figure…. ohhh good luck with the Ryanair thing…. as the news for Fuel Prices just gone up so know doubt the idiot will go out of business soon…

My wife describes most Spaniards as two faced.

I guess thats why at 23 she decided to leave Spain for a better life.

We returned to Spain some 14 yrs later, she hated the 5 yrs there and was more than happy to return to the normality she found in the UK.

She`s not alone, there are 5 Spanish families in the small town we live, several in the same school as our children.

I guess everybody is different.

Having said that I lived most my life in a city in the UK, the only times I`ve seen people fighting and pi88ing in the streets in the daytime has been Spaniards in Spain.

At 9.30 am our first Sunday in Fuengirola, goin for breakfast and a guy runs past us with a plank of wood and belts the guy in front of us on the back, to which a fight ensues, Policia called and it turned out the older guy had his car damaged by the younger guy, the older guy took revenge on the kids bike, so the kid decided to hospitalise the old guy. Cracked his head lovely, right in front of my daughter.

I`ve had this disscussion on other sites, one guy was defending Benalmadena, denied there is problems with violence, so I posted some news info and documentals on the issue.

Apparantly thats all crap and there is no problems, but how oftern does a retired Expat visit the nightclub strips at 5 am to actually see for himself.

Expats are a great example of blindness, they assume that because they don`t see it, it never happens.

I`ve been in Bars with Brit kids running around and locals slagging them off, once some friends forgot my OH had a Brit husband, she was reminded by my wife.

We were in El Corte Ingles in Bilbao, my daugther was 3 and we had a strap attached, like a dog lead, which is how some ladies joked about the English Dog, my wife informed them she`s not English and how ignorant they were and how she shi88 on there whore mothers, gotta luv Spanish swearing.

This week a UK kid gets put into intensive care by 3 Spanish youths.

Violence isn`t unique to the UK, the UK press just likes to make you believe it.Spanish press prefer to promote a peaceful Spain, it in there financial interests not to show Spain in a poor light.

And very few Expats watch Spanish programmes such as Comando Actualidad, Gente or 112 Heroes De La Calle.

Santi - 12 August 2009 09:34 PM

My wife describes most Spaniards as two faced.

I guess thats why at 23 she decided to leave Spain for a better life.

We returned to Spain some 14 yrs later, she hated the 5 yrs there and was more than happy to return to the normality she found in the UK.

She`s not alone, there are 5 Spanish families in the small town we live, several in the same school as our children.

I guess everybody is different.

Having said that I lived most my life in a city in the UK, the only times I`ve seen people fighting and pi88ing in the streets in the daytime has been Spaniards in Spain.

At 9.30 am our first Sunday in Fuengirola, goin for breakfast and a guy runs past us with a plank of wood and belts the guy in front of us on the back, to which a fight ensues, Policia called and it turned out the older guy had his car damaged by the younger guy, the older guy took revenge on the kids bike, so the kid decided to hospitalise the old guy. Cracked his head lovely, right in front of my daughter.

I`ve had this disscussion on other sites, one guy was defending Benalmadena, denied there is problems with violence, so I posted some news info and documentals on the issue.

Apparantly thats all crap and there is no problems, but how oftern does a retired Expat visit the nightclub strips at 5 am to actually see for himself.

Expats are a great example of blindness, they assume that because they don`t see it, it never happens.

I`ve been in Bars with Brit kids running around and locals slagging them off, once some friends forgot my OH had a Brit husband, she was reminded by my wife.

We were in El Corte Ingles in Bilbao, my daugther was 3 and we had a strap attached, like a dog lead, which is how some ladies joked about the English Dog, my wife informed them she`s not English and how ignorant they were and how she shi88 on there whore mothers, gotta luv Spanish swearing.

This week a UK kid gets put into intensive care by 3 Spanish youths.

