Hello Danielle, thanks for your video. I'm Spanish. I have worked not just in Spain but in Britain, in France. I have also worked with Americans. This is my opinion: French people have the 35 hours a week law. What they do is working 40 hours a week and with the excess of 5 hours a week they accumulate in a holidays bank. That equals 5x4x11 = 220 hours of additional holidays a year. That makes 220 hours/8= 27,5 additional days of holiidays. Then they take their 1 month holidays in summer, plus the 27,5 additional days accross all the year. British people work more, but they always finish at 17:00h no matter what. If they have to deliver something if it's 17h they go home. I have seen it. No joke about it. American people stay more in the office. I have seen many people leaving at 20:00h everyday. But the key here is that they stay in the office longer hours but many times they are just wasting the time, speaking, etc. Now, about Spain: We work 40 hours every week. We have 22 days of holidays plus the bank holidays. Bank holidas may change from one location to other, but for instance in Madrid, there are 12 bank holidays across the year for 2025. Out daily schedule is from 09:00h to 19:00h. Counting 1 hour for lunch. There is usually flexible schedule, so you can start at 08:00h and finish 1 hours earlier, 18:00h. Or you can start at 09:30 and finish at 19:30h. Now this is the most spread timetable I have experienced. There are shops that start at 10:00h close at 14:00 to go home and have lunch and back at 17:00h. This is so because many store owners may have their homes quite far from the shop. And this is the reason why may foreigners see closed shops thinking all businesses are the same, when it is not. Of course there are other exceptions: Sales people can be driving visiting customers and they can start not that soon as many customers do not what to be visited by sales people early but this sales people can finish at 21:00h easily. Just to make the losng story short: We Spanish people work maybe more than most of the foreigners I have worked with, but it is very convienient to spread this bad image, so International Companies will not want to invest in Spain but in their countries. The same goes with the Debt Acquisition. Thanks for your channel Danniel and cheers!!!
Since 2004 Spanish workers are the ones that increased more its productivity in the world; specially after 2008 crisis that destroyed low value-high paid jobs.
kinda, the more you study history the more you realize the conquistadors were not "that" cruel, building universities, roads, cities, recolecting every language they came across... I mean no "that" bad compared with other empires
@@Nigridal yo también soy español e igual eso que dices, es una fase intermedia. Hay que hacerse un poquito más mayor. Pero no te preocupes, no hay que hacer nada, solo dejar pasar un poco más el tiempo.
Believe me, as a Spaniard, I learned from experience, time and history that Spain was and still is bullied internationally due to historical and present stereotypes. Like Merkel said: the Spanish have too many vacations... and nevertheless per Capita the Spanish work more hours than the germans, but of course then comes the justification: well, it's because you Spaniards are so improductive... It's like they believed illustration, science and industrialization never came to the inquisitorial, backwards Spain. We had astronomers, biologists, physicists, philosophers, inventors, engineers... they just weren't famous because they were Spanish... Many people just don't understand our culture because, despite being European, is very different from Europe, specially from protestant countries where work is the most important thing in life. Here in Spain the most important thing in life is life itself. You can call us lazy people, but we know how to enjoy life and family.
De que hablas tú?? Nadie ha dicho nada de eso! España ha sido una potencia como pocas en el mundo. Durante el siglo pasado hemos sido la 8º POTENCIA en el mundo y ahora creo que es el 13 país en el mundo. Con todo lo que eso implica. Solo el 8% del planeta son paises avanzados, y entre ese 8% España está entre el 5% mejor en términos económicos. En cuando en calidad de vida está entre el 3% mejor
Sí que me creo lo de la improductividad, que muchos españoles son vagos y lo de que tenemos muchos días no laborales. Y aunque supuestamente muchos inventos han sido hechos por españoles como idea, luego al hacerlos o comerciarlos españa no lo ha hecho
@@Atreas1845 España no esta ni entre los 20 paises con mas fuerza económica del mundo, mucho tiene que ver que seamos una población pequeña comparado con otros paises que incluso siendo mas pobres, son mas potentes económicamente, Méjico por ejemplo, enEconomia España es la 5 economia de europa, tambien somos el 5 pais en tamaño de poblacion, España tienen una economia cerca de paises como Corea del Sur, y una renta per capita parecida a la de Japon
Me hace gracia lo de que los españoles no trabajamos,tengo casi 60 años he trabajado y conocido personas de toda europa,desde Portugal hasta Polonia,pasando por Francia,Italia,Alemania,algún canadiense,belga y algún israelí,y te aseguro 100% que siempre,siempre,en todas mis experiencias los que sacaban adelante el trabajo,los que daban un paso adelante y se ponían al cargo del trabajo para planificar,y ejecutar los trabajos siempre 95% de ocasiones eran españoles,siempre era un español el que daba la cara y decía como y cuando había que hacer las cosas,lo he vivido decenas de veces.
The black legend has done a lot of damage. I recommend that you read Elvira Roca, where she explains how the Anglo-Saxons have used lies to degrade Spain.
Es parte de la leyenda negra. Otra manera de devaluar a los españoles. Creo que viene por la siesta en verano en el campo pero la gente no entiende que se levantan antes del amanecer y parar en las horas de más calor para volver a trabajar por la tarde cuando el sol no castiga. En España mueren todos los veranos trabajadores por el calor pero de eso no se habla.
Eso tiene mucho que ver con el complejo de inferioridad que arrastramos por la dictadura. Durante décadas fuimos los últimos de Europa en todo, y ahora cuando estamos en cualquier escenario internacional sobrecompensamos porque en algún lugar del subconsciente seguimos creyendo que tenemos que demostrar que somos tan capaces como los demás.
@@jal051Hay mucho complejo de inferioridad, pero no precisamente por ninguna dictadura, sino por esnobismo y papanatismo. Seguimos siendo los últimos en todo. Cuando Europa avanza algunos españoles se empeñan en volver a los años 30.
@jal051 no hablo complejo de nada ni compensar nada,hablo de mi experiencia de más de 30 años y de que siempre en mi experiencia son los españoles los que dan el paso porque no hay ni un francés,alemán,o de donde sea que tenga el desparpajo y diga,venga coño esto se hace así y así,lo he visto muchas veces,somos así,somos gente de sangre caliente que no nos acojonamos.
Hi, Danielle. Spaniard here. But I'm currently living in Japan, and I've also lived in Germany and the UK before. Even in the US for an entire summer when I was a child (my mother is from Miami). I've had to deal with my fair share of stereotypes, both of Spaniards and other countries. So here are my two cents. 1.- Work/Life balance: This stereotype is largely based on religion. As in, good old "Protestants versus Catholics". You will learn a lot, and I mean A LOT of negative stereotypes that Southen and Nothern Europeans have of each other come from this divide. I would encourage you to research this for yourself, because it's a really deep rabbit hole. Short version: Protestantism, particularly Calvinism, puts work as THE most important thing in existence, as well as the main sign of whether will you go to Heaven or not. That's why work until literally* your dying breath is seen as a virtue. That has had an extremely deep impact in the culture of countries from a Protestant background, the United States among them, even for the lives of non-believers. In Catholic cultures, though, although working hard is A virtue, it is not the end all, be all. Hence why they are more lenient. 2.- Being always late. This is an extension of the previous point. Time is of the utmost importance when it comes to work, so of course it also got this almost mythological quality to it. Your experiences in the Netherlands, one of THE most Protestant countries of all time, is a good example of that. That being said, as other people have already pointed out, our tendency to arrive late is strictly for non-formal situations and with people you have a personal relationship with: visiting family, hanging out with friends, etc. In formal situations, such as going for work, coming to an appointment, etc, you absolutely need to be on time. Maybe in you work you can get away with being 5 minutes late every once in a while, but that's pretty much it. 3.- About food. We don't have any problems with foreigners preparing our food... as long as they do it the proper way. Are you an American who wants to cut jamón serrano with a cuchillo jamonero? Knock yourself out! Do you want to prepare fabada asturiana with its proper ingredients? Fantastic! You want to prepare lentejas con chorizo? Save some for me, please! Now then... If you say you want to prepare paella and you add chorizo... Then you will get some nasty looks. lol On the flip side, you will be dragged to our own discussions. Do you want to prepare tortilla de patatas? Then be prepared to defend your stance on whether do you like it with onion or not. lol I'll be looking forward to your journey. Just keep in mind one thing, though: a year and a half is not enough to really know a country. After living in four different countries, I'd say you need to spend between 3 and 5 years there to actually STARTING to really understand a country you've never lived in before, since there are too many nuances that you won't pick up until multiple interactions with the same people. For instance, in time, if you dig deep enough, you will understand why people from Madrid told you that about Catalans. That's not to say you will see "how it is true" (I personally think it's not, and I'm from Madrid), but you will understand where it comes from (long story short: politics. But that's a story for another day). Fortunately, I see you have the right attitude. You are curious and eager to learn. And only good things will come out of that. *I didn't put that "literally" there just for emphasis. Some sects of Protestantism literally suggested that you should die while working in order to have a guaranteed pass to Heaven and not rotting in Hell. This was specially weaponized in the UK during the Industrial Revolution, but that's also a story for another day.
RENFE (Spanish train company) has a punctuality rate of 91% compared to Germany's 70%, according to the European Commission. USA trains.. 30% AIRCRAFT: In January 2024, 87.3 percent of the 14,152 flights operated by IBERIA arrived on time, which has allowed it to place first in the world punctuality ranking. USA is more unpunctual
There are many companies in Spain who work really good. RENFE and ADIF are not among them. I go to the office one per week using RENFE. Every single time there is a delay or problem of any type (Like they don't announce the track until the last second). If there is no problem when I go to to work, it will happen when I return. Is probably the worst company in the whole country.
I find it quite funny that a french says that spanish (or any other europeans) works little. France is probably the country in Europe where people work less hours.
The "Being late" varies a lot from place to place and from people to people. Im Spanish and Im extremely puntual and expect people to show up by the exact time we agreed upon. If you arent meeting at the exact time I usually let them know in advance i'll be 10 minutes late or more due to X or Y so they dont have to be there waiting. Also the timing goes with people. You are more flexible with friends, sometimes they are late sometimes it might be you so you "forgive them" if they are 5 minutes late or so (which still pisses me off a bit but yeah). Then you have more formal meetings where you tend to be there earlier or just on point (Work, Dates etc). A Basque is more puntual than someone from lets say Andalucia, yet in those regions it depends on the person as they might be people from Andalucia extremely puntual and people in the Basque country which show up late.
RENFE (Spanish train company) has a punctuality rate of 91% compared to Germany's 70%, according to the European Commission. US trains.. 30% AIRCRAFT: In January 2024, 87.3 percent of the 14,152 flights operated by IBERIA arrived on time, which has allowed it to place first in the world punctuality ranking.
@@Atreas1845 German trains are bad when it comes to punctuality, but the Germans would be the first ones to tell you. But yeah, I'm always shocked when I see people complaining about Renfe's punctuality. They are actually pretty good at that.
¿Acaso te crees que en Andalucia no tenemos donde mirar la hora o que?. Aqui somos tan puntuales... O NO.. como cualquier otra persona del pais. Hablando de los estereotipos.....
@@Floren_Andro No te preocupes. Yo soy asturiano y presto atención a no ser nunca el primero en llegar. Uno de mis amigos me lo pone difícil porque llega siempre 20 minutos tarde como mínimo. Hasta los 45 minutos no empiezo a preocuparme.
Hi! Here’s a comment from a super punctual Spaniard who’s usually 10 minutes early. Generally, I think most Spaniards follow this unspoken rule of a 10-15 minute grace period. Like, if you’ve arranged to meet at 2:00 PM and show up at 2:15, it’s not really considered late, and you don’t have to over-explain yourself. In business settings, this grace period shrinks to about 5 minutes, but being late isn’t really acceptable, so people try to be much more punctual. Now, when it comes to meeting up with friends, it’s a whole different story. Honestly, it’s easier to adapt to someone than to try to change them. When you’ve got friends, you know exactly who’s going to show up on time and who might roll in up to 2 hours late. And honestly, there’s no point getting mad about it, because you know they’re not late on purpose or with bad intentions-they’re just people who think they have time to do a million things and end up mismanaging it. Some people even tell those friends a different meeting time, like 30 minutes earlier than everyone else, so they actually show up on time. Anyway, I think Spaniards just have a more relaxed view of time. It’s not unusual that, when you make plans with someone, you say the meeting is “between 6:00 and 6:30” instead of giving a specific time. I know I’m not speaking for all Spaniards, but this is my experience, and I do think it’s a pretty general and widely shared perspective. I hope this helped clarify our view of time a little. I hope your stay in Spain continues to be amazing-I really enjoy your videos and look forward to watching them for a long time!
Spaniard here working healthcare. I work a lot and as much as I can. My coleages too. We have a very efficient healthcare system, but that IS not praised or even mentioned. The problem with Spanish firms and institutions IS the lack of innovation, so new technologies and structures take a lot to seep in. So productivity stays low, and always catching up. Even so, most people don't know for example that Spain has one of the most digitally integrated healthcare system in the world, much better than the USA and even better than other European countries like France. But we are seen as lazy by some ignorants. Ok.
A mí una cosa que no me gusta de la sanidad pública española es que cuando uno va a otra ccaa, queno es la suya, esa ccaa no puede acceder a mi historial médico. Ahora está saliendo un caso de corrupción estatal . Es dinero para investigación que se ha invertido en otras cosas
For an American, having health insurance like the Spanish one, without co-payments, without deductibles, without pre-existing diseases, is a dream only for a few rich people, because the cost would be more than $3,000 a month, and even then you are never sure that a lawyer will call you to tell you that you are not covered by a clause in your contract, and that you are going to be ruined for life.
@@Atreas1845 we are covered for anything, anytime. We do not pay a dime other than our taxes which I assure you, is NOT in the same order of magnitude of an equivalent private insurance in the US. Closer to ten times less. Medicaments are mostly subsidized, so we just pay a tiny fraction of it. Example: insulin price per month: minimum income and unemployed 0€/month, the rest, 10% of price, with tops for pensionists. Under 18000€ income, 8,23€/month, between 18000€ and 100000€ income, 18,52€/month, over 100000€ income, 61,75€/month. It blows my mind that the US doesn’t have universal HC. Even if you do not consider the sheer inhumanity of letting people die or bankrupt themselves for easily avoidable causes, it is a lot (and I mean a LOT) less costly and ineffective to have universal HC. Setting aside basic human decency, it’s simple common sense and economics! Your HC insurance companies are robbing you. And killing you.
Que lo diga un francés es curioso. La fábrica de Citroen (actual Stellantis) en Vigo les da 1000 vueltas a cualquiera del mismo grupo, a cualquiera. España lidera la productividad automovilística en Europa con 15,5 vehículos por empleado al año, triplicando la media europea. Has leíodo bien. TRI-PLI-CAN-DO. La productividad española supera claramente la de las plantas francesas (10,6 coches por trabajador) alemanas (6,4) o italianas (5,7) y sólo países como Eslovenia (13,2), Eslovaquia (12,8) o los Países Bajos (11,9) se le acercan ligeramente. España fabricó más de dos millones y cuarto de vehículos usando únicamente 16 fábricas, incluyendo las de montaje y, también, las de componentes como motores y cajas de cambios propiedad de los fabricantes (no se incluyen las de proveedores). En Alemania hay 41 plantas en funcionamiento, 30 en Francia y Gran Bretaña y 22 en Italia, por ejemplo. En Europa, solo Alemania supera a España en producción con 3,8 millones de vehículos. Otros países de larga tradición como Francia (1,35 millones) o Italia (0,8 millones) quedan por debajo de España. Cuando te respondan con tópicos, pon datos en la mesa.
Well, a good example in my case are churros in America. Filled or sugared churros are a sin :) And having churros as a dessert, is a crime :) You can add sugar to your churros, but you never buy them with sugar (nor fillings of any type). And you eat them for breakfast or merienda. Another thing is those foreigners that add chorizo to the paella. In the UK they even have a paella sandwich. They should be imprisoned for that :D
No seas más papista que el Papa. Los churros con azúcar y rellenos se hacen también en España y son muy populares. Y comerlos no tiene nada de malo. No confundas a la muchacha. Como mucho, los churros rellenos, o "porras", se comen solos, sin chocolate caliente. Lo del chorizo en la paella ya sí que es para mear y no echar gota. Jaja
@@XanderVJ vamos a ver, en primer lugar, hablo de "mi caso", y como comprenderás me puede parecer un sacrilegio lo de los churros con azúcar o rellenos. Es asunto mio, no tuyo. Segundo: que se vendan o no rellenos o con azúcar, no implica que sea lo normal en el consumo español de churros ni es lo que normalemente se vende en churrerías ., eso lo sabe cualquiera que viva en España. No confundas tú a la chica.
@@MCoelloFNo me salgas ahora con esas. Los churros azucarados y las porras rellenas se encuentran en la gran mayoría de churrerías españolas. Yo siempre las pillaba sobre todo en las que van en puestos ambulantes de la calle, que son habituales en invierno. Lo más habitual es comprar los tradicionales, por supuesto, pero esas opciones siempre están ahí como alternativa. Los únicos sitios donde tienen churros tradicionales y nada más son en sitios que no son churrerías en sí, como bares y cafeterías. Y eso por la opción de chocolate caliente más churros.
Hello again Danielle, just for your info as an example: The UK tried to build a Railways High Speed Line. The project was called HS2. The project had to be stopped because the british people were not keen on working many hours over this project, in outdoors, etc. How many kilometers of High Speed Lines (abover 300 kilometers per hour) the UK has? Zero. How many kilometers of high speed lines does Spain have? More than 3 thousand kilometers. Just behind China which is the leader in this field. And believe me, building a high speed line is something where you have to invest a massive load of work.
