This video took me back to the years of my adolescence in the 90s. Marta Sánchez began to get really famous being the singer of Olé Olé. She substituted Vicky Larraz. Olé Olé was already a successful group but Marta made it even more successful. Afterward she went solo. In the video I mentioned Marta was singing for our soldiers in the 1st War in Irak.  She was definitely a product of her time. A true sex-symbol and popular singer. She had a few hits and it is definitely one of the top singers in the history of the Spanish pop. If you can read in Spanish and want to learn more about her I recommend you to have a look to La Fonoteca.

                                           Would you like to learn the Spanish language an culture more in depth? Then visit my website. 

One day while drinking beers with a friend he told me: in 5 years this country is going to be very different. I don´t know how but it is going to change a lot. It is said that we human beings change every 7 years. In the last 38 years since the dictator died the change has changed in ways that nobody could even imagine. It looks like this time change is going to be faster than usual… BUT HOW?

By now there is no doubt that the public doesn´t turn a blind eye to corruption anymore. In times of scarcity people have learned that there is not easy way. Before people tended to consider the party they supported as their football team, their tribe. Nowadays, albeit belatedly everybody has become aware that corruption is unacceptable no matter where it comes from.  Instead of meritocracy nepotism and corruption were in many cases the best way to progress in life.  Another unintended consequence of the disgraceful current state of affairs will be a more democratic country and a more accountable ruling class. People are more informed and organised than ever. Social and political awareness is growing although this could be said that it is happening in many countries already. The fact is that people are not going to let be foolled easily as before. This will reflect in a healthier democracy.

Sometime a weakness can become a strenght. It is no secret that Spain imports have declined alarmingly. A consequence of our weak internal market has been that we are getting better at exporting our goods abroad. We are learning to compete. This reminds me of our national team in football. We had always had the means to do something good in international competitions, this is great player, but the national team never knew how to compete internationally and then… bang… we learnt. This might be the case for our enterprises.

As a result of the alarmingly lack of jobs and the large number of qualified workers many of the finest are trying luck in foreign countries with different organitational schemmes and more advanced technology than that we have in the country. One possible outcome of that confluence of circumstances can be that the people that fled the country during the depression are going to come back with a precious knowledge that can contribute to the progress of the country.

I believe th shift of mentality will set the basis to have a fairer and more prosperous country. Right now we only see darkness. It is difficult it is going to be worse than this. Despite the price of the country´s mistakes has been very high what it is sure is that we will learn from our errors and then this bitter experience will have not been in vain. Afterall the sun rises when night ends.

An example is when mothers start to speak on behalf of their children without having the latter any chance to speak by themselves. It would go like this:

– Mum and 4 years child meet a mum’s work colleague.
– Work colleague say hi to both. When she talks to the child she starts to speak using strange noises. I guess her maternal instinct has arisen!
– Mum start to tell her daughter to say hi to the lady (command: ¡dí hola a la señora!). The way she speaks to the child is a mix between command and, may be this is kind of exaggerated, speaking to a retarded.
– Work colleague to child: what’s your name?
– Mum answer on behalf of her daughter using a strange voice: me llamo Marta (My name is Marta).
This is just a little example.

The good side of the way we educate in Spain is that children feel the affection. It is usual in most Western cultures to kiss and hug children. However, coming back to my experience in the UK, over there I perceived children don’t have as many chances to feel the affection of their parents. I guess this behaviour translates to adult men and women and this is why differences in cultures exist. Family is broader and more people look after you. Parents, grandparents and sometimes uncles and aunties. In other words, generally speaking, a child in Spain feels in a more direct manner the warm and the love of those who care about him/her what will be beneficial in later years. And that is beautiful.

I personally believe the perfect upbringing for children would be the right mix of both approaches: developing the independence of children by talking to them in a way they can increase their confidence and self-reliance while feeling assured that they are loved what again will have a positive impact in their confidence but also in the way they relate to other human beings.

