Chico your referring to the USA as ?Disneyworld? is kind of belittling? If you don’t want people to generalize about Spain then please begin by not generalizing about ?Disneyworld? as you say.
The USA does have a violent past involving racism, but thankfully we’ve come a long way. The history of the USA is one of mass immigration from all parts of the world which can’t really be compared to Spain. Things aren’t perfect, but we’re all actively working towards a common goal of equality among men, women, people of whatever color or background, etc. and things are better than they were. I agree that the situation in Spain doesn’t compare to the KKK or anything, but it can’t be said that there isn’t any racism in Spain, and if you need concrete evidence of that you can just look in http://www.enalquiler.com at piso alquiler ads in Bilbao and you’ll find ads that explicitly say ?espa?oles preferentemente? and even ?no extranjeros?. I do hear some comments from Spaniards sometimes that indicate to me that there is some racist attitude, like when teachers I work with attribute students’ in-class behavior problems to simply being South American. Or some of the things you hear people say about the Chinese being ?cerdos? and ?guarros? are kind of upsetting since they really don’t bother anybody here? And obviously it’s not always easy being american here as you can see by the above posts. Of course not all people are like that. I meet great people in Spain all the time, but unfortunately it’s the few ?maleducados? that lead foreigners to a forum like this to share their troubling experiences with people who might understand. Some of the comments you’ve read are just people wanting to discuss their experiences in their new home. Don’t let it bother you.
My Spanish friend what yankee girl and others are saying is the truth!!! Here In Puerto banus the Brits and other nationals don’t have this problem because half of the population in this area is English Speaking. But look at my my family is from Spain on both sides my grandfather still alive is from Seville were he currently live so i have Spanish blood going thrue my veins and i sometimes feel discriminated in the land of my family. I am very proud to be Puerto rican and a American Citizen and i thank god every day for the American Invasion of Puerto rico in 1898 because when the Americans came to our coast the Puertoricans became people again and not animals like we were treated by the Spaniards!!!! You see i speak perfect Spanish not with accent but with a Puerto rican accent and i have had allot instances that i have been ask for my papers just for my accent they think i am Cuban or Dominican Indocumentado!!!!! . Do you know that by law because my father had Spanish Citizenship as well as my grandfather i could easily get a Spanish passport!!! but no i rather stay with my residence and my American Passport. You see i love and respect Spanish traditions because i grew up with it but i never imagine Spaniards being so racist to Hispanics it is incredible. One thing that you are forgetting is that you could live in Miami, Los Angeles, New York and you do not have to speak English Specially in Miami with is almost 80% latin. It is important to learn both languages but there are places in the vast U.S that Spanish speaking people could live and work without learning the language. Also for a anglo it is much harder that for Spanish speaking learn another language. An In regards to racism again go to the History who introduce Slavery before the English in the Americas so who started the problem. We have to learn from history before we make our judgements.
No tiren piedras cuando tienes techo de crystal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chico your referring to the USA as ?Disneyworld? is kind of belittling? If you don’t want people to generalize about Spain then please begin by not generalizing about ?Disneyworld? as you say.
The USA does have a violent past involving racism, but thankfully we’ve come a long way. The history of the USA is one of mass immigration from all parts of the world which can’t really be compared to Spain. Things aren’t perfect, but we’re all actively working towards a common goal of equality among men, women, people of whatever color or background, etc. and things are better than they were. I agree that the situation in Spain doesn’t compare to the KKK or anything, but it can’t be said that there isn’t any racism in Spain, and if you need concrete evidence of that you can just look in http://www.enalquiler.com at piso alquiler ads in Bilbao and you’ll find ads that explicitly say ?espa?oles preferentemente? and even ?no extranjeros?. I do hear some comments from Spaniards sometimes that indicate to me that there is some racist attitude, like when teachers I work with attribute students’ in-class behavior problems to simply being South American. Or some of the things you hear people say about the Chinese being ?cerdos? and ?guarros? are kind of upsetting since they really don’t bother anybody here? And obviously it’s not always easy being american here as you can see by the above posts. Of course not all people are like that. I meet great people in Spain all the time, but unfortunately it’s the few ?maleducados? that lead foreigners to a forum like this to share their troubling experiences with people who might understand. Some of the comments you’ve read are just people wanting to discuss their experiences in their new home. Don’t let it bother you.