It is not just the longest high speed network of Europe, it is by far the cheapest per km, despite an extremelly uneven country. And despite some corrupt infrastructure ministers, just google Abalos and Jessica
No suelo comentar vídeos, pero últimamente me he enganchado a este canal y me resulta muy divertido. Tienes mucha soltura y comentas de una forma muy afable y expresiva los contrastes culturales entre culturas. Como español me parece muy gracioso e interesante saber cómo somos desde tu punto de vista. Estoy aprendiendo mucho de nosotros mismos (también aprendo inglés nivel hard, por lo rápido que hablas 😅) Gracias por tus vídeos y enhorabuena!!
Mi padre me inculcó tu 5 minutos antes es tarde 😂😂 Siempre intento llegar puntual, tanto para el trabajo (5 minutos antes) como para quedar con la familia y amigos. Ahora, yo salgo a las 13:30 h y a las 20:30 h por lo que me verás en la puerta de la tienda cerrando la persiana justo a esas horas. También soy muy mía con las horas de trabajo. Con los amigos, tenemos un amigo que siempre, siempre, siempre llega tarde... 30 minutos para ser exactos. Al final, lo que acabamos haciendo fue decirle que quedábamos media hora antes y así nos llegaba a tiempo. Hasta que nos falló. Un día decidió llegar a la hora que le habíamos dicho (supongo que te habrás dado cuenta que todo mi grupo de amigos somos puntuales y nos recriminamos llegar tarde) y tuvo que esperar veinticinco minutos. No le gustó y nos lo dijo. Una amiga le contestó que eso lo llevábamos aguantando desde que lo conocíamos, así que dejara de quejarse o se iba a enterar de lo que vale un peine. 😂
Como español, somos muy puntuales para el trabajo, pero ya menos para las citas informales (con amigos, familiares, etc.) Personalmente es algo que me molesta mucho, ya que intento ser puntual y esto me lleva un esfuerzo, algo que parece no entender la gente. Para mí, es una falta de consideración más que una falta de educación, aunque no sé que es lo que es peor
@@victorv3814 Eso es incierto. Es una generalización tan inexacta como la que afecta a todos los españoles. Si te parece mal una, te debería parecer mal la otra. Y antes de que empieces a echar veneno por la boca, no, no soy funcionario ni tengo lazos con funcionarios o empleados públicos.
@@edbardof7941 Es una generalización. No implica que todos los funcionarios lleguen tarde. Implica que un número desproporcionado de ellos, frente a trabajadores del sector privado, lo hacen. Saludos a Pedro.
I'm thankful hearing that you also found it strange that fast food is kinda popular in Spain, I have many friends that don't mind eating it regularly when going out and I'm always opposing it. On why we don't research food I'd say it is because we don't have the feeling you described from Americans on researching everything you want to talk about, you can ask about "cuñados" to some spanish to get how different that is, though I also get that food takes such a central place on everyone's life and is at the same time different at each one's home that there is not sth right or wrong about how you talk about it, you just tell your personal approach. All of the rest you described i feel the same about it, I love hearing how you perceive different cultures, clearly you enjoy looking for the differences and understanding the people. Great video as always!
We'd rather work to live than live to work. And yeah, people being late drives me nuts. About food, we are just proud about the great things we have here and enjoy the fact that others enjoy it too.
The US and the rest of the English-speaking world have always tried to make Spain look bad because we were historical enemies. Spain was the one that discovered America, and began to develop cartography, maps, cities, and the English came to steal all their efforts. Now the English are in total decline. Karma does its work. The US population has been isolated, as China does with its inhabitants, so that they believe themselves to be better than the world. This, together with the fact that they do not have much culture, and have not traveled much to Europe, makes them think they are better. The trick they use is to MANIPULATE THE EVALUATION CRITERIA (political trick) to give importance to the evaluation CRITERIA where they get the best grades (in a liberal capitalist system, you have to dedicate your life to your professional life, live for your work, and for that, your punctuality, speed, efficiency are important) In a more socialist system like the European one, we value more criteria like personal life, family environment, honesty, kindness, food, human relations, quality time. We have other criteria to evaluate what is good in a society. And in those terms, the US and other more liberal countries, like the United Kingdom, perhaps Holland, are very backward. In addition, their model does not work, and it is sinking. The US and the United Kingdom have nothing to do with what they were 30 years ago. We must not fall into what small countries with little personality have fallen into (some Nordic countries try to copy the criteria of the USA) www.rtve.es/play/videos/espana-estuvo-alli/espana-estuvo-alli-ayuda-espanola-guerra-independencia-americana/2590058/ Here the US ambassador himself explains that without the help of Spain the USA would not exist as a country. At minute 22;45
The "being always late" is more like a situational cultural sign. In general, people have a way more relaxed way of enjoying free time or time with friends than in most other countries. I see many cases of foreigners being like: let's meet at 12 for lunch, finish at 12:30, go to this museum from 13:30 til 16 and then home. In Spain the general attitude is more being with people without a real plan or purpose other than the company, so in general schedules aren't that tight, you just meet somewhere and that's it, it's actually worse perceived if you have to leave early than if you arrive late. Again this is mostly for hangouts and friends gatherings, when you meet for a movie, for work, for whatever that requires a fixed time, people are expected to be punctual. I don't think it's about not respecting each others time, it's about people not caring about what time it is when being with you. This attitude was (and is) very common in small cities/towns and rural areas, and it's losing a bit in bigger cities, probably because the busier your life, the more value you give to your own time, while in the other extreme a village or small town the plan is usually "I'll go to bar after dinner, and you don't even text or call your friend unless they are 1-2h late, cause your whole plan for the night is just be at that specific bar anyways, you're not sacrificing anything.
I'm spaniard so I'm gonna leave some thoughts here as I watch this video -The thing with being late mostly depends on 2 factors: The seriousness/formality of the situation, and the duration of what you're gonna do. On serious situations, we might still be late, but the thing that happens in Spain is that the people who host the "meeting", or the "event", or whatever thing is going on, always concede 5/10 "minutes of courtesy". It's a very brief period of time that's given in case people have some kind of trouble getting to the place, like traffic or something, for them to reach the place. But if you arrive later than 10 minutes in a formal situation you are considered rude. When it comes to unserious events, it's just not a big deal, specially depending on the second factor: Duration. So... If you're gonna hang out with someone for like... A few hours... Is it really that much of a big deal if you're 10-20 minutes late? And well, there's actually a third factor: number of people you're meeting. If you're late and you only hang out with one person or 2 people, then yeah, you're rude. However, if you're late to a party with several people, those people can start the party without you, so being late isn't really an issue at all -Now, let's talk about food culture. I'm from the spanish region of Valencia, where paella is from, and you definitely hit a nerve when you mentioned paella. This is a hot topic even in Spain itself. People who aren't from Valencia are usually bad at cooking paella, and we valencians can even get mad with people from other regions, because it's a very important thing to us. Basically, whether we're gonna get mad or not depends on your accuracy cooking it. If a foreign person uploads a video "cooking paella" and it's not accurate, we're gonna be offended. Paella is made in a special cauldron called "paellón". If you cook paella on something that's very different to a paellón, odds are you're not cooking actual paella. If the set of ingredients is very different from what we use, it's not paella (we jokingly call that "rice with stuff"). If it takes you less than an hour to cook it, it's surely not paella. If you put the rice in right from the start, it's not paella. In the process of cooking paella, the rice is the last thing you add. If you don't use olive oil, you could hardly call it paella. If you use butter, it's not paella -The thing with Five Guys and other food chains, is that when the restaurants started to open here, it was exotic. For you guys, american food is a very... Regular, common thing. So of course you're not gonna consider it that good. For us, it's different, it's exotic. And those corporations capitalize on that, and they base their marketing strategies on that fact, so of course it's gonna feel very different. I can cook tortilla de patatas at home, and it's very normal for me, and not special. However, if I were to open a tortilla de patatas restaurant on Los Angeles, it would probably be considered sort of a special thing, because it would be exotic for you guys
In Spain even the simple tortilla de patatas brings to huge discussions. With onion or not? Well done or a little juicy inside? And about paella... About the vermouth topic, yes it is a drink but it is more than a drink. Having a vermouth in Spain doesn't mean just drinking it, it is about all the things that accompany it. From those tapas to the company (we rarely have a vermouth alone). That's why it is reserved mostly for noon: you're not that hungry for lunch but with the beverage you also get those little snacks that keep you nice until lunch time. About punctuality...we accept arriving late a certain amount of minutes but just it, more than 5/10 minutes...you need to have a good excuse. But on the opposite side, we find arriving too soon as rude as arriving too late. It feels like forcing people to rush. 5 p.m. is that: 5 p.m. not ten past five but also not ten to five.
Spaniard here 1. Work Culture. Employees are paid to do their best 40h/week. The Company/Project belongs to the owners. It’s their life. Let them do whatever it takes to make it work. Like hiring more employees. We work by the hour for the owners and want to go back to our lives asap. 2. Lateness. True. Hard to explain it here. Let’s say we are chill and flexible and we find it very convenient we are treated nicely when we are the ones being late. 3. Food. Fast Food is just easy and fast. We sometimes feel like eating something different. It’s guilty pleasure as well.
In Spain... You just aren't as punctual when you go out partying as you are when you go to work. You have to remember that people here value their free time. It doesn't make sense to be on a break and be stressed out about being late for a few beers... It's also not the same to be late when you meet up with just one person as when you meet up with a group.
When it comes to dealing with lazy mindset stereotypes, I always say that most people view work as something you have to overdo it and when they rest, they feel guilt for resting. Thats why most peoplewhen they have a day off, they are filled with selfloathing feelings and drink themselves until they are numb. Work to live a fun life, not live to work. Resting helps yoube more efficient as well.
@nutriaball Hace muchos años en Castellón me la ponían con guisantes. Luego el cocinero, que se llamaba Fernando, pasó a llamarse Ferran y empezó a decir chorradas. Yo le sigo echando cebolla y guisantes, la preparo en una paellera (como dice el diccionario) y tan a gusto. Ah y la paella valenciana con chorizo en el sofrito está buenísima, a todos mis invitados les encanta.
Hi, Danielle, enjoying your videos! My son has lived in Madrid for 11 years. About the time thing, yes, Spaniards don't value time the same way other cultures do. But different parts of the US has differing sense of punctuality. I'm from DC and was always 20 minutes early, then moved to Seattle where everyone is 20 minutes late. It took me 10 years to slow down to being comfortable to just being on time. Also, I was used to shaking hands to greet people and Seattleites hug. I'm still very awkward with the European air kiss on both cheeks.
About the first one. Usual business/office hours are 9:19, with 1h for lunch, that is usually filled with business meetings. Considet that spain is at least 1h west to europe so is like 8:18 everyhwhere else. Plus, in real business world, nobody stops at 19. Many people keeps working till 21 or 22 (yeah, dinner time), specially in consulting. Considering how many people (specially young) works in "consulting", means external, nowadays, I am surprised foreigners dare to talk about it. When I worked with other euros, they stop at 17. Even in top consulting. they just stop. With americans the same, i remembwr that by 5 there was nobody in the office and we will push the indians to 19 at least for dinner, and then a bit more till 22 or 23. And back to the office at 8. Whoever thinks spaniards are "sleeping" never really worked a real environment here. Same happen for mexicans or asians. Works crazy hours, receive shit pay.
Hola Danielle, Acerca de llegar tarde. Puede ser una tendencia, pero en muchos aspectos no es así. Por ejemplo en el trabajo, generalmente la mayoría de la gente que trabaja empieza puntual, la mayoría de establecimientos abren puntualmente. Otra cosa es el tiempo libre cuando la cosa está más relajada, y no hay la presión del tiempo, pues a veces pasa eso, que no se mira tanto la puntualidad. Y acerca de la comida, concuerdo contigo, la comida española es genial, pero aun así y todo estamos muy influenciados por la cultura estadounidense del McDonals, KFK, la Coca Cola, etc. y la gente cuando sale a tomar algo rápido, no mira su salud, sino su estómago... Saludos
Time is relative to the alternative uses of the other person's time. If the others are among friends, no problem. On most occasions punctuality is showing respect, yes, in Spain. I do not like to be made to wait. You just expect the late one to apologize, but I do not form a permanent oppinion on someone based on it.
Regarding the tardiness....yes it is true, it's part of our culture if you are going to the theatre at 19hr you meet with everybody at 17hr because we NEED to talk to each other before the event and that allows for people arriving late, this has become a justification to be in the vicinity of two hours late every time, and as a spaniard... it's frustrating. I decided to go the other way and be in time everywhere and it's a pain, because I've gotten very frustrated around so much people
I think you all take things waaaay too serious. In Catalonia, we have the stereotype that we're stingy; in Andalucia, that they sleep al the time, etc. But we live in a society that it's normal to "give and take", to call a friend moron and go for a beer, or even get into a literal fight and go later to drink like friends. We don't take offense easy, because is a mutual understanding. ANOTHER THING is if you know that the other person who says those things is not from the same social standing and trully says that to hurt or cause harm. Another situation is, if that comment is about a stereotype of the society or country, or if it's directed personally at you. It's not the same to say "Hey! They say Spaniards are lazy" (and we can thing, you're crazy people with guns) or to say "Hey! You must be lazy because you're Spaniard", that's personal. About being late... It's true xD Usually, what happens is that if you usually go out with friends, and there's people who always arrives 15 min late (normally we say something to the others), you just make plans knowing beforehand that this happens, no drama. We're relaxed people and we value waaaay more the quality time that we spend with this person, that take offense for being 5 minutes late. At least to social meetings. If it's about work or something serious/formal, that's just rude, and you must have an excuse. About the food... I have to say, that all those things about "cultural appropiation" it's just american/english people going NUTS. Wtf is cultural appropiation? It's just crazy people talk, people so rich and so void of selfsteem that have to create monsters to fight and feel important. That being said: We just feel proud if other people value our dishes. Even if you make your own version of the dish, because you just have other tastes or preferences, no big deal. Here, even between families, the recipes can change A LOT (no drama). ANOTHER THING, is if you disgrace a recipe, make a frankestein of it, and YOU DARE to call that this abomination is the dish or a version. You can't call a "paella valenciana" a f... dish of rice with chorizo, like you can call a "caesar salad" a "chiken with broccoli", that is when we're going to CRUSADE you. xD
Yo no llego tarde, pero si alguien queda conmigo y llega tarde imagino que es porque estaba trabajando y no se pueden dejar las cosas de cualquier manera.
RENFE (Spanish train company) has a punctuality rate of 91% compared to Germany's 70%, according to the European Commission. USA trains.. 30% AIRCRAFT: In January 2024, 87.3 percent of the 14,152 flights operated by IBERIA arrived on time, which has allowed it to place first in the world punctuality ranking. USA is more unpunctual
Yo creo que para las quedadas informales decimos la hora para mas o menos estar en el lugar y está bastante normalizado que alguien pueda llegar 5-10 min tarde xD
We may seem lazy in the summer when we are on vacation. In the summer we take naps that we couldn't take the rest of the year. Tardiness must be punished, I am punctual and if I notice that the person does not respect my time, I advance the appointment time thinking about their tardiness. Food is a religion, it is better not to touch that topic, just respect it. I would drink vermouth at all hours but I don't dare.
@@Atreas1845 la siesta la duerme todo el que puede. Pero no todos pueden. Ni todos la necesitan porque no todas las personas tienen los mismos ritmos circadianos.
About the food thing. The general sentiment is that we don't mind people doing our traditional dishes as long as they respect it. If an American would try to cook Paella, it would be fine as long as they try to make it how it is supposed to be. But then, do a different dish and call it Paella? Hell no. That's insulting. Paella is not the best example since every house does Paella differently, and Valencian people do not particularly enjoy the rest of the Spanish people using the word for “rice with things.” But you get the point. We are mostly proud of the culture around our food, the quality of ingredients, the variety of dishes, and how healthy and tasty they are. We get offended when a British generally calls our food terrible, not so much when they say they tasted Jamón and didn't like it.
About time, It is relative, if some group of friends meet for having a drink in a bar, it doesn't care if you reach 10 minutes late, if It is for a dinner that is different, in my case is because of work, I work so much that I can't arrive at time always, the good about that is that I can meet someone even if I don't have enough time so that is good for quick plans that you create in the day, you don't need to schedule, sometimes this plans are done like two hours before you meet, so you don't have time to get ready, but you just say I will reach a bit late, but you still have the meeting, so It is good for this, in other countries people won't meet because the are so worried about not arriving or doing the plan too late, here you don't that problem so is better for social life, maybe is because were are so social that time is secondary
Easy explanation: if you are early and the rest are gonna be late, you're gonna be the one waiting for the others for half an hour. Solution: be late too.