Violence isn`t unique to the UK, the UK press just likes to make you believe it.Spanish press prefer to promote a peaceful Spain, it in there financial interests not to show Spain in a poor light.

And very few Expats watch Spanish programmes such as Comando Actualidad, Gente or 112 Heroes De La Calle.

I have to Say Santi My Spanish Family would totally agree with you what your OH says….
I do not know why but I Like it here if there was a rule that you could punch every Spaniard in the chops that gives you attitude or a hard time I think life would be different however I am sure the Spaniards are thinking the same hell I am half of Spaniard so go figure…

I do miss the odd things in UK Like

Trading Standards
Customer Service That Actually Helps…
Banks That Open Until 5pm Monday to Friday And A Call Center…
Laws and Regs that actually make sense…
Indian and Chinese Takeaways (Some Days)
Fish And Chips…..

However I do not Miss….

Shops Petrol Stations that Built like Prisons (For Security)
Paying High Council Tax…
jehovah’s witness Knocking on your door and getting a 6 year old to read a passage…
CCTV Apparently when I was Working In London Were ever you are Theres ment to be a Camera every 4 to 5 yards…
Yob Groups at your local office Asking to buy them fags…. “Scuse me MATE… Buy us some Fags…”

alex-armstrong - 12 August 2009 01:56 PM

what planet do you guys live on, spain is the worst country to be in as a migrant, they have a racism problem, there was some statistic going around recently, i think i saw it on yahoo. Spain’s regarded as the most racist country in the world.

eg..    kick the south Americans out because there’s no jobs, didn’t you guys hear that one

I saw it on Google that Zapatero is going to start rounding up South Americans for the new work camps on the Mancha. I hear he’s been importing a lot of Zyklon B.

Obviously I’m not serious, just making a point that you can’t just run around accusing an entire country of being “the most racist country in the world” without showing your source.

There is Xenophobia everywhere and in everyone. It’s how we manage it that matters. Spaniards are just more open about it. Why do they feel like that’s okay?

the Spanish are GHETTO PRISONERS

brennie - 13 August 2009 03:59 PM

There are certain types of people that are always looking for the worst in others and they have nothing good to say about anybody except themselves. Everywhere they go there are problems, they are like magnets sucking the worst in the world into themselves. If a hundred say they like something the certain types will find fault, not just small faults but major doom and gloom.

Expats are guilty of that, for sure.

You only have to read certain British Expats sites, they constantly slate the UK, without realising the very subjects they condem the UK guilty of actually excist in Spain.

Hi administrator, when Alex and his pals are getting a load off and are giving you their sources then they might let me know where they are getting all their stuff on Mick O’Leary. Just checked today, you can fly out f Girona to the UK with Ryanair for ?10 return including hand baggage and all taxes. Micko, can you not do better than this, something to calm down Mac31.

Moneysavingexpert recently posted an example of a Ryanair flight for ?1.00, when adding all the extra for a family it amounted to a few hundred pounds.

Today In The News…......

Embassies plead ‘big issues only’

British holidaymakers in Spain
Embassies do not help holidaymakers search for lost sunglasses

British embassies around the world are getting “frustrated” by travellers wanting weather reports and advice on how to deal with unruly children.

Consular staff have also been asked to help make jam, pack suitcases and find lost sunglasses.

A woman unhappy with the size of her newly-enlarged breasts and a man in search of shoes also sought help.

The Foreign Office says British embassies are there “to help Britons in real difficulty abroad”.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is highlighting some of the less serious requests to clarify the role of its 261 embassies, high commissions and other diplomatic posts.

Other inquiries include:

 
* A mother asked the consulate in Florida to help her teenage son pack his case and give him a lift to the airport as he was feeling under the weather.
 
* A traveller wanted the high commission in Zambia to phone his workplace to explain he would not be in because he was unable to get a flight.
 
* A holidaymaker visiting Italy wondered where they could purchase a particular pair of shoes.
 