It is true that the idea of family in Spain is broader than in other parts in Europe. In the village families gather again (cousins, uncles, grandfathers, etc.), people visit their old friends from their childhood and children go to play with their friends from the village freely. Being a city boy or girl going to the village means to discover odors, experiences, having adventures, new friendships, a different way of life. You are in the streets playing till late, coming back even at 12 or 1 am having fun and exciting adventures without having your parents watching you… the paradise. They go to the river to fish and collect crab, run with their bikes like crazy, go to the wood and have adventures in the country. Children in cities are counting the days to go to the pueblo. They will get memories that will go with them all their lives.

Teenagers run gather together till late, have the chance to have their first approaches to the other sex and some of them start to smoke furtively. There is freedom there! Their great moment is las fiestas (the village festival in honour of some saint or virgin) in summer. They are allowed to go wild, parents are lax with issues of alcohol, they have even more chances with the opposite sex as there are peñas (ad hoc places such as a patio with a hut or a garage where they gather and have an arsenal of drinks) where girls and boys alike can intimate and where they can invite to friends and relatives to have a drink. Where there are encierros (bull running) male youngsters seeking the excitement of running in front of a bull of 400-500 kilos .

For what I saw men and women play certain roles. Women cook and go out in the evening to sit by other neighbour door or by their own (so they can talk about their favorite topics, namely gossip, talk about their sons and how nicely they´re doing or lately, the biggest hit regarding topics to chat, la crisis, the fucking endless crisis), play cards with other women, or to have a stroll with other friends or the husband. Men work in the house of the family fixing or improving the property, go to “alternar”, this is going to the bars to drink or have tapas, meet people, talk with friends or people you know, to buy drinks to others or the other way round. The main topics are football, football, la crisis, the new car of some neighbor, las fiestas, the butt or boobs of some woman around and how they would screw her and so on, hangovers if there were any and the last feat the last night out.

Living abroad something which came to my attention is that in villages like mine children go out with their parents till relatively late (12 or 1 am). They play around with children from other couples. It is not widespread but not uncommon either. Spain has a culture where being out is an important part in the life of a Spaniard. This is a good example.

I am from a village myself and I must say that going back to my origins is always revitalizing. Everybody knows you and there is a feeling of belonging that I haven’t had anywhere else. In my village I have my roots, and no matter if one day I become prime minister I will always be the son of the butcher. I guess that most of the people look for something and this is why villages in Spain are what they are.

The credit spree previous to the crash affected people’s behavior and changed some healthy habits from our lifestyle. We were a country where people had a strong culture of going out to socialize in bars –we still are but in a much lesser extent-, happy to go on holiday to our own coast and not minding too much if their cars weren’t precisely the latest model. Due to economic growth, rise in employment and easy access to credit everybody, like in many parts in the developed world, got brand new cars, expensive houses and holidays abroad at the expense of the small luxuries the average Spaniard enjoyed daily.

The now! Current State of Affairs

Spain is a country with many shortcomings but with excellent assets. From my personal point of view pessimism, lack of self-belief and a too high level of unemployment is the biggest threat for the future of our nation. We have the talent, the people and the infrastructure. Our science has improved enormously in the last year. Unfortunately the country is not capable to make this research profitable. Some of our translational companies (we had none in the 80s!) are amongst the biggest in the world (Santander, BBVA, Ferrovial, Telefónica, Endesa and many more) Our road and train networks, ports and airports are world-class. We have one of the largest, if not the largest, high speed railway in the world. Our university has educated a good number of very capable professionals that our labour market is not able to absorb. Instead other nations are benefiting from this situation hiring many of these Spaniards who cannot develop their professional career in their homeland. I believe that if we could progress before it is not impossible to repeat it again. On 20^th November 2011 a new conservative government has been elected. It has received massive support. Regarding the colour of the current government I would like to recall to the words that Deng Xiaoping pronounced on one occasion: “doesn’t matter if a cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice”. Using bad words: I honestly don’t give a fuck about the colour of the government as long as this is able to harness all the good things the country have and it is capable of turning the tide.  We cannot be that bad. If we have the talent to win world championships in all sort of sports we must have it to save our own neck.

Perhaps, the best way to find out is watching a selection of videos from Youtube with English subtitles that I have specially made for the readers of Espain Is Different.

– Celebrities of the World (By the guys of the programme Muchachada Nui)

All the celebrities represented speak with a very particular village accent from the region of La Mancha.