Lo que tiene mucho que ver con la leyenda negra, las mentiras sobre nuestra historia, costumbres, cultura que han estado tergiversando o, directamente, inventando, durante 500 años y no hay día en que Google, Hollwyood, Netflix, HBO, National Geographic, Marvel, Disney, BBC; etc. vomiten sus tópicos, prejuicios y falsedades sobre España, su historia y los españoles. Lo que está bien claro y vivo también en los EEUU. No hay universidad, de Harvard a la más desconocida que no dicte, cada año cursos sobre las "colonias latinoamericanas". Es difícil mentir más con dos palabras. Ni España tuvo colonias en América ni son latinas, jamás hubo, ni hay ni podrá haber latinos en América. cuando celebran Jamestown como primer asentamiento europeo en América, obvian "olvidan" que los españoles llegaron a América 200 años antes que los ingleses y cuando estos fundan Jamestown, LITERALMENTE, los españoles ya habían fundado más de MIL ciudades en América, universidades, hospitales, puertos, acueductos, regadíos, carreteras, colegios, catedrales, iglesias, misiones, ... el acusar de genocidas a los españoles cuando fueron los anglos los que usaron la política del: "único indio bueno es el indio muerto" y ponían y PAGABAN en efectivo por las cabelleras de hombres, mujeres, ancianos y niños. Fueron anglos los que encerraron en campos de concentración a los nativos que no dieron exterminado, mientras solo hay mezcla con nativos en territorios que fueron España (no colonias de España). Fueron los EEUU los que azuaron, financiaron, armaron y apoyaron las sublevaciones en Cuba, Filipinas, etc. contra España, y en Filipinas tras incumplir todas las promesas que les habían hecho a los filipinos les IMPUSIERON el inglés (España jamás impuso el Español en más de 300 años ni en América ni en Filipinas) y destruyeron las iglesias católicas y genocidiaron a más de un millón de filipinos que se resistían a la imposición EEUU. Ignoran (olvidan) que unos 2/3 de los actuales EEUU hablaban español 150 años antes que el inglés y eran parte de España con españoles: California, Montaña, Nuevo México, Tejas, Colorado, Florida, etc. etc. etc. También hay que aguantar que usen el despectivo -ard (spaniard) para referirse a los hispanos, algo que solo se aplica a ellos, no a los árabes, rusos, alemanes, australianos, italianos, rumanos, nigerianos, turcos, japoneses, etc. etc etc. etc
Since you have been to several european countries, I suppose you allready know this : In Spain our hours don't match our time zone. While in London it's 12:00, in Castellón (meridian zero, too) it's 13:00.
The food thing: we appreciate when they really try to do our food. Spanish food is great and everyone should try a good tortilla de patatas. But we HATE when they do it bad, and I mean really bad. Adding seafood to a paella can bother some Valencians, because is not the traditional paella, but adding chorizo and olives, just because its Spanish food and Spain has chorizo and olives will make all of us angry. Just follow the recipe or recognise that you are getting experimental, and we can be friends. The time topic: Depends of the person and situation. We don't notice a 5-10 minutes late as a problem, but if you get lter than that, you need an excuse or we need to expect it. In my family, we tell my SIL that we meet half an hour before we really meet, so she will be expecting her being only 15 minutes late. We know her and we love her, we know how to work around or that we have to meet on a place that we are not bothered waiting... If you make me wait half an hour in a underground station, and I wasn't prepared, i will be mad. Lazyness: we know the stereotype and where it comes, not to bothered be it. If you want to listen will correct the stereotype, if you don't want to listen, just believe we are lazy, we know it's not true.
wait until you learn about the spanish black legend, thats where all these stereotypes comes from, But Half of the world we know today is thanks to Spain, Even Alabama or Florida still use the Spanish Flag Borgoña Cross
@@Atreas1845 correcto, hay un libro escrito por los commonwealth llamado a Proposal for Humbling Spain escrito en 1711, donde llaman a los españoles vagos, subhuman, etc etc... y que además propone la invasión de Argentina para quedarse con sus recursos minerales.
1- It's exactly that. Workaholic people call us lazy, but it's just we have work-life balance lifestyle. 2- Completely true and pisses me so much. It's okay if we are in a group and one is late since it doesn't matter that much, but in 1 to 1 meeting even if it's 5 minutes it's rude. 3- We appreciate it if you speak Spanish, try to cook our foods or whatever you try. So Appreciation And yeah, it's how Hispanic people are, it's in our DNA. If you travel to Mexico, Colombia or any other Hispanic country you'll find these traits true for them as well.
About being late. I live in Eindovhen NL. Everyone knows people always there are on time. Every date I had with a Dutch girl, they were late...not too much time but they weren't on time. About food. I lived in Colombia,Ecuador and Spain...eat delicious food is the rule, completely normal. In The Ntherlands or UK food doesn't has taste or flavor. I cook basic spanish or Latam dishies and Dutch people thing I'm a great chef. Don't worry about being politically correct, we recognize our shit and we don't give a fuck about other people opinios. Only there are some stupid ones who likes victimize all the time. I agree on your three points.
About the food topic, we apreciate that foreign people make our recipes, but try to be a a little bit loyal to the recipe, enough to make our eyes not to bleed. And with the paella... try not to do it with valencians nearby, they get MAD with paella, they even have a specifical expresion with a bad done paella, it's called "arroz con cosas" which is "rice with things"
My opinion is when Spaniard smell stress on the way , they take step back. This is about social rules. They hate to be under pressure. I have 2 Spanish friends. They hate stress about everything.
Como español, todos estos estereotipos me divierten, luego vienen aqui (los extranjeros), y si se integran un poco, y se dan cuenta del estilo de vida que llevamos, comprenden que "tienen que sacarse el palo del culo", y estar un poco mas relajados...que solo se vive una vez...como decían en mis tiempos Spain is diferent...
1: Spain does have laws to allow work-life balance, and this helps. But you may still find people working 60h/week. 2: I don't find this so accurate, unless it is with events that don't really depend on that specific person being there or don't have a hard deadline. Like if you're meeting with your friends for a coffee and you arrive late others can start having coffe and there's no issue. But if we talk about work meetings or meeting for something that we need to be on time for, like movies, I feel here we're as punctual as anywhere else. 3: Cultural appropriation is not a thing unless you're actually trying to appropriate!! First thing I ask to a non-spanish making paella is what ingredients are they putting in, not to lecture them about how they should do it but because how fun it is to see how recipes like that are slightly modified one step at a time when exporting them to other countries until they morph into something competely different.
When I talk to Dutch friends we like to joke about the time they were a colony of Spain and the urban legend they have that every dark haired white Dutch person in the Netherlands is of Spanish descent, which is actually false.
Tardiness is NOT a Mediterranean thing. It is a HUMAN thing. Until a few decades ago, people lived a different rhythm of life guided by the sun... much healthier. A century ago, most people in Europe and the USA lived on a subsistence agriculture system, since it was not yet mechanized and industrialization had not yet arrived. Then industrialization came, the population moved from the countrysides to the cities to work in factories and the system changed. Then employers needed employees to be punctual and efficient slaves. And in some countries this story was believed more than in others. This was accentuated by Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anglicism (each country in the North wanted to invent its own religion, because they could not stand that Rome had created Catholicism) and they focused on convincing the uneducated population that they would get to heaven if they did hard work in their lives and were good professionals (remember that at that time they were all landless and illiterate peasants). While the Catholicism of Southern Europe focused more on the concepts of family, and living a paradise on earth. Perhaps 20 or 30 years ago we might have thought that the Liberal+Lutheran model could be the model to follow, with slave workers with little culture who think that punctuality is the most important thing, but today we see how the models of the USA or the UK are crumbling and no longer work, while countries like Spain are emerging as a healthier lifestyle, which has nothing to do with having a good quality of life (46.8% of Spaniards have a second home, compared to 25% of French, or 16% of the USA and 7% of the English). In NET terms, the salary in the USA is lower than in Spain. In the USA, the government uses the trick of letting you touch the money, but you never see it in your pocket. At most, perhaps a wooden house that someone tells you is worth 1 million dollars. We must not let our enemies impose what the criteria are for evaluating a society. It is a trap. The positive criteria for a society are different, because they have not shown that it works better, because their lives were spent working, they live less healthy, more unhappy and fewer years.
Hi Danielle. Re the three observations you make, I'll comment of the second and last, since you yourself debunk the first one. Tardiness: yes it is true. By and large, Spaniards are not famous for punctuality. Of course, it varies if it is in a professional or personal context, and if professional, what level of seniority you refer to. As said, generally true, and very frustrating when you are used to northern European standards. It is however, functional. Everybody in Spain knows that if you schedule a professional appointment between peers at 15:00, planning to actually be there at 15:15 should not be skin off your nose. At the meet, if you are the tardy one, you can always apologise. If you are the first one arriving, it'll shorten your wait and save you time. It is part of the social dynamic, and an overall approach to life where time is stretchy, in both directions, or runs at different speeds depending on the context. Many other attributes of Spanish social character - attributes which many foreigners, slaves to their wristwatches - find highly attractive of life in Spain, depend of this attitude towards time keeping. After a while in the country, you will learn that dealing with this reality becomes a test of character. And you better learn it well! In a professional context, waiting 15 minutes for a person from whom you want something, is of inconsequential import. The important thing is that you establish a good rapport, at a personal, individual level, with that person. You do it by showing flexibility, empathy, understanding, and tolerance. Do that, and that person will go many miles out of his/her way to satisfy your request, way beyond the boundaries of what he/she is expected to do as per their role o function. Dealing with occasional tardiness is the price you pay for that - very large! - benefit. Food. In this, we Spaniards are not alone. I think you can extend your comments to all peoples around the Mediterranean basin in Europe. Food is not merely nourishment for the body. Food is nourishment for the soul! It demonstrates and exemplifies care, love, appreciation, excellence, hospitality. Food is the grease on which the cogs of human social interaction turn. In other countries, it is alcohol. For us, it is a delicious morsel of this, a exquisite bite of that. We are proud of our national cuisine, with all its infinite variety and diversity, and hold in very high regard those who are masters in their art. This said, we are not "nationalistic" about our national cuisine. On the contrary! We only wish other peoples would adopt our ways in the kitchen! Sadly, very few have the time or inclination to do it, or the palate to appreciate it. This may stem from the fact that most of our cuisine has very lowly, peasant origins. It does not boast - like French cuisine - the sophisticated authorship or patronage from monarchs or aristocrats, no mater how sophisticated their preparation and presentation. Ask most Spaniards and they will tell you that the best, most "authentic" paella, of fabada, or empanada, or... whatever!, was the one their grandmother/father use to make when they were children. An example of this is a peculiar and revered Spanish institution: the "peña gastronomica", or culinary club. There are tens of thousands of them, each with their local and regional culinary lore. Many/most are male dominated spaces. This does not mean that women are not welcome. It means men set the menu for the gathering, do the shopping, cook the food, and then wash the dishes and tidy up. The women are honoured guests and have no chores or duties apart from enjoying the food, and gracing the event with their presence. The men have the privilege of preparing something special, something that requires specific skill and artistry, at which they are considered undisputed masters. In Spain, a man that cannot cook - event a limited repertoire - with some skill, has a much diminished social value, definitely among women, as well as among other men.
We just don't like to wait so we fight not to be the first one there 😅 But this is only with friends. We aren't late for appointments. As for the (not) cultural appropriation. I think everyone in Spain appreciates when foreigners enjoy and try to cook our food. Of course we may get pissed off when they make something that doesn't even resemble the real thing, but it's not that hard to find out how to make it right and then we really, truly enjoy it. If there's anything that upsets me about foreigners and Spanish food is that the most popular dishes internationally are the most dull Spanish dishes. With the exception of jamón and paella: tortilla is boring, croquetas are dull, churros are meh, patatas bravas is dumb, pantumaca is nothing... we have hundreds of much more delicious traditional dishes foreigners never get the chance to try. There's also a lot of BS in social media. I eat paella for dinner every time I have leftovers. Only people in social media turn it into a sin. What is a 5 guys?
Los estereotipos son una manera de simplificar la verdad. Para mentes perezosas. No gastaría un minuto en desmentirlas. Hay cosas más entretenidas en las que perder el tiempo. Voy a echarme una siesta😊
Those stereotypes were built by protestants ... is it part of the SPANISH BLACK LEGEND.... goes back to the Spanish empire, so there are lots of those kind of negative stereotype perpetrated through centuries !! it is provoked by envy too !! the Spanish empire was the biggest empire in the west ... so when it collapsed the old enemies keep using them !! it is lots of accumulated fear too, just in case the empire reunites again !! Spanish use stereotypes on the French, the Germans and the English too .... old rivalry !! in Spain we say: NO OFENDE EL QUE QUIERE, SINO EL QUE PUEDE !! Spanish pride goes far beyond those stereotypes !! Never mess with Spanish food or try to lecture a Spanish person about Spanish food, you will get the F* off word straight away !! there a lots of red lines ... good luck !!
1 . We don't care, people has been calling us lazy since forever but we're actually too busy too give an f. 2 . Seems like a you problem, if being 15 or 20 minutes late is source for stress it seems you need to chill, we just use time as an indicator not a set in stone goal (uptight spaniards hate this also XD) 3 . We welcome anybody to try as long as they're humble, but publish a video titled "How to make an authentic paella" messing anything in the recipe and prepare for our wrath (btw, is impossible to make a paella video that would be praised by every valencian, gatekeepers of the rice, just don't try XD)
In our defense, and only based on my personal experience, I would say that our tardiness has to be dictated for the weather or geographical reasons, because when I have an appointment with Dutch people in vacation here in the golden coast of Tarragona they are always late and drunk as a skunk 🤣🤣🤣
Sobre llegar tarde: Es muy raro llegar tarde al trabajo, lo normal es llegar 10 o 15 minutos antes. Con los amigos o familia es diferente. Se suele quedar a una hora aproximada, es decir, si quedamos a las 4 es más o menos a las 4, se considera que puedes tener un imprevisto o simplemente tomarte tú tiempo. Si vamos a realizar una actividad con un horario específico nadie llegará tarde, y si lo hace pedirá disculpas. Sobre los intentos de elaborar recetas de comida española: Es muy frustrante ver "mi versión" sobre ello, parece ridículo para otras nacionalidades pero a nosotros nos lleva años de práctica elaborar de la forma correcta las recetas más sencillas por lo que resulta muy molesto ver a alguien disfrutar mientras aniquila una receta tradicional. Es algo cultural muy nuestro.
So a few things: Yes, we work as much as anybody else, but we do know when to stop and I think that's the way It should be. We comply with the contract we signed, nothing else, we don't owe anything to any company. Yes we are late and this pisses me off a lot. And yes, we would absolutely look at you with the biggest most condescending look If you would even attempt to make a paella. Spanish food is an extremely serious topic for us. Problem is that you can find very very close-to-the-original Italian or Indian dishes, but when It comes to Spanish, 99.99% of the times dishes made by foreigners are extremely wrong.
Riiiight....born and bred Spanish here. I have lived abroad for the last 15 years. Only comment I have to make is this, for Americans, Dutch, German and all non-Mediterranean Westeners. Take a chill pill! We work hard, but obsessing over work is pointless. Being late to chilling with friends is not the same as being late to your own wedding, we know punctual when required and by all means, we do not care about foreigners murdering our dishes, every Spanish person knows if you want food made proper, "vete a casa de abuela".
Punctual people in Spain have no other option but to adapt to the general lack of punctuality. Most of my friends have no sense of time whatsoever, so I 've started to leave the house when at least some of them are already at the place we are supposed to meet at, otherwise I'm always the first to arrive and I'm so done waiting for people to show up whenever they feel like. I guess I'm one of them now... I still don't like it and I think it's disrespectful for the other people's time.
Lateness is a Mediterranean thing... but it's completely different from lazyness, which is a complete falsehood. Spaniards choosing fast food like pizza or burgers over other type of food isn't because of speed or readiness, but cheap price I'm afraid.
Tardiness is NOT a Mediterranean thing. It is a HUMAN thing. Until a few decades ago, people lived a different rhythm of life guided by the sun... much healthier. A century ago, most people in Europe and the USA lived on a subsistence agriculture system, since it was not yet mechanized and industrialization had not yet arrived. Then industrialization came, the population moved from the fields to the cities to work in factories and the system changed. Then employers needed employees to be punctual and efficient slaves. And in some countries this story was believed more than in others. This was accentuated by Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anglicism (each country in the North wanted to invent its own religion, because they could not stand that Rome had created Catholicism) and they focused on convincing the uneducated population that they would get to heaven if they did hard work in their lives and were good professionals (remember that at that time they were all landless and illiterate peasants). While the Catholicism of Southern Europe focused more on the concepts of family, and living a paradise on earth. Perhaps 20 or 30 years ago we might have thought that the Liberal+Lutheran model could be the model to follow, with slave workers with little culture who think that punctuality is the most important thing, but today we see how the models of the USA or the UK are crumbling and no longer work, while countries like Spain are emerging as a healthier lifestyle, which has nothing to do with having a good quality of life (46.8% of Spaniards have a second home, compared to 25% of French, or 16% of the USA and 7% of the English). In NET terms, the salary in the USA is lower than in Spain. In the USA, the government uses the trick of letting you touch the money, but you never see it in your pocket. At most, perhaps a wooden house that someone tells you is worth 1 million dollars. We must not let our enemies impose what the criteria are for evaluating a society. It is a trap. The positive criteria for a society are different, because they have not shown that it works better, because their lives were spent working, they live less healthy, more unhappy and fewer years.
OMG! Crazy and.strange deduction lol Iam Spanish Mediterranean and no know this ; suposse is in your mind for some stereotipes the only Mediterranean know is a "Meditarranen diet" one or the best dieta of the world possibly lol and by the.way i know more foreigners with lateness than Spaniards
@Benito-lr8mz Have you listened to her video in full? She was talking about pizzerias (probably around Malasaña and Sol) being crowded at 2 AM after clubs close.
As someone who also moved to Spain and works here my perception of the work culture is slightly different. Yes, Spanish people work hard, but the work culture is focused on blindly following rules/procedures at the expense of achieving things. It results in much less being done for the same effort.
