Spanish customs: Culture shock or fascinating differences?
-
Loading... - James Hale
- 07 Nov 2022
- 58 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
The nice thing about living in another country is that after a while you start to look at your country of origin very differently. As accustomed as you were to the habits and customs of home, they appear differently after living in Spain for a few years.
InSpain.news takes a look at some of the key differences.
Eating habits
The Spanish time is the same as that of the rest of Europe, while the geographical time should be the same as that of the United Kingdom and Portugal. That is why the Spanish daily schedule can seem a bit strange to us northerners. Spaniards hardly have breakfast at home, go to work, and leave between ten and eleven o’clock for an extensive breakfast (el desayuno) with coffee in a bar around the corner. At the weekend, a glass of beer with a tapas follows around noon.
The extensive and warm lunch (la comida or el almuerzo) starts at two o’clock, which is followed around six o’clock by the merienda. This is often something sweet (bollería) or a sandwich to last until dinner (la cena), which is not served until ten o’clock in the evening. Children take their breakfast to school, where they eat it around half past ten, eleven. Many schools in Spain have ‘comedors’ that serve a hot lunch between two and three.
Little princes and princesses
Spaniards are passionate lovers of children. If you have small children, don’t be surprised if all your contact with adult Spaniards goes through your offspring first. The expression ¡aiii qué guapo/a! (oh what a handsome guy) is therefore indispensable in any conversation. Don’t be surprised if during a restaurant visit your baby or toddler is snatched from your hands by the camarero/a to show to the kitchen staff. Gifts for children at Christmas and especially with Epiphany are bigger than parents would ever buy for themselves. The positive thing for people with children is that little ones are accepted everywhere; they can, and may, be very noisy.
In Spain, no one is surprised by children playing tag in a restaurant. There is a playground in every hamlet or district where watching parents can almost always go to a kiosk for drinks and refreshments. You can also see children accompanying their partying parents until late at night at parties, ferias or other occasions. The average bedtime for children is around 10pm during the week. During the summer and weekends, it can be later than midnight.
Mañana and punctuality
A Spaniard usually does not arrive on time. If you meet at eleven o’clock, it can also be twelve o’clock or later. Professionals who come by for a repair often only give the indication por la mañana (in the morning) or por la tarde (in the afternoon). Also keep in mind that the mañana lasts from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the tarde from about 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., given the different working hours in the country. If someone promises you to solve something mañana, don’t take it literally as ‘tomorrow’. Sometimes a Spaniard really means tomorrow, but more often it means ‘later’, with no indication of how much later exactly. The only thing you can be sure of is that it isn’t today. Patience is a virtue in this respect. Read More…