Bono (U2)

Margaret Thatcher

Bjork

– Que Vida Mas Triste

Some guys from the Basque Country started to make amateur homour videos and uploading them on the Internet. Today they are famous. It is basically about loosers.

– Crackovia

Now, let’s go to the matter. If you read my introduction in “About”  I don’t give much information about myself. I will tell you that I live in the United Kingdom’s capital. As many capitals in many countries, London is a stressful and rough place in many ways. So, as you can imagine, people in here are not looking after you. I know generalizing is not good, but it is true that GENERALLY speaking one does not feel the warm of the people. London is a multicultural, multi-ethnic city where most of the people have time only to care about themselves (Remember I am only generalizing). Well, till here it is all normal.

But I live in a country called UK, in England more specifically. In London, it is normal that, till you don’t reach a certain stage (uni, professional jobs, etc.) you don’t meet English people. I have reached it now. I regard myself as a keen social observer. It is inevitable to draw comparisons about what you knew -where you come from- and what you are getting to know (England and its people). I must acknowledge that what I am going to write about as an outsider is based on a shallow and very superficial knowledge of the locals.

Conclusions: stereotypical? I don’t know but this is how I feel about the matter

I want to make clear that I don’t consider English people bad people, but they are definitely different to Spanish people (this blog is about Spain, isn’t it?). A way to understand the Spanish mindset and culture is putting it against others’ culture. We must never forget that these conclusions are constraint to the knowledge of a limited reality and geographical area which has not necessarily be representative of the whole. There we go!:

– English socializing ways against Spanish ones in the workplace: we, Spaniards are definitely more spontaneous than English people. In my workplace I noticed that within and, especially in the surrounding areas, when you walk and meet your colleagues (unless you work with them closely) in your way, they tend to look to avoid any eye contact or greeting. This is the case of my manager. She is a sweet girl but saying hello and looking at you when she meets you in her way is not one her strong points. Of course, she is not alone on this. This is why I regard this behaviour as an English people’s trait. Thanks God, there are exceptions … one of the guys in Print and Dispatch is always greeting me for my name (by the way, I someone told me people in England was like this till the 70s). This does not mean, we Spaniards, hug and kiss one another every time we meet one another, but at least we say hello or make a minimum gesture. We are definitely more informal in out social relationships. One feels the charm more easily. It is not uncommon to receive a pat from someone you don’t know really well. Let’s face it: we are more easy-going.

– English people are in their business, they are not intrusive. We are! I would like to repeat as many times as needed that generalizing is not good but this post is about perceptions.  Probably it is a consequence of the safety distance I wrote about but everyone being in their business and not putting their nose on others’ is a virtue from this blogger point of view. Spaniards tend to make comments about what you wear, what you should and what you shouldn’t do. This is remarkable family wise. Families in Spain are very supportive protective toward their offspring (this is something good and bad at the same time, but this is another debate) but also very, very intrusive. Because of that, parents and brothers use to claim special powers to influence ones life. I don’t know English people that well but I have the feeling this is not the case. I think the philosophy here is that you are in charge of your life so you need to learn to look after yourself.

– English socializing is too programmed, ours is more natural and spontaneous. I am opened to criticism. I don’t want to seem chauvinistic but after living in London for some years this is my perception. The best way to illustrate is thoughts is, of course, with examples.

Speaking to a fellow countrywoman the other day we came to the conclusion that any social gathering made by English people must be previously scheduled and arranged with sufficient time. Social gatherings here are quite “institutionalised”. She told me that, if the group she worked with (we work in an office) decided to having lunch,  this would be proposed by e-mail (in my group we do the same). In Spain this proposal would be done loud –Vamos a tal sitio. Os venis? ( We go to X place, wanna come?): no more hassle, easy!).

– Go and ask for a beer in UK and don’t mention a “please” and “thanks” or any of its variants and the waiter will kill you with his eyes. It sounds bloody rude! In Spain would be, ponme una caña! (put me a half-pint) and end of the story (I must clarify that this does not apply to all the people but to the the many). The waiter does not feel offended. In this regard, according to that reputed author called myself , the score is clear, England 1- Spain 0. Manners are never too much.