Recuerden esto "gringos" : Los españoles trabajamos para vivir, NO vivimos para trabajar. Y en 2024, en UE no nos ha ido tan mal. Comparen cifras de crecimiento con otras "supuestas potencias " de la UE. Y además , dormimos , dormimos, no paramos de dormir... Y a nuestros queridos "amigos " de Flandes decirles que ellos , cuando vienen, de vacaciones a España, no paran de beber, y beber, y beber, y beber ...Y vuelven a beber, como los peces en el río ...No duermen. La cerveza se lo impide.....Saludos .
That kind of opinions about lazyness is the reason that we use the word guiri unapologeticaly. The half hour of courtesy is a golden rule. And by the way, our american fast food is a bit better by the european Standards that are a bit better. And the most traditional food culture has elements from the famine during and after Civil War, specially on that aspect of trying to have something to feed and being a good host. Hospitality is for us more important than punctuality.
The origin for many spanish stereotypes comes from the protestant culture and i will tell you why. There was a moment in Europe when the christianism splited in two currents; catolicism and protestantism initiated by the brits and dutch. In that moment Spain was the most powerful superpower and global empire in the globe, so the other countries tried during 300 years to destroy it because they wanted to take over the wealth of southamerica. There was a fierce ideological struggle for centuries over the interpretation of Christianity and Europe was divided into these two camps, with England and Holland being the great Protestant exponents who hated Spain. With the advent of the printing press in 1453 thanks to Gutenberg, the Protestants acquired a very powerful weapon; propaganda. The House of Orange took the terribly exaggerated writings of a friar named Bartolomé de las Casas and published them massively to sink the image of Spain. Centuries later it was shown that this friar deliberately exaggerated the bad situation of the Native Americans to capture the attention of the emperor of Spain and thus improve the rights for them, but also especially for him who sought fame and notoriety. He was already a rich man, bishop of Chiapas for 7 years. The friar was criticized by coleagues like Toribio de Benavente who wrote this in a letter to the emperor in 1555: "It is no wonder that de las Casas does not know it, because he did not try to know anything but the bad and not the good, nor did he have peace in this New Spain, nor did he learn the language of the Indians, nor did he humble himself or apply himself to teaching them. His office was to write processes and sins that everywhere the Spaniards have done: and this is what much he praises, and certainly this office alone will not take him to heaven. And what he writes in this way is not all true nor well known." It should be noted that Bartholomé did not speak native languages and did not interact much with the Indians, but even so his writings are still remembered today. You no longer need to destroy your enemy militarily because you can simply sink their image internationally. Many of the myths about Spain and Hispanic countries come from this era, where Protestants who could not annihilate the Spanish empire simply used a new weapon based on negative propaganda. Later, centuries later, Spain's war against the United States took place where they disputed Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and other remnants of the Spanish empire that the Americans wanted to obtain. To help recruiting, the exaggerated legends about Spain were taken up again in order to build the image of an enemy that had all the worst virtues of a human being; lazy, violent, bloodthirsty .... thieves. There are American newspapers of that time where the Spaniards are portrayed as the worst of the worst, and from there also comes the idea that the Spanish crown enslaved and annihilated millions in America. Based on this facts, even the french thought the spaniards were lazy bastards with nothing but the infinite greed for gold, and it ended up in the napoleonic invasion of Spain.
I am punctual, if foreigners think that I sleep all day, then I think that they are not the kind of people who type into Google to find out everything about Spain... Personally, and since I am no longer young, I do not understand the gastronomic tastes of young people, but it is because they have little money that they go to burger joints, because they really know what is good but they do not have enough money. Regarding your initial comment about Catalans, I will tell you that I have dealt with several, and with Basques too, and I have always gotten along well on a personal level. But both regions, since the achievement of democracy, have artificially insisted on not wanting to be part of Spain, specifically Catalonia carried out a coup d'état in 2017, the author of which remains on the run... and these two regions, no more important or with more history than the others, claim absurd privileges over the rest of Spain, which makes many people not like them in general, although I have nothing against any region of Spain, I will always defend that Barcelona is a fabulous city, and that there is no monastery like Poblet and that the towns of the Costa Brava are wonderful, so I will not let a few steal it from me. Happy New Year, be happy in 2025, life is about that, and making others happy.
I think that saying that Spanish are late to everything is like saying women are late to everything. It's true some times, it depends of the situation. But it's mostly true. Go to tell it to the Spanish Americans.
Compared to Burger King or McDonald's, the only hamburgers we ever tried, Five Guys is way better than what we tasted before. But surely must be better burgers out there.
Me pregunto que pasa con los Españoles que viven y trabajan en otros Países de Europa y América (son unos cuantos miles). Supongo que llegarán puntuales al trabajo y al encuentro con amigos y conocidos. Me apuesto algo con cualquiera que cuando vuelven a España, de vacaciones por ejemplo, son un pelín impuntuales. Es la cultura de la flexibilidad "hoy por ti mañana por mi", hay que ser comprensivos no pasar por la vida corriendo por todo para llegar jadeando a la cita y comprobar, eso sí, que tus amigos o familiares están charlando tranquilamente y esperando a que llegues; quizás alguien piense pues que llegue antes. Vaya tiempo perdido esperar a lo tonto
Btw our food can be great but we cannot eat paella and churros every day. We love a pizza, a burger, sushi, pasta, chinese, peruvian, thai food. Give me everything. I do love myself a good ol' five guys burger like every couple months why not.
Como español que ha vivido en Estados Unidos, diré 4 estereotipos de los estadounidenses (y que nadie se ofenda). As a Spaniard who has lived in the United States, I will say 4 stereotypes of Americans (and no one should be offended). 1.- Everyone eats fast food (comida basura). 2.- Everyone has a gun and knows how to shoot. And the police... shoot first and ask questions later! 3.- They are super patriots and think they are the masters of the world. Here I have to say something: You even call yourselves "Americans" appropriating the entire continent. Aren't a Canadian or a Mexican also Americans?? You are not the owners of all America. It's like a Spaniard presenting himself as European! In Spanish, you are "estadounidenses" = from United States, but there is no word in English to define your nationality! (It always seems strange to me). 4.- They don't know anything about geography, most Americans don't even know that Spain is in Europe, or that the capital is Madrid. And at this point, I add that Americans don't know anything about history, not even about all the history that links you to Spain: th-cam.com/video/CkEkM0AMRu0/w-d-xo.html (Maybe Danielle could make videos about this).
Generalization is needed in the world in order to survive. Normally, the sky is blue, normally, the north pole is very cold, normally, Swedish and blond. If you feel offended, you should reconsider that what she says is usually true.
In this world, it is useful and even necessary to generalize. The sky is usually blue, the dogs can usually bark, the Swedish are usually blond. People that haven't thought about this, usually get offended...
*Para dejar en evidencia la mentira de que en España no se trabaja, sólo tienes que preguntar: ¿Y por qué España es un país con la decimoquinta (15a.) mejor economía en un mundo de 195 países? ¿Somos más listos que nadie? ¿Nos cae el maná del cielo? ¿Recibimos dinero por estar durmiendo todo el día?... ¡Eso sería asombroso y aún deberíamos ser más dignos de admiración por ello!😂 *Por otra parte, desconozco la costumbre de llegar tarde. Quizá sea algo de las nuevas generaciones. Por mi edad, me relaciono con personas mayores y todos somos puntuales. Se pueden conceder entre 5 y 10 minutos de cortesía. Más, sin avisar la causa del retraso, se considera de mala educación. *En cuanto a la comida, sí, valoramos y apreciamos mucho nuestra gastronomía. Pero no es lo mismo vivir en grandes ciudades como Madrid o Barcelona que vivir en el resto de España, donde el ritmo de vida es más tranquilo y sí tienes tiempo para preparar y disfrutar los platos tradicionales. También tiene que ver con la economía de cada persona o familia (el fast food es más barato) o con que tradicionalmente siempre se haya encargado de la cocina el ama de casa... Es un tema complejo y son hábitos en constante evolución, como el propio país.
Yo siempre llego 10 mimutos antes, llegar a la hora es no ser puntual para mi porque el día que algo se retrase vas a hacer a las personas esperar y eso es una falta de respeto.
Not my case, I am puntual as a clock, but many Spaniards are always late and by the same margin of time, and I wonder why too, because it would be very easy to adjust e.g. leave 10 minutes earlier. I find it impolite nonetheless, wasting other people's time. The thing is they do that so they are not the ones waiting, which is really selfish, but they don't think much about it. Some Spaniards might reply I don't understand the culture, which is my culture and I am on spot knowing how a Spanish mind works! That's the reason, believe me. So, I "educate" people by not tolerating unpunctuality unless I have not other option (is a boss, relative or he/she is making me a favor), but sometimes I leave the place if they are not there in 15 minutes (too generous) and they are the ones who need me; it is the only way to educate the always-late people.
To make it simple, its impossible to have a country in the worldwide top first 12 countries by GPD, the the fourth in europe, just sleeping all day. That't it, end of the story. The black propaganda about Spain is something amazing. To know more of what Spain did historically, i would recomend the book "The Spanish Pioneers" from the northamerican writer Charles Fletcher Lummis.
Charles Fletcher Lummis' book is fantastic that can be read as novel, and it should be made a film. The account dwarfs and recedes by 100 years the famous Lewis & Clark expedition, considered a foundational milestone of the US. Also, the letter published in 1883 by the famous American writer and poet Walt Whitman “The Spanish Element in Our Nationality” is a very short must read for anyone interested in US history.
Soy español y ser impuntual me parece una falta de respeto y una verguenza, no conozco a nadie de mi entorno que lo sea, en Extremadura está muy mal visto ser impuntual no sé en el resto de España
Hi Danielle. Great videos!! To give some context to my answers , I'm a Spaniard who has lived in France, the US and the UK - at least 3 years in each of these countries - as well as in Madrid and Barcelona, where I've always worked in finance (not the slowest paced sector, if I may say). So, regarding your comments: Barcelona/Catalonia vs. the rest of Spain: Politics aside (and football aside), Catalans used to regard the rest of Spain as an New Yorker or people from California would regard "flyover states". Nowadays, with the decline of Catalonia and the fantastic period that Madrid is living, its hard to justify... but its still there. For me it is surprising how a super cosmopolitan city like Barcelona was in 1992 has turned into a provincial mentality these days. a) Sleeping all day: This is nonsense, as you well know. If anything, we sleep less because we work longer and party longer. I disagree on the working part. In my experience, - in the US you see a lot of people showing that they are working when in reality they are "spacing out". - In the UK, the Netherlands, France, the UK, people start getting ready to leave no less than 20 minutes earlier, and at 5 minutes past the hour they are all out and they will not accept any request to stay without complaining and/or.... Unlike in Spain, many people will stay a little longer if necessary without making a fuss. b) Punctuality: Regarding meetings with individuals, the average perception is that anything below 10 minutes is not a delay not needing even to be mentioned. I doubt this will change. In a professional environment, 5 minutes don't need an apology, but 10 minutes require an excuse/apology. Still, you mentioned the Netherlands and there, as you say, they give you a call if they are going to be late.... but the call recurrently turns into a blank check justifying everything -including trying to delay the meeting 30 minutes or even one day, without any additional explanation. Finally, regarding services you have an excellent comment by @Atreas1845 down below about punctuality in transportation. Since you live in Madrid, you know this is true. c) Food: Of course!!! Eating is not a process to tame a physical need, and enjoying food is not a guilty pleasure to indulge, resulting in the abandonment of the righteous path. Food is culture, and it is a blessing to be enjoyed, preferably in good company, hopefully with a glass of wine. Having said all the above, it is funny for us Spaniards of a certain age, who spent years abroad and have had to listen to comments on these subjects - usually in a dismissive/condescending/sneering way - that many people and countries are now "discovering" the virtues of the Mediterranean approach. - Nowadays the siesta is either mandatory (Japan, China) or highly recommended to increase productivity, reduce stress, etc., in the west, even in large corporations - and this is leaving aside medical recommendations about its benefits... of course outside Spain, few dare to call it siesta, and call it a nap (as it sounds shorter, aleviating the guilt) - Nowadays, work-life balance is at the heart of every HR department in all developed countries. - Nowadays there is a boom of cooking/eating/food programmes, videos/books etc everywhere. We observe this reality with amusement, using a very Spanish expression that describes when someone has finally discovered something that has long been obvious: "Han descubierto América", something we did 533 years ago.
Sobre trabajo o comida es ocioso hablar. Sí diré algo sobre la puntualidad. Sé puntual en España o perderás amigos, trabajos y crédito. Realmente los españoles nos molestamos cuando alguien llega tarde, otra cosa es que no lo reprochemos. Pero ojo ! tarde o temprano llegará el reproche con sus consecuencias.
Lateness is totally true. After more than half a century here, it's the only Spanish thing that I've not adopted. It's just impossible for me. That's why I'm always the first everywhere, before anybody else... And usually look like a fool... 😛
I am Mexican and I agree that Spanish speaking people normally arrive late all the time. I cannot understand what's the reason. It doesn't make any sense. I never arrive late and in fact, I pull my hair of frustration with this situation
I am from Barcelona and my girlfriend is from Madrid. We live in Barcelona and spend many time in Madrid. I can confirm that all steriotypes from catalonians are true.
Stereotypes are generalizations. And false on every ocasion. I also was born in Barcelona, work in Madrid, and completly disagree with you (here you are!). People, EVERYWHERE, want the same basics things. And the only thing, lacking in ALL OF SPAIN, it's to learn to respect others (like they do in Northern Europe or in Japan to a fanatical extreme). The first step? Put stereotypes where they belong: in the trash bin.
Danielle!!! You need to spend more time with catalan folks, not that we are the best but there are things like about arriving late that here dont apply or apply just 10%. About our inclination to eat in american restaurants, just think that Spain was closed from/to the rest of the world for many years (franquismo) and when monarquía quicked in 13:08 (and the opening) most of us were infatuated by EEUU and their way of life. So I think this traspased to the next generation and so on.
¿ Que España estuvo cerrada al resto del mundo durante el Franquismo ? Amigo, tu deliras. Eso es incierto y se nota que tú no viviste esa etapa. Los paises que estuvieron cerrados al resto del mundo, fueron los países del este de Eyropa, que estaban bajo el yugo de la Unión Soviética, en los que no había libertad para salir y entrar en el país. Ésto nunca ocurrió en España. Creo que tu problema es el adoctrinamiento.
Spain was closed to Europe in POLITICAL terms! You must be the one who fell in love with the American way of life. What nonsense. When have you ever seen an American cap in your life in Spain? Or anything American culturally? Never.
You may not think it, but Catalans believe they are different, synonyms of better, than the Spanish. Every nationalist movement is born from supremacism and racism, and Catalonia is deeply nationalist and racist, but I understand why someone from outside might not perceive it. Enjoy in Spain.
Supongo que a fuerza de levantarte cada mañana (con la COPE de fondo) y repetir ante el espejo ese discurso te lo acabas creyendo . Muy triste. Como dice esta chica los estereotipos son muy malos y me parece que esta rodeada de personajes como tu más tiempo del que le gustaría por lo que no hace falta ser muy listo para saber, realmente, quien es el malo de la película. Disfruta lo votado.
@jesuszaino608 no escucho la cope. no escucho la radio no veo tv, Pero bueno. Lo votado te refieres a PSC, ERC, JUNTs, Forca Catalana, Todos partidos nacionalistas y por definición supremacistas y en el fondo racistas antiespañoles, lee un poco. Y no, no disfruto nada lo votado lo padezco, pero soy de los que pienso que tenemos el Gobierno que nos merecemos.
Hello Danielle, thanks for your video. I'm Spanish. I have worked not just in Spain but in Britain, in France. I have also worked with Americans. This is my opinion: French people have the 35 hours a week law. What they do is working 40 hours a week and with the excess of 5 hours a week they accumulate in a holidays bank. That equals 5x4x11 = 220 hours of additional holidays a year. That makes 220 hours/8= 27,5 additional days of holiidays. Then they take their 1 month holidays in summer, plus the 27,5 additional days accross all the year. British people work more, but they always finish at 17:00h no matter what. If they have to deliver something if it's 17h they go home. I have seen it. No joke about it. American people stay more in the office. I have seen many people leaving at 20:00h everyday. But the key here is that they stay in the office longer hours but many times they are just wasting the time, speaking, etc. Now, about Spain: We work 40 hours every week. We have 22 days of holidays plus the bank holidays. Bank holidas may change from one location to other, but for instance in Madrid, there are 12 bank holidays across the year for 2025. Out daily schedule is from 09:00h to 19:00h. Counting 1 hour for lunch. There is usually flexible schedule, so you can start at 08:00h and finish 1 hours earlier, 18:00h. Or you can start at 09:30 and finish at 19:30h. Now this is the most spread timetable I have experienced. There are shops that start at 10:00h close at 14:00 to go home and have lunch and back at 17:00h. This is so because many store owners may have their homes quite far from the shop. And this is the reason why may foreigners see closed shops thinking all businesses are the same, when it is not. Of course there are other exceptions: Sales people can be driving visiting customers and they can start not that soon as many customers do not what to be visited by sales people early but this sales people can finish at 21:00h easily. Just to make the losng story short: We Spanish people work maybe more than most of the foreigners I have worked with, but it is very convienient to spread this bad image, so International Companies will not want to invest in Spain but in their countries. The same goes with the Debt Acquisition.
Thanks for your channel Danniel and cheers!!!
Así se habla,gracias compatriota.
@@asirbortugal Gracias, un abrazo!