In el Pais Vasco!!! they are very racist against everyone. Let me tell you like 2 years ago my mother and Me and My sisters decided to visit bilbao San Sebastian i have a 5 year old nephew that wanted a Spanish soccer ball so we stop at a Sports store in Bilbao my brother in law is a Cubanamerican he grew up in America and English is his first language so he talks Spanish with a big accent. He ask the store employee for the Soccer ball he said bola de Soccer!!! the employee said what is that???? my brother in law that ball right there she said no?? balon de Futbol my brother in law said no that is Soccer because he refers to American Football the employee got mad and said to him if he did not say it right she was not going to served him. My brother in law got furious and said i am the customer what do you care if i call it Soccer or futbol just give the ball so i could pay and leave this place. When i heard him scream the women refused to served him and went up to the women and said look dame la bola de futbol nos tenemos que ir??? she finally gave it to me and she said that she was tired of people that did not speak Basque and now she has to tolerated people that don’t speak Spanish!!!! She turn to me and ask why i do speak Basque i said because we are Spain not in Basque country!!!! i think she was a little mad at me after.
Chico your referring to the USA as ?Disneyworld? is kind of belittling? If you don’t want people to generalize about Spain then please begin by not generalizing about ?Disneyworld? as you say.
The USA does have a violent past involving racism, but thankfully we’ve come a long way. The history of the USA is one of mass immigration from all parts of the world which can’t really be compared to Spain. Things aren’t perfect, but we’re all actively working towards a common goal of equality among men, women, people of whatever color or background, etc. and things are better than they were. I agree that the situation in Spain doesn’t compare to the KKK or anything, but it can’t be said that there isn’t any racism in Spain, and if you need concrete evidence of that you can just look in http://www.enalquiler.com at piso alquiler ads in Bilbao and you’ll find ads that explicitly say ?espa?oles preferentemente? and even ?no extranjeros?. I do hear some comments from Spaniards sometimes that indicate to me that there is some racist attitude, like when teachers I work with attribute students’ in-class behavior problems to simply being South American. Or some of the things you hear people say about the Chinese being ?cerdos? and ?guarros? are kind of upsetting since they really don’t bother anybody here? And obviously it’s not always easy being american here as you can see by the above posts. Of course not all people are like that. I meet great people in Spain all the time, but unfortunately it’s the few ?maleducados? that lead foreigners to a forum like this to share their troubling experiences with people who might understand. Some of the comments you’ve read are just people wanting to discuss their experiences in their new home. Don’t let it bother you.
When I say that in Spain we are not perfect and that the world is not DisneyWorld (I don’t mean that United States is DisneyWorld) I mean that the foreigners only see bad things in my country, they always exalt the worst in my country, as if their countries were the sumum of the perfection
And in any moment I have denied that in my country there is racism, you don’t invent things. I don’t have nothing against your country, but I am weary that there are people that comes to give us lessons of moral
Vamos amigo chico estos foros son para EXPATS que viven en Espana deja la lata si quieres ver quejas de Espanoles que viven en otros paises buscate los foros para que veas que es lo mismo no importa de que pais seas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My Spanish friend what yankee girl and others are saying is the truth!!! Here In Puerto banus the Brits and other nationals don’t have this problem because half of the population in this area is English Speaking. But look at my my family is from Spain on both sides my grandfather still alive is from Seville were he currently live so i have Spanish blood going thrue my veins and i sometimes feel discriminated in the land of my family. I am very proud to be Puerto rican and a American Citizen and i thank god every day for the American Invasion of Puerto rico in 1898 because when the Americans came to our coast the Puertoricans became people again and not animals like we were treated by the Spaniards!!!! You see i speak perfect Spanish not with accent but with a Puerto rican accent and i have had allot instances that i have been ask for my papers just for my accent they think i am Cuban or Dominican Indocumentado!!!!! . Do you know that by law because my father had Spanish Citizenship as well as my grandfather i could easily get a Spanish passport!!! but no i rather stay with my residence and my American Passport. You see i love and respect Spanish traditions because i grew up with it but i never imagine Spaniards being so racist to Hispanics it is incredible. One thing that you are forgetting is that you could live in Miami, Los Angeles, New York and you do not have to speak English Specially in Miami with is almost 80% latin. It is important to learn both languages but there are places in the vast U.S that Spanish speaking people could live and work without learning the language. Also for a anglo it is much harder that for Spanish speaking learn another language. An In regards to racism again go to the History who introduce Slavery before the English in the Americas so who started the problem. We have to learn from history before we make our judgements.