* One caller asked: “I’m making jam - what ratio of fruit to sugar shall I use?”.

Juliet Maric, British consul in Alicante, Spain, said people thought they were a “one-stop shop” and it could be “frustrating”.

“If you have a serious problem abroad - maybe you’ve been involved in an accident, have lost your passport or are a victim of crime, we can help you,” she said.

“But we can’t tell you who is allowed to use your swimming pool, pay your taxi fares for you or do anything about the exchange rate.”

Minister for consular affairs, Chris Bryant, said: “Consular staff are there to help Britons in real difficulty abroad - from victims of crime and bereaved families to those involved in accidents or who have lost their passports.

“It’s important that British nationals understand what the FCO can and can’t do for them so our staff can focus resources on more serious situations where people really do need our help.”

FCO staff handle 2.1 million consular inquiries a year and in 2008/9, assistance was provided to almost 35,000 British nationals.

Almost 11,000 emergency passports were issued to Britons overseas last year.

brennie - 13 August 2009 06:40 PM

But I tell you this, there is nowhere more beautiful than Alt Emporda in Girona Province. Tell me a bit about your favorite places.

Never been so I`ll take your word on that.

I enjoyed Llanes in Asturia`s.

Pico`s De Europa were great fun.

I like Zarragoza a lot, didn`t think much of Pamplona.

Bilbao is where my family live, I also like the city.

Donostia is my all time favorite place city wise.

Found Alhambra over rated, crowded and badly done, although very pretty city.

Preferred Seville, nice drinking out in the slightly cooler breeze near the Tower.

Cordoba OK.

Ronda and surrounding country was very pretty.

Didn`t like Barcelona, felt threatened there.

Madrid I prefer at 3 am whilst driving to Bilbao, nice and quiet.

Valdepenas, found a lovely roadside restaurant, BP garage with waiters in formal dress, very proper, although in a garage, beats Burger King.

Sierra Nevada was expensive, overcrowded, but good views.

Marbella is a shi8 hole fully off cockneys acting as if there rich somebodies.

Puerto Banus as above.

Sotogrande much better, I enjoyed visiting Eric Claptons yacht, although he wasn`t there to sign the receipt.

La Duquesa is a nice small village.

I love Estepona. Spent a great night in Selwo Zoo.

I really love Tarifa, didn`t like La linea.

Gibraltar is a shi8 hole.

Loved Jerez, probably the best place in Andalucia, people are great.

Torre Del Mar was nice.

Rincon de la Victoria is nice.

Caves in Nerja are rubbish, big and I bet the concerts are great, but as a day out, rubbish.

Torrox has a lovely beach.

Benidorm was different, especially as we stayed in a British area, its amazing how the club touts leave Spanish speakers alone, never went anywhere without my Spanish wife. Why do they assume if you have three yr olds you would want a drink in the bars at 5pm.

Alicante same as above really.

Tossa Del Mar lovely views over the sea from the castle.

Callela should be destroyed.

Valencia, Wow love the L`Oceanographic centre, simply stunning place.A place Spaniards can be proud of.

La Rioja, need I say more.

The Only place I haven`t been to yet is Galicia and Murcia regions.

We plan to do some of the Camino de Santiago sometime soon though.

whos keeps on removing my replys

alex

I am with Brennie on this one: this is getting to the stage where it could be a matter for the Guardia Civil; such threats as these. No newspaper would tolerate it. Furthermore, under the maxim that one is known by the company one keeps, this reflects very badly on the 99% genuine posters whose professionalism and integrity is stigmatised by being part of a forum that seemingly tolerates anything.
I recently abandoned yet another forum because abuse, ganging up on correspondents, bullying, intimidation, was not only tolerated, I think it was encouraged. It could be that controversy is thought to increase interest. It doesn’t; it leaves a forum under the control of a small minority of bullies. I have seen them all: Liverpool Daily Post, the Warrington Guardian ...  and others that are best left nameless.