Ahora entiendo por qué mis primos de Francia vienen tanto a españ
Since 2004 Spanish workers are the ones that increased more its productivity in the world; specially after 2008 crisis that destroyed low value-high paid jobs.
A Scottish once said: growing up in when you realize Spain is the good guy of History. Just bear in mind that. Cheers!!
Estoy completamente de acuerdo contigo
Gracias
kinda, the more you study history the more you realize the conquistadors were not "that" cruel, building universities, roads, cities, recolecting every language they came across... I mean no "that" bad compared with other empires
Soy español y no. Crecer es descubrir que no hay buenos en la historia
@@Nigridal yo también soy español e igual eso que dices, es una fase intermedia. Hay que hacerse un poquito más mayor. Pero no te preocupes, no hay que hacer nada, solo dejar pasar un poco más el tiempo.
Believe me, as a Spaniard, I learned from experience, time and history that Spain was and still is bullied internationally due to historical and present stereotypes. Like Merkel said: the Spanish have too many vacations... and nevertheless per Capita the Spanish work more hours than the germans, but of course then comes the justification: well, it's because you Spaniards are so improductive... It's like they believed illustration, science and industrialization never came to the inquisitorial, backwards Spain. We had astronomers, biologists, physicists, philosophers, inventors, engineers... they just weren't famous because they were Spanish... Many people just don't understand our culture because, despite being European, is very different from Europe, specially from protestant countries where work is the most important thing in life. Here in Spain the most important thing in life is life itself. You can call us lazy people, but we know how to enjoy life and family.
No podrías decirlo mejor¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡está un holandés para criticar¡¡¡¡¡
De que hablas tú?? Nadie ha dicho nada de eso! España ha sido una potencia como pocas en el mundo. Durante el siglo pasado hemos sido la 8º POTENCIA en el mundo y ahora creo que es el 13 país en el mundo. Con todo lo que eso implica. Solo el 8% del planeta son paises avanzados, y entre ese 8% España está entre el 5% mejor en términos económicos. En cuando en calidad de vida está entre el 3% mejor
@@Atreas1845 me estás respondiendo a mí?, no entiendo¡¡
Sí que me creo lo de la improductividad, que muchos españoles son vagos y lo de que tenemos muchos días no laborales.
Y aunque supuestamente muchos inventos han sido hechos por españoles como idea, luego al hacerlos o comerciarlos españa no lo ha hecho
@@Atreas1845 España no esta ni entre los 20 paises con mas fuerza económica del mundo, mucho tiene que ver que seamos una población pequeña comparado con otros paises que incluso siendo mas pobres, son mas potentes económicamente, Méjico por ejemplo, enEconomia España es la 5 economia de europa, tambien somos el 5 pais en tamaño de poblacion, España tienen una economia cerca de paises como Corea del Sur, y una renta per capita parecida a la de Japon
Me hace gracia lo de que los españoles no trabajamos,tengo casi 60 años he trabajado y conocido personas de toda europa,desde Portugal hasta Polonia,pasando por Francia,Italia,Alemania,algún canadiense,belga y algún israelí,y te aseguro 100% que siempre,siempre,en todas mis experiencias los que sacaban adelante el trabajo,los que daban un paso adelante y se ponían al cargo del trabajo para planificar,y ejecutar los trabajos siempre 95% de ocasiones eran españoles,siempre era un español el que daba la cara y decía como y cuando había que hacer las cosas,lo he vivido decenas de veces.
The black legend has done a lot of damage. I recommend that you read Elvira Roca, where she explains how the Anglo-Saxons have used lies to degrade Spain.
Es parte de la leyenda negra. Otra manera de devaluar a los españoles.
Creo que viene por la siesta en verano en el campo pero la gente no entiende que se levantan antes del amanecer y parar en las horas de más calor para volver a trabajar por la tarde cuando el sol no castiga.
En España mueren todos los veranos trabajadores por el calor pero de eso no se habla.
Eso tiene mucho que ver con el complejo de inferioridad que arrastramos por la dictadura. Durante décadas fuimos los últimos de Europa en todo, y ahora cuando estamos en cualquier escenario internacional sobrecompensamos porque en algún lugar del subconsciente seguimos creyendo que tenemos que demostrar que somos tan capaces como los demás.
@@jal051Hay mucho complejo de inferioridad, pero no precisamente por ninguna dictadura, sino por esnobismo y papanatismo. Seguimos siendo los últimos en todo. Cuando Europa avanza algunos españoles se empeñan en volver a los años 30.
@jal051 no hablo complejo de nada ni compensar nada,hablo de mi experiencia de más de 30 años y de que siempre en mi experiencia son los españoles los que dan el paso porque no hay ni un francés,alemán,o de donde sea que tenga el desparpajo y diga,venga coño esto se hace así y así,lo he visto muchas veces,somos así,somos gente de sangre caliente que no nos acojonamos.
Hi, Danielle. Spaniard here. But I'm currently living in Japan, and I've also lived in Germany and the UK before. Even in the US for an entire summer when I was a child (my mother is from Miami). I've had to deal with my fair share of stereotypes, both of Spaniards and other countries. So here are my two cents.
1.- Work/Life balance: This stereotype is largely based on religion. As in, good old "Protestants versus Catholics". You will learn a lot, and I mean A LOT of negative stereotypes that Southen and Nothern Europeans have of each other come from this divide. I would encourage you to research this for yourself, because it's a really deep rabbit hole. Short version: Protestantism, particularly Calvinism, puts work as THE most important thing in existence, as well as the main sign of whether will you go to Heaven or not. That's why work until literally* your dying breath is seen as a virtue. That has had an extremely deep impact in the culture of countries from a Protestant background, the United States among them, even for the lives of non-believers. In Catholic cultures, though, although working hard is A virtue, it is not the end all, be all. Hence why they are more lenient.
2.- Being always late. This is an extension of the previous point. Time is of the utmost importance when it comes to work, so of course it also got this almost mythological quality to it. Your experiences in the Netherlands, one of THE most Protestant countries of all time, is a good example of that. That being said, as other people have already pointed out, our tendency to arrive late is strictly for non-formal situations and with people you have a personal relationship with: visiting family, hanging out with friends, etc. In formal situations, such as going for work, coming to an appointment, etc, you absolutely need to be on time. Maybe in you work you can get away with being 5 minutes late every once in a while, but that's pretty much it.
3.- About food. We don't have any problems with foreigners preparing our food... as long as they do it the proper way. Are you an American who wants to cut jamón serrano with a cuchillo jamonero? Knock yourself out! Do you want to prepare fabada asturiana with its proper ingredients? Fantastic! You want to prepare lentejas con chorizo? Save some for me, please! Now then... If you say you want to prepare paella and you add chorizo... Then you will get some nasty looks. lol On the flip side, you will be dragged to our own discussions. Do you want to prepare tortilla de patatas? Then be prepared to defend your stance on whether do you like it with onion or not. lol
I'll be looking forward to your journey. Just keep in mind one thing, though: a year and a half is not enough to really know a country. After living in four different countries, I'd say you need to spend between 3 and 5 years there to actually STARTING to really understand a country you've never lived in before, since there are too many nuances that you won't pick up until multiple interactions with the same people. For instance, in time, if you dig deep enough, you will understand why people from Madrid told you that about Catalans. That's not to say you will see "how it is true" (I personally think it's not, and I'm from Madrid), but you will understand where it comes from (long story short: politics. But that's a story for another day).
Fortunately, I see you have the right attitude. You are curious and eager to learn. And only good things will come out of that.
*I didn't put that "literally" there just for emphasis. Some sects of Protestantism literally suggested that you should die while working in order to have a guaranteed pass to Heaven and not rotting in Hell. This was specially weaponized in the UK during the Industrial Revolution, but that's also a story for another day.
this is the best comment
RENFE (Spanish train company) has a punctuality rate of 91% compared to Germany's 70%, according to the European Commission.
USA trains.. 30%
AIRCRAFT: In January 2024, 87.3 percent of the 14,152 flights operated by IBERIA arrived on time, which has allowed it to place first in the world punctuality ranking.
USA is more unpunctual
And that is not related at all with the fact that Spanish people arrive late. One thing is companies and services, and another is people.
There are many companies in Spain who work really good. RENFE and ADIF are not among them. I go to the office one per week using RENFE. Every single time there is a delay or problem of any type (Like they don't announce the track until the last second). If there is no problem when I go to to work, it will happen when I return. Is probably the worst company in the whole country.
I find it quite funny that a french says that spanish (or any other europeans) works little. France is probably the country in Europe where people work less hours.
The "Being late" varies a lot from place to place and from people to people. Im Spanish and Im extremely puntual and expect people to show up by the exact time we agreed upon. If you arent meeting at the exact time I usually let them know in advance i'll be 10 minutes late or more due to X or Y so they dont have to be there waiting. Also the timing goes with people. You are more flexible with friends, sometimes they are late sometimes it might be you so you "forgive them" if they are 5 minutes late or so (which still pisses me off a bit but yeah). Then you have more formal meetings where you tend to be there earlier or just on point (Work, Dates etc). A Basque is more puntual than someone from lets say Andalucia, yet in those regions it depends on the person as they might be people from Andalucia extremely puntual and people in the Basque country which show up late.
RENFE (Spanish train company) has a punctuality rate of 91% compared to Germany's 70%, according to the European Commission.
US trains.. 30%
AIRCRAFT: In January 2024, 87.3 percent of the 14,152 flights operated by IBERIA arrived on time, which has allowed it to place first in the world punctuality ranking.
@@Atreas1845 German trains are bad when it comes to punctuality, but the Germans would be the first ones to tell you. But yeah, I'm always shocked when I see people complaining about Renfe's punctuality. They are actually pretty good at that.
¿Acaso te crees que en Andalucia no tenemos donde mirar la hora o que?.
Aqui somos tan puntuales... O NO.. como cualquier otra persona del pais.
Hablando de los estereotipos.....
@@Floren_Andro No te preocupes. Yo soy asturiano y presto atención a no ser nunca el primero en llegar. Uno de mis amigos me lo pone difícil porque llega siempre 20 minutos tarde como mínimo. Hasta los 45 minutos no empiezo a preocuparme.
Hi! Here’s a comment from a super punctual Spaniard who’s usually 10 minutes early. Generally, I think most Spaniards follow this unspoken rule of a 10-15 minute grace period. Like, if you’ve arranged to meet at 2:00 PM and show up at 2:15, it’s not really considered late, and you don’t have to over-explain yourself. In business settings, this grace period shrinks to about 5 minutes, but being late isn’t really acceptable, so people try to be much more punctual.
Now, when it comes to meeting up with friends, it’s a whole different story. Honestly, it’s easier to adapt to someone than to try to change them. When you’ve got friends, you know exactly who’s going to show up on time and who might roll in up to 2 hours late. And honestly, there’s no point getting mad about it, because you know they’re not late on purpose or with bad intentions-they’re just people who think they have time to do a million things and end up mismanaging it. Some people even tell those friends a different meeting time, like 30 minutes earlier than everyone else, so they actually show up on time.
Anyway, I think Spaniards just have a more relaxed view of time. It’s not unusual that, when you make plans with someone, you say the meeting is “between 6:00 and 6:30” instead of giving a specific time.
I know I’m not speaking for all Spaniards, but this is my experience, and I do think it’s a pretty general and widely shared perspective. I hope this helped clarify our view of time a little. I hope your stay in Spain continues to be amazing-I really enjoy your videos and look forward to watching them for a long time!
Spaniard here working healthcare. I work a lot and as much as I can. My coleages too. We have a very efficient healthcare system, but that IS not praised or even mentioned.
The problem with Spanish firms and institutions IS the lack of innovation, so new technologies and structures take a lot to seep in. So productivity stays low, and always catching up.
Even so, most people don't know for example that Spain has one of the most digitally integrated healthcare system in the world, much better than the USA and even better than other European countries like France. But we are seen as lazy by some ignorants. Ok.
A mí una cosa que no me gusta de la sanidad pública española es que cuando uno va a otra ccaa, queno es la suya, esa ccaa no puede acceder a mi historial médico.
Ahora está saliendo un caso de corrupción estatal . Es dinero para investigación que se ha invertido en otras cosas
For an American, having health insurance like the Spanish one, without co-payments, without deductibles, without pre-existing diseases, is a dream only for a few rich people, because the cost would be more than $3,000 a month, and even then you are never sure that a lawyer will call you to tell you that you are not covered by a clause in your contract, and that you are going to be ruined for life.
@@Atreas1845 we are covered for anything, anytime. We do not pay a dime other than our taxes which I assure you, is NOT in the same order of magnitude of an equivalent private insurance in the US. Closer to ten times less. Medicaments are mostly subsidized, so we just pay a tiny fraction of it.
Example: insulin price per month: minimum income and unemployed 0€/month, the rest, 10% of price, with tops for pensionists. Under 18000€ income, 8,23€/month, between 18000€ and 100000€ income, 18,52€/month, over 100000€ income, 61,75€/month.
It blows my mind that the US doesn’t have universal HC. Even if you do not consider the sheer inhumanity of letting people die or bankrupt themselves for easily avoidable causes, it is a lot (and I mean a LOT) less costly and ineffective to have universal HC. Setting aside basic human decency, it’s simple common sense and economics! Your HC insurance companies are robbing you. And killing you.
@@AFa-o8lOtra comunidad autónoma? Eso pasa también si te mudas de comarca o de "distrito sanitario" dentro de la misma provincia.
@@mariobv947 entre comunidades autónomas sí y no entiendo por qué
Que lo diga un francés es curioso. La fábrica de Citroen (actual Stellantis) en Vigo les da 1000 vueltas a cualquiera del mismo grupo, a cualquiera. España lidera la productividad automovilística en Europa con 15,5 vehículos por empleado al año, triplicando la media europea. Has leíodo bien. TRI-PLI-CAN-DO.
La productividad española supera claramente la de las plantas francesas (10,6 coches por trabajador) alemanas (6,4) o italianas (5,7) y sólo países como Eslovenia (13,2), Eslovaquia (12,8) o los Países Bajos (11,9) se le acercan ligeramente. España fabricó más de dos millones y cuarto de vehículos usando únicamente 16 fábricas, incluyendo las de montaje y, también, las de componentes como motores y cajas de cambios propiedad de los fabricantes (no se incluyen las de proveedores). En Alemania hay 41 plantas en funcionamiento, 30 en Francia y Gran Bretaña y 22 en Italia, por ejemplo.
En Europa, solo Alemania supera a España en producción con 3,8 millones de vehículos. Otros países de larga tradición como Francia (1,35 millones) o Italia (0,8 millones) quedan por debajo de España.
Cuando te respondan con tópicos, pon datos en la mesa.
Well, a good example in my case are churros in America. Filled or sugared churros are a sin :) And having churros as a dessert, is a crime :) You can add sugar to your churros, but you never buy them with sugar (nor fillings of any type). And you eat them for breakfast or merienda. Another thing is those foreigners that add chorizo to the paella. In the UK they even have a paella sandwich. They should be imprisoned for that :D
En el norte de España se venden los churros con azúcar.
Está la paella 🥘 y el arroz con cosas pero echarle chorizo a la paella es una herejía 😂
No seas más papista que el Papa. Los churros con azúcar y rellenos se hacen también en España y son muy populares. Y comerlos no tiene nada de malo. No confundas a la muchacha. Como mucho, los churros rellenos, o "porras", se comen solos, sin chocolate caliente.
Lo del chorizo en la paella ya sí que es para mear y no echar gota. Jaja
@@XanderVJ vamos a ver, en primer lugar, hablo de "mi caso", y como comprenderás me puede parecer un sacrilegio lo de los churros con azúcar o rellenos. Es asunto mio, no tuyo. Segundo: que se vendan o no rellenos o con azúcar, no implica que sea lo normal en el consumo español de churros ni es lo que normalemente se vende en churrerías ., eso lo sabe cualquiera que viva en España. No confundas tú a la chica.
@@MCoelloFNo me salgas ahora con esas. Los churros azucarados y las porras rellenas se encuentran en la gran mayoría de churrerías españolas. Yo siempre las pillaba sobre todo en las que van en puestos ambulantes de la calle, que son habituales en invierno. Lo más habitual es comprar los tradicionales, por supuesto, pero esas opciones siempre están ahí como alternativa. Los únicos sitios donde tienen churros tradicionales y nada más son en sitios que no son churrerías en sí, como bares y cafeterías. Y eso por la opción de chocolate caliente más churros.
Hello again Danielle, just for your info as an example: The UK tried to build a Railways High Speed Line. The project was called HS2. The project had to be stopped because the british people were not keen on working many hours over this project, in outdoors, etc. How many kilometers of High Speed Lines (abover 300 kilometers per hour) the UK has? Zero. How many kilometers of high speed lines does Spain have? More than 3 thousand kilometers. Just behind China which is the leader in this field. And believe me, building a high speed line is something where you have to invest a massive load of work.
4300 km indeeed
It is not just the longest high speed network of Europe, it is by far the cheapest per km, despite an extremelly uneven country.
And despite some corrupt infrastructure ministers, just google Abalos and Jessica
No suelo comentar vídeos, pero últimamente me he enganchado a este canal y me resulta muy divertido. Tienes mucha soltura y comentas de una forma muy afable y expresiva los contrastes culturales entre culturas. Como español me parece muy gracioso e interesante saber cómo somos desde tu punto de vista. Estoy aprendiendo mucho de nosotros mismos (también aprendo inglés nivel hard, por lo rápido que hablas 😅)
Gracias por tus vídeos y enhorabuena!!