No tiren piedras cuando tienes techo de crystal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There will be spaniards that have racism against the hispanics or latin (I don’t know who would call this way to them), and latin that will have hate to the spaniards, so much in their countries (they call each other ” gallegos de mierda “, ” gachupines “, etc etc etc…here this was counteracted with another word) or when they come to my country and we are seeing the new phenomenons of the Latin bands, the Latin kings, these twits with cap and wide clothes that want to appropriate of parks, corners, and all that consider yours
I find perfect that you are happy to belong to United States, although I don’t know that you to tell me certainly, because I have not lived during the spanish colonial period nor I have participated in the war of Cuba. Massacres those that made the spaniards, but also the french, englishmen, etc etc etc, in their respective colonies. Massacres that I don’t justify, certainly, although the history has pointed out to the Spaniards as the supreme executioners of America, and has not made it against other colonizer nations. It will be because they didn’t have a missionary called Bartolom? de las Casas, that could denounce everything this…
By the way, allow me to tell you that the racial politics in United States took to confine to all the Indian nations in reservations, without right to nothing, while in the rest of America a Indian could call himself Prudencio Sanchez, to be free and to be lawyer, for example. That is the difference, what happens is, and I repeat it again, the bad thing that we could be made was exalts more by the nations that invented the Black Legend, while its massacres are minimized. The Inquisition was something infamous, not only in Spain, but in all Europe, but people relate it more with Spain. Of course, of the brutal anglo-saxon puritanism doesn’t remember, or they don’t want to remember that was same or more brutal that the Inquisition
Vamos amigo chico estos foros son para EXPATS que viven en Espana deja la lata si quieres ver quejas de Espanoles que viven en otros paises buscate los foros para que veas que es lo mismo no importa de que pais seas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Perdona, pero t? no eres nadie para decirme si doy la lata o no. Yo me he expresado muy educadamente ante algo que se ha dicho sobre mi pais y que no estaba de acuerdo.
Chico your referring to the USA as ?Disneyworld? is kind of belittling? If you don’t want people to generalize about Spain then please begin by not generalizing about ?Disneyworld? as you say.
The USA does have a violent past involving racism, but thankfully we’ve come a long way. The history of the USA is one of mass immigration from all parts of the world which can’t really be compared to Spain. Things aren’t perfect, but we’re all actively working towards a common goal of equality among men, women, people of whatever color or background, etc. and things are better than they were. I agree that the situation in Spain doesn’t compare to the KKK or anything, but it can’t be said that there isn’t any racism in Spain, and if you need concrete evidence of that you can just look in http://www.enalquiler.com at piso alquiler ads in Bilbao and you’ll find ads that explicitly say ?espa?oles preferentemente? and even ?no extranjeros?. I do hear some comments from Spaniards sometimes that indicate to me that there is some racist attitude, like when teachers I work with attribute students’ in-class behavior problems to simply being South American. Or some of the things you hear people say about the Chinese being ?cerdos? and ?guarros? are kind of upsetting since they really don’t bother anybody here? And obviously it’s not always easy being american here as you can see by the above posts. Of course not all people are like that. I meet great people in Spain all the time, but unfortunately it’s the few ?maleducados? that lead foreigners to a forum like this to share their troubling experiences with people who might understand. Some of the comments you’ve read are just people wanting to discuss their experiences in their new home. Don’t let it bother you.
The basque problem is that, as in Catalonia (and with this I finish, I don’t want problems with the moderator) there is a minority that thinks that they are only basques and that they don’t belong to Spain. And they make coercions, they kidnap, they kill, etc etc etc…
Yankee girl, you don’t misinterpret what I say. I like United States, and there are many things that we could learn of your country (you could teach to our incompetent and useless president what means to be patriot) but there are things (I suppose that the minimum) that I don?t share,in the same way that there are things of Spain that don’t like to you
Si te entiendo creo que te refieres al Montonero Comunista Zapatero del PSOE en eso estoy totalmente deacuerdo contigo Chico. Haber si los Espanoles se les prenden los cojones y vuelven a poner al el Partido Poplular ya que no veo el mismo impulso economico que se veia con Jose Maria Aznar.
Como decia mi Padre un Comunista bueno es un Comunista Muerto!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Si te entiendo creo que te refieres al Montonero Comunista Zapatero del PSOE en eso estoy totalmente deacuerdo contigo Chico. Haber si los Espanoles se les prenden los cojones y vuelven a poner al el Partido Poplular ya que no veo el mismo impulso economico que se veia con Jose Maria Aznar.