I guess the article could go on for hours. There is enough material to write an essay but my time is limited so the article is finished now! From now on I hope that I will be more regular writing on this blog but I don’t want to make promises that I may eventually break. I cannot help, I am a busy man.

The first region in this series is Galicia. Galicia has  given many important figures to the country. Probably, the most famous is Francisco Franco, the dictator who ruled the country for almost 40 years. It is not something to be proud of, but this is a fact. Galician people are famous for many reasons. A very large percentage of the Spanish emigration came from Galicia.

Galicians earned a reputation of being hard-workers who moved where necessary to seek fortune. Many of them succeeded in their enterprise and are wealthy business men. In Argentina, for instance, we Spaniards are called “Gallegos”. This was due to the large number of Galicians who emigrated to the South-American country in the 20th century. If I had to find example of similar kind of emigrants I can think of Polish today and Irish and Portuguese in the past. Where I am from, Castile, I heard from the elder that in the past Galicians came from their poor area to Castile to collect the harvest and that they were outstanding hard-workers. Let’s note that the richest man in Spain is Amancio Ortega, who owns Inditex and subsequently brands like Zara.

Galicians are also famous for speaking in a very honeyed way and answering questions with more questions. This is a very distinctive trait of Galician people. Franco was described as a very ambiguous person. The current leader of the opposition, the conservative Mariano Rajoy, is famous for his ambiguity -you don’t know if he is going or coming-.

Lately, Galicians are gaining a reputation for something not as nice, drug consumers and traffickers. The Galician Mafia uses to make business with the Colombian drug traffickers what has finally infested the Galician society. Sadly enough, they are renowned for this reason.

Finally they have one of the best culinary in a country where food is religion, especially their seafood.

Warming up the conversation with some beers and tapas

I found some interesting quotations which I would like to highlight:

“Spain is the place where, in my experience, the art of savoir vivre has attained the highest peak of refinement. Or, as the Spaniards themselves never tire of saying: “En España, se vive muy bien” – In Spain, one lives very well. Truly, it is remarkable how often I hear people say this. It is a cliché embedded in the national consciousness. Typically, once they have delivered themselves of what I have discovered to be their chief article of secular faith, the Spaniards will explain that they have travelled in other countries and that, enchanting as these might be, they lack Spain’s sheer quality of life. They will tell you this even if they have never set foot outside Spain.”

I entirely agree with it. We Spaniards blame and flagellate ourselves and regard our country as one far away from the level development of the most advanced countries. It is somehow a complex of inferiority. It is a contradiction that within Spain being nationalist -which is perfectly normal in countries like Britain or U.S.- is a reason to be ashamed for many in our society. However, when it comes to our lifestyle, everybody, if not most of the people, has the same perception: despite all our problems and regardless any negative circumstance something is crystal clear… there is no country on Earth where people live as well as in Spain. Right or wrong this is a self-perception.

A good example of this is my own mother. Sometimes when having a meal cooked by my mum this issue comes into conversation. She uses to tell that there is not better country to live than Spain and that is why swarms of foreigners -thinking of them in this context not as foreigners coming from poorer countries but the other way round- come to our country to stay. She mentions how often these foreigners confirm this perception saying that in Spain one lives very well. My dad and me ironically counter-argue saying that it she seems the only person who has a country and that there are many people happily living in their countries. But she is stubborn and sheer sticks to that belief.

It is true that these statements are arguable but I believe they reflect an element of truth. Most of the 45 M people living in the country thinking the same way cannot be very wrong.

Few years ago we were selling rifles to developing countries. Today most of the Spanish weaponry exports are directed to Europe. And the business is profitable. However, the military research is not seen with distrust by the rest of the Spanish scientific community. Spanish scientists see the industry as evil. This feeling aggravated in 1999 with the so-called “rebellion of the white coats”. It was found that 54% of the Spanish R&D money was devoted to military research. Some argue this should not be a problem since military technology can be applied for civil purposes as it has been shown throughout history. Some argue that this hostility is a product, among others, of the association between Fraquism and military R&D.

There is definitely a contradiction between the pacifist Spanish society -before the recession few applied for the Army- and her highly advanced and profitable miliary industry.

To learn more read this ARTICLE