Mi padre me inculcó tu 5 minutos antes es tarde 😂😂
Siempre intento llegar puntual, tanto para el trabajo (5 minutos antes) como para quedar con la familia y amigos. Ahora, yo salgo a las 13:30 h y a las 20:30 h por lo que me verás en la puerta de la tienda cerrando la persiana justo a esas horas. También soy muy mía con las horas de trabajo.
Con los amigos, tenemos un amigo que siempre, siempre, siempre llega tarde... 30 minutos para ser exactos. Al final, lo que acabamos haciendo fue decirle que quedábamos media hora antes y así nos llegaba a tiempo. Hasta que nos falló. Un día decidió llegar a la hora que le habíamos dicho (supongo que te habrás dado cuenta que todo mi grupo de amigos somos puntuales y nos recriminamos llegar tarde) y tuvo que esperar veinticinco minutos. No le gustó y nos lo dijo. Una amiga le contestó que eso lo llevábamos aguantando desde que lo conocíamos, así que dejara de quejarse o se iba a enterar de lo que vale un peine. 😂
Buena táctica 😂...y encima tiene el morro de ofenderse.
Como español, somos muy puntuales para el trabajo, pero ya menos para las citas informales (con amigos, familiares, etc.) Personalmente es algo que me molesta mucho, ya que intento ser puntual y esto me lleva un esfuerzo, algo que parece no entender la gente. Para mí, es una falta de consideración más que una falta de educación, aunque no sé que es lo que es peor
Somos muy puntuales para el trabajo a no ser que seamos funcionarios o trabajemos para algún organismo público*
@@victorv3814 Eso es incierto. Es una generalización tan inexacta como la que afecta a todos los españoles. Si te parece mal una, te debería parecer mal la otra. Y antes de que empieces a echar veneno por la boca, no, no soy funcionario ni tengo lazos con funcionarios o empleados públicos.
@@edbardof7941 Es una generalización. No implica que todos los funcionarios lleguen tarde. Implica que un número desproporcionado de ellos, frente a trabajadores del sector privado, lo hacen. Saludos a Pedro.
Me acabo de despertar. Veo el vídeo de Danielle. Me vuelvo a la cama.
😅😅😅
I'm thankful hearing that you also found it strange that fast food is kinda popular in Spain, I have many friends that don't mind eating it regularly when going out and I'm always opposing it.
On why we don't research food I'd say it is because we don't have the feeling you described from Americans on researching everything you want to talk about, you can ask about "cuñados" to some spanish to get how different that is, though I also get that food takes such a central place on everyone's life and is at the same time different at each one's home that there is not sth right or wrong about how you talk about it, you just tell your personal approach.
All of the rest you described i feel the same about it, I love hearing how you perceive different cultures, clearly you enjoy looking for the differences and understanding the people.
Great video as always!
We'd rather work to live than live to work. And yeah, people being late drives me nuts. About food, we are just proud about the great things we have here and enjoy the fact that others enjoy it too.
The US and the rest of the English-speaking world have always tried to make Spain look bad because we were historical enemies. Spain was the one that discovered America, and began to develop cartography, maps, cities, and the English came to steal all their efforts. Now the English are in total decline. Karma does its work.
The US population has been isolated, as China does with its inhabitants, so that they believe themselves to be better than the world. This, together with the fact that they do not have much culture, and have not traveled much to Europe, makes them think they are better.
The trick they use is to MANIPULATE THE EVALUATION CRITERIA (political trick) to give importance to the evaluation CRITERIA where they get the best grades (in a liberal capitalist system, you have to dedicate your life to your professional life, live for your work, and for that, your punctuality, speed, efficiency are important)
In a more socialist system like the European one, we value more criteria like personal life, family environment, honesty, kindness, food, human relations, quality time. We have other criteria to evaluate what is good in a society. And in those terms, the US and other more liberal countries, like the United Kingdom, perhaps Holland, are very backward. In addition, their model does not work, and it is sinking. The US and the United Kingdom have nothing to do with what they were 30 years ago. We must not fall into what small countries with little personality have fallen into (some Nordic countries try to copy the criteria of the USA)
www.rtve.es/play/videos/espana-estuvo-alli/espana-estuvo-alli-ayuda-espanola-guerra-independencia-americana/2590058/
Here the US ambassador himself explains that without the help of Spain the USA would not exist as a country. At minute 22;45
The "being always late" is more like a situational cultural sign. In general, people have a way more relaxed way of enjoying free time or time with friends than in most other countries. I see many cases of foreigners being like: let's meet at 12 for lunch, finish at 12:30, go to this museum from 13:30 til 16 and then home. In Spain the general attitude is more being with people without a real plan or purpose other than the company, so in general schedules aren't that tight, you just meet somewhere and that's it, it's actually worse perceived if you have to leave early than if you arrive late. Again this is mostly for hangouts and friends gatherings, when you meet for a movie, for work, for whatever that requires a fixed time, people are expected to be punctual. I don't think it's about not respecting each others time, it's about people not caring about what time it is when being with you. This attitude was (and is) very common in small cities/towns and rural areas, and it's losing a bit in bigger cities, probably because the busier your life, the more value you give to your own time, while in the other extreme a village or small town the plan is usually "I'll go to bar after dinner, and you don't even text or call your friend unless they are 1-2h late, cause your whole plan for the night is just be at that specific bar anyways, you're not sacrificing anything.
After visiting the city of Barcelona, what is your opinion of it?
I'm spaniard so I'm gonna leave some thoughts here as I watch this video
-The thing with being late mostly depends on 2 factors: The seriousness/formality of the situation, and the duration of what you're gonna do. On serious situations, we might still be late, but the thing that happens in Spain is that the people who host the "meeting", or the "event", or whatever thing is going on, always concede 5/10 "minutes of courtesy". It's a very brief period of time that's given in case people have some kind of trouble getting to the place, like traffic or something, for them to reach the place. But if you arrive later than 10 minutes in a formal situation you are considered rude. When it comes to unserious events, it's just not a big deal, specially depending on the second factor: Duration. So... If you're gonna hang out with someone for like... A few hours... Is it really that much of a big deal if you're 10-20 minutes late? And well, there's actually a third factor: number of people you're meeting. If you're late and you only hang out with one person or 2 people, then yeah, you're rude. However, if you're late to a party with several people, those people can start the party without you, so being late isn't really an issue at all
-Now, let's talk about food culture. I'm from the spanish region of Valencia, where paella is from, and you definitely hit a nerve when you mentioned paella. This is a hot topic even in Spain itself. People who aren't from Valencia are usually bad at cooking paella, and we valencians can even get mad with people from other regions, because it's a very important thing to us. Basically, whether we're gonna get mad or not depends on your accuracy cooking it. If a foreign person uploads a video "cooking paella" and it's not accurate, we're gonna be offended. Paella is made in a special cauldron called "paellón". If you cook paella on something that's very different to a paellón, odds are you're not cooking actual paella. If the set of ingredients is very different from what we use, it's not paella (we jokingly call that "rice with stuff"). If it takes you less than an hour to cook it, it's surely not paella. If you put the rice in right from the start, it's not paella. In the process of cooking paella, the rice is the last thing you add. If you don't use olive oil, you could hardly call it paella. If you use butter, it's not paella
-The thing with Five Guys and other food chains, is that when the restaurants started to open here, it was exotic. For you guys, american food is a very... Regular, common thing. So of course you're not gonna consider it that good. For us, it's different, it's exotic. And those corporations capitalize on that, and they base their marketing strategies on that fact, so of course it's gonna feel very different. I can cook tortilla de patatas at home, and it's very normal for me, and not special. However, if I were to open a tortilla de patatas restaurant on Los Angeles, it would probably be considered sort of a special thing, because it would be exotic for you guys
In Spain even the simple tortilla de patatas brings to huge discussions. With onion or not? Well done or a little juicy inside? And about paella...
About the vermouth topic, yes it is a drink but it is more than a drink. Having a vermouth in Spain doesn't mean just drinking it, it is about all the things that accompany it. From those tapas to the company (we rarely have a vermouth alone). That's why it is reserved mostly for noon: you're not that hungry for lunch but with the beverage you also get those little snacks that keep you nice until lunch time.
About punctuality...we accept arriving late a certain amount of minutes but just it, more than 5/10 minutes...you need to have a good excuse. But on the opposite side, we find arriving too soon as rude as arriving too late. It feels like forcing people to rush. 5 p.m. is that: 5 p.m. not ten past five but also not ten to five.
The comment about paella, she never met a true Valencian. They take paella very seriously
We valencians do not take paella very seriously. We do take the seriosity of the paella very seriously.
@@mariobv947 amén 🙏
Spaniard here
1. Work Culture. Employees are paid to do their best 40h/week. The Company/Project belongs to the owners. It’s their life. Let them do whatever it takes to make it work. Like hiring more employees. We work by the hour for the owners and want to go back to our lives asap.
2. Lateness. True. Hard to explain it here. Let’s say we are chill and flexible and we find it very convenient we are treated nicely when we are the ones being late.
3. Food. Fast Food is just easy and fast. We sometimes feel like eating something different. It’s guilty pleasure as well.
In Spain... You just aren't as punctual when you go out partying as you are when you go to work.
You have to remember that people here value their free time. It doesn't make sense to be on a break and be stressed out about being late for a few beers...
It's also not the same to be late when you meet up with just one person as when you meet up with a group.
When it comes to dealing with lazy mindset stereotypes, I always say that most people view work as something you have to overdo it and when they rest, they feel guilt for resting. Thats why most peoplewhen they have a day off, they are filled with selfloathing feelings and drink themselves until they are numb. Work to live a fun life, not live to work. Resting helps yoube more efficient as well.
Paella at night its a CRIME
Otro talibán etno-paellil, que te va a marcar las pautas sobre como y cuando comer arroz. ¡Pesaos!
Paella is nice at every hour of the day. Period.
Lo mejor es comer paella en bocadillo a las tres de la mañana.
@@henhaooahneh el arroz te lo comes como y cuando quieras, la paella no 😘
@nutriaball Hace muchos años en Castellón me la ponían con guisantes. Luego el cocinero, que se llamaba Fernando, pasó a llamarse Ferran y empezó a decir chorradas. Yo le sigo echando cebolla y guisantes, la preparo en una paellera (como dice el diccionario) y tan a gusto. Ah y la paella valenciana con chorizo en el sofrito está buenísima, a todos mis invitados les encanta.
Hi, Danielle, enjoying your videos! My son has lived in Madrid for 11 years. About the time thing, yes, Spaniards don't value time the same way other cultures do. But different parts of the US has differing sense of punctuality. I'm from DC and was always 20 minutes early, then moved to Seattle where everyone is 20 minutes late. It took me 10 years to slow down to being comfortable to just being on time. Also, I was used to shaking hands to greet people and Seattleites hug. I'm still very awkward with the European air kiss on both cheeks.
About the first one. Usual business/office hours are 9:19, with 1h for lunch, that is usually filled with business meetings. Considet that spain is at least 1h west to europe so is like 8:18 everyhwhere else. Plus, in real business world, nobody stops at 19. Many people keeps working till 21 or 22 (yeah, dinner time), specially in consulting.
Considering how many people (specially young) works in "consulting", means external, nowadays, I am surprised foreigners dare to talk about it.
When I worked with other euros, they stop at 17. Even in top consulting. they just stop. With americans the same, i remembwr that by 5 there was nobody in the office and we will push the indians to 19 at least for dinner, and then a bit more till 22 or 23. And back to the office at 8.
Whoever thinks spaniards are "sleeping" never really worked a real environment here. Same happen for mexicans or asians. Works crazy hours, receive shit pay.
Hola Danielle,
Acerca de llegar tarde. Puede ser una tendencia, pero en muchos aspectos no es así. Por ejemplo en el trabajo, generalmente la mayoría de la gente que trabaja empieza puntual, la mayoría de establecimientos abren puntualmente. Otra cosa es el tiempo libre cuando la cosa está más relajada, y no hay la presión del tiempo, pues a veces pasa eso, que no se mira tanto la puntualidad.
Y acerca de la comida, concuerdo contigo, la comida española es genial, pero aun así y todo estamos muy influenciados por la cultura estadounidense del McDonals, KFK, la Coca Cola, etc. y la gente cuando sale a tomar algo rápido, no mira su salud, sino su estómago...
Saludos
iam spanish and my father always told me that there were two types of people in the world, those who work to live and those who live to work.
Perhaps the french person never worked in Spain and s/he is making it up!
Ok, about lateness here is the key: we don’t meet AT, we meet AROUND. Spanish time code, everyone knows that…
Time is relative to the alternative uses of the other person's time. If the others are among friends, no problem. On most occasions punctuality is showing respect, yes, in Spain. I do not like to be made to wait. You just expect the late one to apologize, but I do not form a permanent oppinion on someone based on it.
Regarding the tardiness....yes it is true, it's part of our culture if you are going to the theatre at 19hr you meet with everybody at 17hr because we NEED to talk to each other before the event and that allows for people arriving late, this has become a justification to be in the vicinity of two hours late every time, and as a spaniard... it's frustrating. I decided to go the other way and be in time everywhere and it's a pain, because I've gotten very frustrated around so much people
I think you all take things waaaay too serious. In Catalonia, we have the stereotype that we're stingy; in Andalucia, that they sleep al the time, etc. But we live in a society that it's normal to "give and take", to call a friend moron and go for a beer, or even get into a literal fight and go later to drink like friends. We don't take offense easy, because is a mutual understanding. ANOTHER THING is if you know that the other person who says those things is not from the same social standing and trully says that to hurt or cause harm.
Another situation is, if that comment is about a stereotype of the society or country, or if it's directed personally at you. It's not the same to say "Hey! They say Spaniards are lazy" (and we can thing, you're crazy people with guns) or to say "Hey! You must be lazy because you're Spaniard", that's personal.
About being late... It's true xD Usually, what happens is that if you usually go out with friends, and there's people who always arrives 15 min late (normally we say something to the others), you just make plans knowing beforehand that this happens, no drama. We're relaxed people and we value waaaay more the quality time that we spend with this person, that take offense for being 5 minutes late. At least to social meetings. If it's about work or something serious/formal, that's just rude, and you must have an excuse.
About the food... I have to say, that all those things about "cultural appropiation" it's just american/english people going NUTS. Wtf is cultural appropiation? It's just crazy people talk, people so rich and so void of selfsteem that have to create monsters to fight and feel important. That being said: We just feel proud if other people value our dishes. Even if you make your own version of the dish, because you just have other tastes or preferences, no big deal. Here, even between families, the recipes can change A LOT (no drama). ANOTHER THING, is if you disgrace a recipe, make a frankestein of it, and YOU DARE to call that this abomination is the dish or a version. You can't call a "paella valenciana" a f... dish of rice with chorizo, like you can call a "caesar salad" a "chiken with broccoli", that is when we're going to CRUSADE you. xD
Yo no llego tarde, pero si alguien queda conmigo y llega tarde imagino que es porque estaba trabajando y no se pueden dejar las cosas de cualquier manera.
RENFE (Spanish train company) has a punctuality rate of 91% compared to Germany's 70%, according to the European Commission.
USA trains.. 30%
AIRCRAFT: In January 2024, 87.3 percent of the 14,152 flights operated by IBERIA arrived on time, which has allowed it to place first in the world punctuality ranking.
USA is more unpunctual
Yo creo que para las quedadas informales decimos la hora para mas o menos estar en el lugar y está bastante normalizado que alguien pueda llegar 5-10 min tarde xD
What's the point of setting a time to meet up with friends to go to a bar? I used to watch the series "Friends" and everyone was late! Haha
We may seem lazy in the summer when we are on vacation. In the summer we take naps that we couldn't take the rest of the year. Tardiness must be punished, I am punctual and if I notice that the person does not respect my time, I advance the appointment time thinking about their tardiness. Food is a religion, it is better not to touch that topic, just respect it. I would drink vermouth at all hours but I don't dare.
Siesta lo harás tú. De madrid para arriba eso no ocurre.
@@Atreas1845 la siesta la duerme todo el que puede. Pero no todos pueden. Ni todos la necesitan porque no todas las personas tienen los mismos ritmos circadianos.
About the food thing. The general sentiment is that we don't mind people doing our traditional dishes as long as they respect it. If an American would try to cook Paella, it would be fine as long as they try to make it how it is supposed to be. But then, do a different dish and call it Paella? Hell no. That's insulting. Paella is not the best example since every house does Paella differently, and Valencian people do not particularly enjoy the rest of the Spanish people using the word for “rice with things.” But you get the point. We are mostly proud of the culture around our food, the quality of ingredients, the variety of dishes, and how healthy and tasty they are. We get offended when a British generally calls our food terrible, not so much when they say they tasted Jamón and didn't like it.
About time, It is relative, if some group of friends meet for having a drink in a bar, it doesn't care if you reach 10 minutes late, if It is for a dinner that is different, in my case is because of work, I work so much that I can't arrive at time always, the good about that is that I can meet someone even if I don't have enough time so that is good for quick plans that you create in the day, you don't need to schedule, sometimes this plans are done like two hours before you meet, so you don't have time to get ready, but you just say I will reach a bit late, but you still have the meeting, so It is good for this, in other countries people won't meet because the are so worried about not arriving or doing the plan too late, here you don't that problem so is better for social life, maybe is because were are so social that time is secondary
Easy explanation: if you are early and the rest are gonna be late, you're gonna be the one waiting for the others for half an hour.
Solution: be late too.