Como decia mi Padre un Comunista bueno es un Comunista Muerto!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Viva la Democracia
I’m glad we’re in agreement on this, but if you guys want to discuss Zapatero and los politicos de Espa?a then you should start a new thread. 😊 I dare ya!
How did you find the transition to be from Miami/Ft. Lauderdale to Spain? I want to go to Barcelona after I graduate from NSU’s Huzienga school of business (Im pretty sure u have heard of Nova) with a Masters in Int’l Business….
Should I be looking to work for an American multinational company??? What do you think?
How did you find the transition to be from Miami/Ft. Lauderdale to Spain? I want to go to Barcelona after I graduate from NSU’s Huzienga school of business (Im pretty sure u have heard of Nova) with a Masters in Int’l Business….
Should I be looking to work for an American multinational company??? What do you think?
Thanks,
Lorena L.
Yes Lorena I know very well Nova Southeastern University In Broward By University drive if i am not mistaken. A good friend of mine goes to law school there. Going back to the question about moving to Barcelona i think it is your best bet because Barcelona is the most cosmopolitan city in Spain and one of the most Cosmopolitan in Europe. But don’t be mistaken you are in cataluna and they are very proud of that and nationalistic. Americans are not very popular right now so make sure if you know Spanish you use it all the time or if your Spanish is Spanglish try to get yourself a good Dictionary and get to learn it quick. One thing about spanish work culture is that is very different from the U.S” they work to live” as we americans” we live to work”. That theory has allot of advantages personally but Spaniards take it to another level. Do not Expect remotely any good and Fast Service as you do in the U.S they take there time and they are very proud of there work and at the same time the expect you to pay full price for half the service. I think your best bet is trying to get a job with a Citibank, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs but most of the good Jobs in that field are in Madrid. Also recommend to you UBS, and HSBC they work like american companies. If your Spanish is really good Santander and BBVA are the strongest financial institutions in Spain but they do allot of Business in Latin American and if you come from South Florida you pretty much Know latin America. But????? don’t Expect great money working in Spain American Multinationals don’t pay the same in Spain as they do in America also be reminded that Rent is Expensive for a little piso/ If you have a Car Gasoline is Twice what you pay in the U.S and because of the Strong Euro allot of goods are very expensive. MY recomendation is to try it for a while but if you want to make money the U.S is much better but if you want just to have the experience that is up to you.
Transitioning to Barcelona will probably be fine, but you have to be realistic. Getting a European work permit is not at all easy. Most Americans here are students, and they cannot legally work in the EU. Getting a student visa is no problem as long as you’re enrolled in school here. But, working here is a different thing. About 6 years ago when I was studying in France I contacted the European branch of an American company I had previously worked for back home. I was qualified and they said they would hire me, if I had the EU work permit. Well, I didn’t have one of course so I hoped they would sponsor one for me. But, they made it clear that they would only hire non-Europeans who ALREADY had the EU work permit. So how does one get an EU work permit -an employer has to sponsor one for you so it’s totally a catch 22. And most companies will only sponsor a visa for someone who has a specialized skill that locals don’t offer since sponsoring a visa is costly and time consuming for them. It’s much easier for them to just hire Europeans. And I imagine that companies in Barcelona will ask that the applicant is fluent in Catalan. Now I’m married to a Spaniard so the work permit mess is less of an issue for me. But, you never know -good luck with the seach and let us know if you find something. If it’s just that you want to experience living in Barcelona you might just want to sign up for some classes.
Thank you soooo much for your insights! I found it to be extremely helpful. Especially Roki’s. I really want to live and work in Spain to get live a different life. I feel that I am ready to start a new life in another culture, on the other side of the ocean. Money is not gonna be a big deal for me. I did know that earnings were not gonna be as much as in the U.S. but I really am looking for an experience more than anything. THanks Roki, for suggesting those companies for me. I will be starting to do more in depth research as to what American company I want to work for over there as the time progresses. My question is now, if I apply for an Amercan companie’s position, will they still have to sponsor me over there or is it done differently?
I did think of living in Madrid, but then I thought of Barcelona because of the opinions I got on this website’s forums. People stated that it is more expat friendly and its closer to the beaches. I do speak Spanish but will have to do what you said and carry a book around with me because I get stuck on some words.