Whatsapp has been great for this. I just ask in the group when people has left home and I don't leave until they start saying they did 😅
Lo que tiene mucho que ver con la leyenda negra, las mentiras sobre nuestra historia, costumbres, cultura que han estado tergiversando o, directamente, inventando, durante 500 años y no hay día en que Google, Hollwyood, Netflix, HBO, National Geographic, Marvel, Disney, BBC; etc. vomiten sus tópicos, prejuicios y falsedades sobre España, su historia y los españoles.
Lo que está bien claro y vivo también en los EEUU.
No hay universidad, de Harvard a la más desconocida que no dicte, cada año cursos sobre las "colonias latinoamericanas". Es difícil mentir más con dos palabras. Ni España tuvo colonias en América ni son latinas, jamás hubo, ni hay ni podrá haber latinos en América.
cuando celebran Jamestown como primer asentamiento europeo en América, obvian "olvidan" que los españoles llegaron a América 200 años antes que los ingleses y cuando estos fundan Jamestown, LITERALMENTE, los españoles ya habían fundado más de MIL ciudades en América, universidades, hospitales, puertos, acueductos, regadíos, carreteras, colegios, catedrales, iglesias, misiones, ...
el acusar de genocidas a los españoles cuando fueron los anglos los que usaron la política del: "único indio bueno es el indio muerto" y ponían y PAGABAN en efectivo por las cabelleras de hombres, mujeres, ancianos y niños.
Fueron anglos los que encerraron en campos de concentración a los nativos que no dieron exterminado, mientras solo hay mezcla con nativos en territorios que fueron España (no colonias de España).
Fueron los EEUU los que azuaron, financiaron, armaron y apoyaron las sublevaciones en Cuba, Filipinas, etc. contra España, y en Filipinas tras incumplir todas las promesas que les habían hecho a los filipinos les IMPUSIERON el inglés (España jamás impuso el Español en más de 300 años ni en América ni en Filipinas) y destruyeron las iglesias católicas y genocidiaron a más de un millón de filipinos que se resistían a la imposición EEUU.
Ignoran (olvidan) que unos 2/3 de los actuales EEUU hablaban español 150 años antes que el inglés y eran parte de España con españoles: California, Montaña, Nuevo México, Tejas, Colorado, Florida, etc. etc. etc.
También hay que aguantar que usen el despectivo -ard (spaniard) para referirse a los hispanos, algo que solo se aplica a ellos, no a los árabes, rusos, alemanes, australianos, italianos, rumanos, nigerianos, turcos, japoneses, etc.
etc etc. etc
Since you have been to several european countries, I suppose you allready know this : In Spain our hours don't match our time zone. While in London it's 12:00, in Castellón (meridian zero, too) it's 13:00.
Your spanish audience keeps growing. Congratz!
The food thing: we appreciate when they really try to do our food. Spanish food is great and everyone should try a good tortilla de patatas.
But we HATE when they do it bad, and I mean really bad. Adding seafood to a paella can bother some Valencians, because is not the traditional paella, but adding chorizo and olives, just because its Spanish food and Spain has chorizo and olives will make all of us angry. Just follow the recipe or recognise that you are getting experimental, and we can be friends.
The time topic: Depends of the person and situation. We don't notice a 5-10 minutes late as a problem, but if you get lter than that, you need an excuse or we need to expect it. In my family, we tell my SIL that we meet half an hour before we really meet, so she will be expecting her being only 15 minutes late. We know her and we love her, we know how to work around or that we have to meet on a place that we are not bothered waiting... If you make me wait half an hour in a underground station, and I wasn't prepared, i will be mad.
Lazyness: we know the stereotype and where it comes, not to bothered be it. If you want to listen will correct the stereotype, if you don't want to listen, just believe we are lazy, we know it's not true.
the quality of five guys here is better than in the USA. We eat spanish food all the time so we can eat other things now and then.
wait until you learn about the spanish black legend, thats where all these stereotypes comes from, But Half of the world we know today is thanks to Spain, Even Alabama or Florida still use the Spanish Flag Borgoña Cross
De ahí viene todo esto
@@Atreas1845 correcto, hay un libro escrito por los commonwealth llamado a Proposal for Humbling Spain escrito en 1711, donde llaman a los españoles vagos, subhuman, etc etc... y que además propone la invasión de Argentina para quedarse con sus recursos minerales.
Y Colorado,Montana,Arizona,Nuevo Mexico...
1- It's exactly that. Workaholic people call us lazy, but it's just we have work-life balance lifestyle.
2- Completely true and pisses me so much. It's okay if we are in a group and one is late since it doesn't matter that much, but in 1 to 1 meeting even if it's 5 minutes it's rude.
3- We appreciate it if you speak Spanish, try to cook our foods or whatever you try. So Appreciation
And yeah, it's how Hispanic people are, it's in our DNA. If you travel to Mexico, Colombia or any other Hispanic country you'll find these traits true for them as well.
About being late. I live in Eindovhen NL. Everyone knows people always there are on time. Every date I had with a Dutch girl, they were late...not too much time but they weren't on time.
About food. I lived in Colombia,Ecuador and Spain...eat delicious food is the rule, completely normal. In The Ntherlands or UK food doesn't has taste or flavor. I cook basic spanish or Latam dishies and Dutch people thing I'm a great chef.
Don't worry about being politically correct, we recognize our shit and we don't give a fuck about other people opinios. Only there are some stupid ones who likes victimize all the time.
I agree on your three points.
About the food topic, we apreciate that foreign people make our recipes, but try to be a a little bit loyal to the recipe, enough to make our eyes not to bleed. And with the paella... try not to do it with valencians nearby, they get MAD with paella, they even have a specifical expresion with a bad done paella, it's called "arroz con cosas" which is "rice with things"
My opinion is when Spaniard smell stress on the way , they take step back. This is about social rules. They hate to be under pressure. I have 2 Spanish friends. They hate stress about everything.
Como español, todos estos estereotipos me divierten, luego vienen aqui (los extranjeros), y si se integran un poco, y se dan cuenta del estilo de vida que llevamos, comprenden que "tienen que sacarse el palo del culo", y estar un poco mas relajados...que solo se vive una vez...como decían en mis tiempos Spain is diferent...
1: Spain does have laws to allow work-life balance, and this helps. But you may still find people working 60h/week.
2: I don't find this so accurate, unless it is with events that don't really depend on that specific person being there or don't have a hard deadline. Like if you're meeting with your friends for a coffee and you arrive late others can start having coffe and there's no issue. But if we talk about work meetings or meeting for something that we need to be on time for, like movies, I feel here we're as punctual as anywhere else.
3: Cultural appropriation is not a thing unless you're actually trying to appropriate!! First thing I ask to a non-spanish making paella is what ingredients are they putting in, not to lecture them about how they should do it but because how fun it is to see how recipes like that are slightly modified one step at a time when exporting them to other countries until they morph into something competely different.
When I talk to Dutch friends we like to joke about the time they were a colony of Spain and the urban legend they have that every dark haired white Dutch person in the Netherlands is of Spanish descent, which is actually false.
Tardiness is NOT a Mediterranean thing. It is a HUMAN thing. Until a few decades ago, people lived a different rhythm of life guided by the sun... much healthier. A century ago, most people in Europe and the USA lived on a subsistence agriculture system, since it was not yet mechanized and industrialization had not yet arrived.
Then industrialization came, the population moved from the countrysides to the cities to work in factories and the system changed. Then employers needed employees to be punctual and efficient slaves. And in some countries this story was believed more than in others. This was accentuated by Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anglicism (each country in the North wanted to invent its own religion, because they could not stand that Rome had created Catholicism) and they focused on convincing the uneducated population that they would get to heaven if they did hard work in their lives and were good professionals (remember that at that time they were all landless and illiterate peasants). While the Catholicism of Southern Europe focused more on the concepts of family, and living a paradise on earth. Perhaps 20 or 30 years ago we might have thought that the Liberal+Lutheran model could be the model to follow, with slave workers with little culture who think that punctuality is the most important thing, but today we see how the models of the USA or the UK are crumbling and no longer work, while countries like Spain are emerging as a healthier lifestyle, which has nothing to do with having a good quality of life (46.8% of Spaniards have a second home, compared to 25% of French, or 16% of the USA and 7% of the English).
In NET terms, the salary in the USA is lower than in Spain. In the USA, the government uses the trick of letting you touch the money, but you never see it in your pocket. At most, perhaps a wooden house that someone tells you is worth 1 million dollars.
We must not let our enemies impose what the criteria are for evaluating a society. It is a trap. The positive criteria for a society are different, because they have not shown that it works better, because their lives were spent working, they live less healthy, more unhappy and fewer years.
Hi Danielle. Re the three observations you make, I'll comment of the second and last, since you yourself debunk the first one.
Tardiness: yes it is true. By and large, Spaniards are not famous for punctuality. Of course, it varies if it is in a professional or personal context, and if professional, what level of seniority you refer to. As said, generally true, and very frustrating when you are used to northern European standards. It is however, functional. Everybody in Spain knows that if you schedule a professional appointment between peers at 15:00, planning to actually be there at 15:15 should not be skin off your nose. At the meet, if you are the tardy one, you can always apologise. If you are the first one arriving, it'll shorten your wait and save you time. It is part of the social dynamic, and an overall approach to life where time is stretchy, in both directions, or runs at different speeds depending on the context. Many other attributes of Spanish social character - attributes which many foreigners, slaves to their wristwatches - find highly attractive of life in Spain, depend of this attitude towards time keeping. After a while in the country, you will learn that dealing with this reality becomes a test of character. And you better learn it well! In a professional context, waiting 15 minutes for a person from whom you want something, is of inconsequential import. The important thing is that you establish a good rapport, at a personal, individual level, with that person. You do it by showing flexibility, empathy, understanding, and tolerance. Do that, and that person will go many miles out of his/her way to satisfy your request, way beyond the boundaries of what he/she is expected to do as per their role o function. Dealing with occasional tardiness is the price you pay for that - very large! - benefit.
Food. In this, we Spaniards are not alone. I think you can extend your comments to all peoples around the Mediterranean basin in Europe. Food is not merely nourishment for the body. Food is nourishment for the soul! It demonstrates and exemplifies care, love, appreciation, excellence, hospitality. Food is the grease on which the cogs of human social interaction turn. In other countries, it is alcohol. For us, it is a delicious morsel of this, a exquisite bite of that. We are proud of our national cuisine, with all its infinite variety and diversity, and hold in very high regard those who are masters in their art. This said, we are not "nationalistic" about our national cuisine. On the contrary! We only wish other peoples would adopt our ways in the kitchen! Sadly, very few have the time or inclination to do it, or the palate to appreciate it. This may stem from the fact that most of our cuisine has very lowly, peasant origins. It does not boast - like French cuisine - the sophisticated authorship or patronage from monarchs or aristocrats, no mater how sophisticated their preparation and presentation. Ask most Spaniards and they will tell you that the best, most "authentic" paella, of fabada, or empanada, or... whatever!, was the one their grandmother/father use to make when they were children. An example of this is a peculiar and revered Spanish institution: the "peña gastronomica", or culinary club. There are tens of thousands of them, each with their local and regional culinary lore. Many/most are male dominated spaces. This does not mean that women are not welcome. It means men set the menu for the gathering, do the shopping, cook the food, and then wash the dishes and tidy up. The women are honoured guests and have no chores or duties apart from enjoying the food, and gracing the event with their presence. The men have the privilege of preparing something special, something that requires specific skill and artistry, at which they are considered undisputed masters. In Spain, a man that cannot cook - event a limited repertoire - with some skill, has a much diminished social value, definitely among women, as well as among other men.
We just don't like to wait so we fight not to be the first one there 😅 But this is only with friends. We aren't late for appointments.
As for the (not) cultural appropriation. I think everyone in Spain appreciates when foreigners enjoy and try to cook our food. Of course we may get pissed off when they make something that doesn't even resemble the real thing, but it's not that hard to find out how to make it right and then we really, truly enjoy it.
If there's anything that upsets me about foreigners and Spanish food is that the most popular dishes internationally are the most dull Spanish dishes. With the exception of jamón and paella: tortilla is boring, croquetas are dull, churros are meh, patatas bravas is dumb, pantumaca is nothing... we have hundreds of much more delicious traditional dishes foreigners never get the chance to try.
There's also a lot of BS in social media. I eat paella for dinner every time I have leftovers. Only people in social media turn it into a sin.
What is a 5 guys?
Los estereotipos son una manera de simplificar la verdad. Para mentes perezosas. No gastaría un minuto en desmentirlas. Hay cosas más entretenidas en las que perder el tiempo. Voy a echarme una siesta😊
Those stereotypes were built by protestants ... is it part of the SPANISH BLACK LEGEND.... goes back to the Spanish empire, so there are lots of those kind of negative stereotype perpetrated through centuries !! it is provoked by envy too !! the Spanish empire was the biggest empire in the west ... so when it collapsed the old enemies keep using them !! it is lots of accumulated fear too, just in case the empire reunites again !! Spanish use stereotypes on the French, the Germans and the English too .... old rivalry !! in Spain we say: NO OFENDE EL QUE QUIERE, SINO EL QUE PUEDE !! Spanish pride goes far beyond those stereotypes !! Never mess with Spanish food or try to lecture a Spanish person about Spanish food, you will get the F* off word straight away !! there a lots of red lines ... good luck !!
1 . We don't care, people has been calling us lazy since forever but we're actually too busy too give an f.
2 . Seems like a you problem, if being 15 or 20 minutes late is source for stress it seems you need to chill, we just use time as an indicator not a set in stone goal (uptight spaniards hate this also XD)
3 . We welcome anybody to try as long as they're humble, but publish a video titled "How to make an authentic paella" messing anything in the recipe and prepare for our wrath (btw, is impossible to make a paella video that would be praised by every valencian, gatekeepers of the rice, just don't try XD)
In our defense, and only based on my personal experience, I would say that our tardiness has to be dictated for the weather or geographical reasons, because when I have an appointment with Dutch people in vacation here in the golden coast of Tarragona they are always late and drunk as a skunk 🤣🤣🤣
Sobre llegar tarde:
Es muy raro llegar tarde al trabajo, lo normal es llegar 10 o 15 minutos antes.
Con los amigos o familia es diferente. Se suele quedar a una hora aproximada, es decir, si quedamos a las 4 es más o menos a las 4, se considera que puedes tener un imprevisto o simplemente tomarte tú tiempo. Si vamos a realizar una actividad con un horario específico nadie llegará tarde, y si lo hace pedirá disculpas.
Sobre los intentos de elaborar recetas de comida española:
Es muy frustrante ver "mi versión" sobre ello, parece ridículo para otras nacionalidades pero a nosotros nos lleva años de práctica elaborar de la forma correcta las recetas más sencillas por lo que resulta muy molesto ver a alguien disfrutar mientras aniquila una receta tradicional. Es algo cultural muy nuestro.
So a few things: Yes, we work as much as anybody else, but we do know when to stop and I think that's the way It should be. We comply with the contract we signed, nothing else, we don't owe anything to any company. Yes we are late and this pisses me off a lot. And yes, we would absolutely look at you with the biggest most condescending look If you would even attempt to make a paella. Spanish food is an extremely serious topic for us. Problem is that you can find very very close-to-the-original Italian or Indian dishes, but when It comes to Spanish, 99.99% of the times dishes made by foreigners are extremely wrong.
Riiiight....born and bred Spanish here. I have lived abroad for the last 15 years. Only comment I have to make is this, for Americans, Dutch, German and all non-Mediterranean Westeners. Take a chill pill!
We work hard, but obsessing over work is pointless. Being late to chilling with friends is not the same as being late to your own wedding, we know punctual when required and by all means, we do not care about foreigners murdering our dishes, every Spanish person knows if you want food made proper, "vete a casa de abuela".
Punctual people in Spain have no other option but to adapt to the general lack of punctuality. Most of my friends have no sense of time whatsoever, so I 've started to leave the house when at least some of them are already at the place we are supposed to meet at, otherwise I'm always the first to arrive and I'm so done waiting for people to show up whenever they feel like. I guess I'm one of them now... I still don't like it and I think it's disrespectful for the other people's time.
Lateness is a Mediterranean thing... but it's completely different from lazyness, which is a complete falsehood.
Spaniards choosing fast food like pizza or burgers over other type of food isn't because of speed or readiness, but cheap price I'm afraid.
Tardiness is NOT a Mediterranean thing. It is a HUMAN thing. Until a few decades ago, people lived a different rhythm of life guided by the sun... much healthier. A century ago, most people in Europe and the USA lived on a subsistence agriculture system, since it was not yet mechanized and industrialization had not yet arrived.
Then industrialization came, the population moved from the fields to the cities to work in factories and the system changed. Then employers needed employees to be punctual and efficient slaves. And in some countries this story was believed more than in others. This was accentuated by Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anglicism (each country in the North wanted to invent its own religion, because they could not stand that Rome had created Catholicism) and they focused on convincing the uneducated population that they would get to heaven if they did hard work in their lives and were good professionals (remember that at that time they were all landless and illiterate peasants). While the Catholicism of Southern Europe focused more on the concepts of family, and living a paradise on earth. Perhaps 20 or 30 years ago we might have thought that the Liberal+Lutheran model could be the model to follow, with slave workers with little culture who think that punctuality is the most important thing, but today we see how the models of the USA or the UK are crumbling and no longer work, while countries like Spain are emerging as a healthier lifestyle, which has nothing to do with having a good quality of life (46.8% of Spaniards have a second home, compared to 25% of French, or 16% of the USA and 7% of the English).
In NET terms, the salary in the USA is lower than in Spain. In the USA, the government uses the trick of letting you touch the money, but you never see it in your pocket. At most, perhaps a wooden house that someone tells you is worth 1 million dollars.
We must not let our enemies impose what the criteria are for evaluating a society. It is a trap. The positive criteria for a society are different, because they have not shown that it works better, because their lives were spent working, they live less healthy, more unhappy and fewer years.
OMG! Crazy and.strange deduction lol Iam Spanish Mediterranean and no know this ; suposse is in your mind for some stereotipes the only Mediterranean know is a "Meditarranen diet" one or the best dieta of the world possibly lol and by the.way i know more foreigners with lateness than Spaniards
@Benito-lr8mz Have you listened to her video in full? She was talking about pizzerias (probably around Malasaña and Sol) being crowded at 2 AM after clubs close.
Soy español y es verdad nunca soy puntual,siempre llego 15 minutos antes
As someone who also moved to Spain and works here my perception of the work culture is slightly different. Yes, Spanish people work hard, but the work culture is focused on blindly following rules/procedures at the expense of achieving things. It results in much less being done for the same effort.
Recuerden esto "gringos" : Los españoles trabajamos para vivir, NO vivimos para trabajar. Y en 2024, en UE no nos ha ido tan mal. Comparen cifras de crecimiento con otras "supuestas potencias " de la UE. Y además , dormimos , dormimos, no paramos de dormir...
Y a nuestros queridos "amigos " de Flandes decirles que ellos , cuando vienen, de vacaciones a España, no paran de beber, y beber, y beber, y beber ...Y vuelven a beber, como los peces en el río ...No duermen. La cerveza se lo impide.....Saludos .
"just go to collect their paycheck and then go home"... those do actually exist, they are called civil servants.
That kind of opinions about lazyness is the reason that we use the word guiri unapologeticaly.
The half hour of courtesy is a golden rule.
And by the way, our american fast food is a bit better by the european Standards that are a bit better. And the most traditional food culture has elements from the famine during and after Civil War, specially on that aspect of trying to have something to feed and being a good host. Hospitality is for us more important than punctuality.
The origin for many spanish stereotypes comes from the protestant culture and i will tell you why.
There was a moment in Europe when the christianism splited in two currents; catolicism and protestantism initiated by the brits and dutch.
In that moment Spain was the most powerful superpower and global empire in the globe, so the other countries tried during 300 years to destroy it because they wanted to take over the wealth of southamerica.
There was a fierce ideological struggle for centuries over the interpretation of Christianity and Europe was divided into these two camps, with England and Holland being the great Protestant exponents who hated Spain.
With the advent of the printing press in 1453 thanks to Gutenberg, the Protestants acquired a very powerful weapon; propaganda.
The House of Orange took the terribly exaggerated writings of a friar named Bartolomé de las Casas and published them massively to sink the image of Spain. Centuries later it was shown that this friar deliberately exaggerated the bad situation of the Native Americans to capture the attention of the emperor of Spain and thus improve the rights for them, but also especially for him who sought fame and notoriety. He was already a rich man, bishop of Chiapas for 7 years.
The friar was criticized by coleagues like Toribio de Benavente who wrote this in a letter to the emperor in 1555:
"It is no wonder that de las Casas does not know it, because he did not try to know anything but the bad and not the good, nor did he have peace in this New Spain, nor did he learn the language of the Indians, nor did he humble himself or apply himself to teaching them. His office was to write processes and sins that everywhere the Spaniards have done: and this is what much he praises, and certainly this office alone will not take him to heaven. And what he writes in this way is not all true nor well known."
It should be noted that Bartholomé did not speak native languages and did not interact much with the Indians, but even so his writings are still remembered today.
You no longer need to destroy your enemy militarily because you can simply sink their image internationally.
Many of the myths about Spain and Hispanic countries come from this era, where Protestants who could not annihilate the Spanish empire simply used a new weapon based on negative propaganda.
Later, centuries later, Spain's war against the United States took place where they disputed Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and other remnants of the Spanish empire that the Americans wanted to obtain.
To help recruiting, the exaggerated legends about Spain were taken up again in order to build the image of an enemy that had all the worst virtues of a human being; lazy, violent, bloodthirsty .... thieves.
There are American newspapers of that time where the Spaniards are portrayed as the worst of the worst, and from there also comes the idea that the Spanish crown enslaved and annihilated millions in America.
Based on this facts, even the french thought the spaniards were lazy bastards with nothing but the infinite greed for gold, and it ended up in the napoleonic invasion of Spain.
I am punctual, if foreigners think that I sleep all day, then I think that they are not the kind of people who type into Google to find out everything about Spain... Personally, and since I am no longer young, I do not understand the gastronomic tastes of young people, but it is because they have little money that they go to burger joints, because they really know what is good but they do not have enough money. Regarding your initial comment about Catalans, I will tell you that I have dealt with several, and with Basques too, and I have always gotten along well on a personal level. But both regions, since the achievement of democracy, have artificially insisted on not wanting to be part of Spain, specifically Catalonia carried out a coup d'état in 2017, the author of which remains on the run... and these two regions, no more important or with more history than the others, claim absurd privileges over the rest of Spain, which makes many people not like them in general, although I have nothing against any region of Spain, I will always defend that Barcelona is a fabulous city, and that there is no monastery like Poblet and that the towns of the Costa Brava are wonderful, so I will not let a few steal it from me. Happy New Year, be happy in 2025, life is about that, and making others happy.
I think that saying that Spanish are late to everything is like saying women are late to everything. It's true some times, it depends of the situation. But it's mostly true. Go to tell it to the Spanish Americans.
Preferimos alardear de que trabajamos poco, somos ricos, no como otros que son tan pobres que solo tienen dinero.
Compared to Burger King or McDonald's, the only hamburgers we ever tried, Five Guys is way better than what we tasted before. But surely must be better burgers out there.
Me pregunto que pasa con los Españoles que viven y trabajan en otros Países de Europa y América (son unos cuantos miles). Supongo que llegarán puntuales al trabajo y al encuentro con amigos y conocidos. Me apuesto algo con cualquiera que cuando vuelven a España, de vacaciones por ejemplo, son un pelín impuntuales. Es la cultura de la flexibilidad "hoy por ti mañana por mi", hay que ser comprensivos no pasar por la vida corriendo por todo para llegar jadeando a la cita y comprobar, eso sí, que tus amigos o familiares están charlando tranquilamente y esperando a que llegues; quizás alguien piense pues que llegue antes. Vaya tiempo perdido esperar a lo tonto
Btw our food can be great but we cannot eat paella and churros every day. We love a pizza, a burger, sushi, pasta, chinese, peruvian, thai food. Give me everything. I do love myself a good ol' five guys burger like every couple months why not.
Como español que ha vivido en Estados Unidos, diré 4 estereotipos de los estadounidenses (y que nadie se ofenda).
As a Spaniard who has lived in the United States, I will say 4 stereotypes of Americans (and no one should be offended).
1.- Everyone eats fast food (comida basura).
2.- Everyone has a gun and knows how to shoot. And the police... shoot first and ask questions later!
3.- They are super patriots and think they are the masters of the world. Here I have to say something: You even call yourselves "Americans" appropriating the entire continent. Aren't a Canadian or a Mexican also Americans?? You are not the owners of all America. It's like a Spaniard presenting himself as European! In Spanish, you are "estadounidenses" = from United States, but there is no word in English to define your nationality! (It always seems strange to me).
4.- They don't know anything about geography, most Americans don't even know that Spain is in Europe, or that the capital is Madrid. And at this point, I add that Americans don't know anything about history, not even about all the history that links you to Spain: th-cam.com/video/CkEkM0AMRu0/w-d-xo.html (Maybe Danielle could make videos about this).
Generalizing always leads to misjudgments.
Generalization is needed in the world in order to survive. Normally, the sky is blue, normally, the north pole is very cold, normally, Swedish and blond. If you feel offended, you should reconsider that what she says is usually true.
In fact, when you use "always", you are generalizing
In this world, it is useful and even necessary to generalize. The sky is usually blue, the dogs can usually bark, the Swedish are usually blond. People that haven't thought about this, usually get offended...
*Para dejar en evidencia la mentira de que en España no se trabaja, sólo tienes que preguntar: ¿Y por qué España es un país con la decimoquinta (15a.) mejor economía en un mundo de 195 países? ¿Somos más listos que nadie? ¿Nos cae el maná del cielo? ¿Recibimos dinero por estar durmiendo todo el día?... ¡Eso sería asombroso y aún deberíamos ser más dignos de admiración por ello!😂
*Por otra parte, desconozco la costumbre de llegar tarde. Quizá sea algo de las nuevas generaciones. Por mi edad, me relaciono con personas mayores y todos somos puntuales. Se pueden conceder entre 5 y 10 minutos de cortesía. Más, sin avisar la causa del retraso, se considera de mala educación.
*En cuanto a la comida, sí, valoramos y apreciamos mucho nuestra gastronomía. Pero no es lo mismo vivir en grandes ciudades como Madrid o Barcelona que vivir en el resto de España, donde el ritmo de vida es más tranquilo y sí tienes tiempo para preparar y disfrutar los platos tradicionales. También tiene que ver con la economía de cada persona o familia (el fast food es más barato) o con que tradicionalmente siempre se haya encargado de la cocina el ama de casa... Es un tema complejo y son hábitos en constante evolución, como el propio país.
te carrea alemania, son la mascota d europa 😒
Puntualidad = esclavo del reloj.
Spanish restaurants are expensive compared to Fast Food American restaurants It is the main reason I guess.
That's right.
Que chica más mona😊
Yo siempre llego 10 mimutos antes, llegar a la hora es no ser puntual para mi porque el día que algo se retrase vas a hacer a las personas esperar y eso es una falta de respeto.
Not my case, I am puntual as a clock, but many Spaniards are always late and by the same margin of time, and I wonder why too, because it would be very easy to adjust e.g. leave 10 minutes earlier. I find it impolite nonetheless, wasting other people's time. The thing is they do that so they are not the ones waiting, which is really selfish, but they don't think much about it. Some Spaniards might reply I don't understand the culture, which is my culture and I am on spot knowing how a Spanish mind works! That's the reason, believe me. So, I "educate" people by not tolerating unpunctuality unless I have not other option (is a boss, relative or he/she is making me a favor), but sometimes I leave the place if they are not there in 15 minutes (too generous) and they are the ones who need me; it is the only way to educate the always-late people.
Im Spanish and im puntual. And so its the case for many Spaniards that I know of. Might be a regional difference, dont generalized.
To make it simple, its impossible to have a country in the worldwide top first 12 countries by GPD, the the fourth in europe, just sleeping all day. That't it, end of the story.
The black propaganda about Spain is something amazing.
To know more of what Spain did historically, i would recomend the book "The Spanish Pioneers" from the northamerican writer Charles Fletcher Lummis.
Charles Fletcher Lummis' book is fantastic that can be read as novel, and it should be made a film. The account dwarfs and recedes by 100 years the famous Lewis & Clark expedition, considered a foundational milestone of the US.
Also, the letter published in 1883 by the famous American writer and poet Walt Whitman “The Spanish Element in Our Nationality” is a very short must read for anyone interested in US history.
Soy español y ser impuntual me parece una falta de respeto y una verguenza, no conozco a nadie de mi entorno que lo sea, en Extremadura está muy mal visto ser impuntual no sé en el resto de España
Hi Danielle. Great videos!! To give some context to my answers , I'm a Spaniard who has lived in France, the US and the UK - at least 3 years in each of these countries - as well as in Madrid and Barcelona, where I've always worked in finance (not the slowest paced sector, if I may say).
So, regarding your comments:
Barcelona/Catalonia vs. the rest of Spain: Politics aside (and football aside), Catalans used to regard the rest of Spain as an New Yorker or people from California would regard "flyover states". Nowadays, with the decline of Catalonia and the fantastic period that Madrid is living, its hard to justify... but its still there. For me it is surprising how a super cosmopolitan city like Barcelona was in 1992 has turned into a provincial mentality these days.
a) Sleeping all day: This is nonsense, as you well know. If anything, we sleep less because we work longer and party longer.
I disagree on the working part. In my experience,
- in the US you see a lot of people showing that they are working when in reality they are "spacing out".
- In the UK, the Netherlands, France, the UK, people start getting ready to leave no less than 20 minutes earlier, and at 5 minutes past the hour they are all out and they will not accept any request to stay without complaining and/or.... Unlike in Spain, many people will stay a little longer if necessary without making a fuss.
b) Punctuality: Regarding meetings with individuals, the average perception is that anything below 10 minutes is not a delay not needing even to be mentioned. I doubt this will change.
In a professional environment, 5 minutes don't need an apology, but 10 minutes require an excuse/apology. Still, you mentioned the Netherlands and there, as you say, they give you a call if they are going to be late.... but the call recurrently turns into a blank check justifying everything -including trying to delay the meeting 30 minutes or even one day, without any additional explanation. Finally, regarding services you have an excellent comment by @Atreas1845 down below about punctuality in transportation. Since you live in Madrid, you know this is true.
c) Food: Of course!!!
Eating is not a process to tame a physical need, and enjoying food is not a guilty pleasure to indulge, resulting in the abandonment of the righteous path.
Food is culture, and it is a blessing to be enjoyed, preferably in good company, hopefully with a glass of wine.
Having said all the above, it is funny for us Spaniards of a certain age, who spent years abroad and have had to listen to comments on these subjects - usually in a dismissive/condescending/sneering way - that many people and countries are now "discovering" the virtues of the Mediterranean approach.
- Nowadays the siesta is either mandatory (Japan, China) or highly recommended to increase productivity, reduce stress, etc., in the west, even in large corporations - and this is leaving aside medical recommendations about its benefits... of course outside Spain, few dare to call it siesta, and call it a nap (as it sounds shorter, aleviating the guilt)
- Nowadays, work-life balance is at the heart of every HR department in all developed countries.
- Nowadays there is a boom of cooking/eating/food programmes, videos/books etc everywhere.
We observe this reality with amusement, using a very Spanish expression that describes when someone has finally discovered something that has long been obvious:
"Han descubierto América", something we did 533 years ago.
Sobre trabajo o comida es ocioso hablar. Sí diré algo sobre la puntualidad. Sé puntual en España o perderás amigos, trabajos y crédito. Realmente los españoles nos molestamos cuando alguien llega tarde, otra cosa es que no lo reprochemos. Pero ojo ! tarde o temprano llegará el reproche con sus consecuencias.
Lateness is totally true.
After more than half a century here, it's the only Spanish thing that I've not adopted. It's just impossible for me. That's why I'm always the first everywhere, before anybody else... And usually look like a fool... 😛
I am Mexican and I agree that Spanish speaking people normally arrive late all the time. I cannot understand what's the reason. It doesn't make any sense.
I never arrive late and in fact, I pull my hair of frustration with this situation
I am from Barcelona and my girlfriend is from Madrid. We live in Barcelona and spend many time in Madrid. I can confirm that all steriotypes from catalonians are true.
Stereotypes are generalizations. And false on every ocasion. I also was born in Barcelona, work in Madrid, and completly disagree with you (here you are!).
People, EVERYWHERE, want the same basics things. And the only thing, lacking in ALL OF SPAIN, it's to learn to respect others (like they do in Northern Europe or in Japan to a fanatical extreme). The first step? Put stereotypes where they belong: in the trash bin.
no se bañan
Danielle!!!
You need to spend more time with catalan folks, not that we are the best but there are things like about arriving late that here dont apply or apply just 10%.
About our inclination to eat in american restaurants, just think that Spain was closed from/to the rest of the world for many years (franquismo) and when monarquía quicked in 13:08 (and the opening) most of us were infatuated by EEUU and their way of life. So I think this traspased to the next generation and so on.
¿ Que España estuvo cerrada al resto del mundo durante el Franquismo ? Amigo, tu deliras. Eso es incierto y se nota que tú no viviste esa etapa. Los paises que estuvieron cerrados al resto del mundo, fueron los países del este de Eyropa, que estaban bajo el yugo de la Unión Soviética, en los que no había libertad para salir y entrar en el país. Ésto nunca ocurrió en España.
Creo que tu problema es el adoctrinamiento.
Spain was closed to Europe in POLITICAL terms! You must be the one who fell in love with the American way of life. What nonsense. When have you ever seen an American cap in your life in Spain? Or anything American culturally? Never.
Relax Danielle. Take your time! And try to speak a little slowly!
Actually, unpunctuality is ingrained in the language: "We meet from 20:00 to 20:15-ish". Meaning: "I will be arriving at 20:35 the soonest"
No it is not... wtf
You may not think it, but Catalans believe they are different, synonyms of better, than the Spanish. Every nationalist movement is born from supremacism and racism, and Catalonia is deeply nationalist and racist, but I understand why someone from outside might not perceive it. Enjoy in Spain.
Supongo que a fuerza de levantarte cada mañana (con la COPE de fondo) y repetir ante el espejo ese discurso te lo acabas creyendo . Muy triste. Como dice esta chica los estereotipos son muy malos y me parece que esta rodeada de personajes como tu más tiempo del que le gustaría por lo que no hace falta ser muy listo para saber, realmente, quien es el malo de la película. Disfruta lo votado.
@jesuszaino608 no escucho la cope. no escucho la radio no veo tv, Pero bueno. Lo votado te refieres a PSC, ERC, JUNTs, Forca Catalana, Todos partidos nacionalistas y por definición supremacistas y en el fondo racistas antiespañoles, lee un poco. Y no, no disfruto nada lo votado lo padezco, pero soy de los que pienso que tenemos el Gobierno que nos merecemos.