Spanish attitude to guiris & vice versa - chicken or egg?

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oliveview01
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Re: Spanish attitude to guiris & vice versa - chicken or egg?

Postby oliveview01 » Mon Jan 02, 2017 11:15 am

We met the miserable Spaniard when we did our residencia application, no hola, gracias, adiós, nothing! I felt like pointing out if it were not for us foreigners he would have no job! Apart from him, oh and the rude young man in the Chinese owned bazaar shop (I told him manners cost nothing) we have had no problems, we have been made very welcome. We are not in a big ex-pat area, live close to an inland town.
If you want grumpy doctor receptionists you need to go to my old Dr in the UK!!!

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Re: Spanish attitude to guiris & vice versa - chicken or egg?

Postby flyeogh » Mon Jan 02, 2017 12:08 pm

flyeogh wrote:
oliveview01 wrote:If you want grumpy doctor receptionists you need to go to my old Dr in the UK!!!
Olive please do not be critical of the wonderful dedicated doctor receptionists in the UK. It takes years of training just to perfect the first of several looks, a look they can even transmit over the telephone:

So you think you're ill do you. I'll be the judge of that. :evil:

They also have to maintain a smile as they tell the sweating, shivering, almost fainting person before them "He can see you a week Friday. Is that ok?"

To be fair they are 10 times better than they used to be and there are many good ones but your comment gave me a good laugh and brought back some memories. :D
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CielodeCadiz
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Re: Spanish attitude to guiris & vice versa - chicken or egg?

Postby CielodeCadiz » Tue Jan 10, 2017 2:20 am

I do believe the more crowded the area with ex-pats, the more perfunctory treatment those ex-pats will receive from the locals.

We've run into very few cantankerous Spainards in Cadiz but have been on the receiving end of some rude comments/actions many times over in the Costa del Sol.

No doubt the smaller the town the more gentle the inhabitants, provided one makes an effort to integrate.

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Re: Spanish attitude to guiris & vice versa - chicken or egg?

Postby Lavanda » Tue Jan 10, 2017 6:34 am

I think you are completely right, CielodeCadiz. In a small village a foreign person can get to be known as an individual. On the CDS that person is just another foreigner. I see you live in California. Are you planning a trip to Spain or thinking of moving here. (Bit of a thread digression, I know, but, anyway, belated Welcome to the Forum.)

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Re: Spanish attitude to guiris & vice versa - chicken or egg?

Postby CielodeCadiz » Tue Jan 10, 2017 7:14 pm

hola Lavanda, we have an atico in Cadiz old town, 5 years now. Quite a journey from California, we usually go thru Gatwick now, as there's only one non-stop per week from California to Madrid. There are a couple American owners in Cadiz, I don't think more than 10. Have been all over Spain!

the Gaditanos have been very welcoming, we look forward to being able to spend more time there but I am still figuring out the residents/no-residents angle.

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patricia
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Re: Spanish attitude to guiris & vice versa - chicken or egg?

Postby patricia » Tue Jan 17, 2017 10:42 am

The receptionist in the one I go to used to be vile. People were afraid to get her and as there were two on people used to skip their place in the queue to avoid her. However after years she has mellowed and also she now she deals with other things such as registration and appt at hospitals and is rarely on reception where there is now a lovely lady dealing with people. I do find though that at times in shops the Spanish are a bit short with you and rarely say hello or goodbye etc. But they have improved a lot especially in the supermarkets. At one time I avoided Mercadona in Torrox and went to the one in Nerja. But after the Lidls was built a few years ago I noticed a distinct change in their attitude and so am now happy to shop there as well as go to the reception at the Clinic with the very lovely lady there. :thumbup: You do still have to put up with the conversations they have with each other with each other and their friends and relatives who pop into see them in the supermarkets, but you have to take that in your stride and be patient. :D When in Rome and all that!!
Last edited by patricia on Tue Jan 17, 2017 10:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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markwilding
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Re: Spanish attitude to guiris & vice versa - chicken or egg?

Postby markwilding » Tue Jan 17, 2017 9:58 pm

Going back to an earlier post, whether or not Spain is third world or not is not down to opinion but fact. It is not developing or even developed but is considered a highly developed one.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developed_country

Apart from that, as a group, I agree with most on here that say there's good and bad in all nationalities. I remember a really unhelpful woman at hacienda once but most times they have been fine. You also come across miserable barmen to but most are good. I certainly have not experienced problem because I'm from the UK. These people aren't discriminating against me as they are like that with everyone.

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Re: Spanish attitude to guiris & vice versa - chicken or egg?

Postby patricia » Tue Jan 17, 2017 10:10 pm

I think you do get problems at times if you are a foreigner. When I first came to Torrox people used to think I was German and I am certain there was an some kind of anti feeling going on, also I have experienced it when I was the Presidente and people definitely felt that I should not be because I was a foreigner. You are bound to by the mere fact that, that is exactly what you are, a foreigner! It is the same wherever you go in the world if you are not the nationality of the country you live in. In reality. it is human nature. :silent:
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Re: Spanish attitude to guiris & vice versa - chicken or egg?

Postby markwilding » Tue Jan 17, 2017 10:24 pm

I have to say I try not to pre-judge a person by their nationality but I will agree that the fact there are so many foreigners in the south of Spain, there might be some anti-foreigner feeling from some people. I don't hear the word 'guiris' much this far north either.

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patricia
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Re: Spanish attitude to guiris & vice versa - chicken or egg?

Postby patricia » Tue Jan 17, 2017 10:35 pm

The term "guiris' does not affect me at all. People can call me a guiris until the cows come home, because that is what I am in the end. I am a foreigner living in Spain and I no more want to become Spanish then the Spanish would wish to become English, Brexit or no Brexit. We all say things about other nationalities ie. When summer is here, god the French and the Germans are here etc and then as the summer wears on we say thank god the Brits, the Germans etc will soon be gone. Wherever there is a difference it is going to be brought up. It is the nature of things. If we get annoyed with a particular person who is from another country or even another county we will say Bally ****** so and so! There is at times some anti foreigner feelings here, especially where people are not directly connected to any trade such as tourism or any other where they need foreigners money etc.
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Re: Spanish attitude to guiris & vice versa - chicken or egg?

Postby BENIDORM » Tue Jan 17, 2017 11:00 pm

I sometimes wonder if I live in a 'different Spain' to many other expats, I've had more problems with expats than I've ever had with local Spanish people.
Of course I've come across rude and unhelpful locals, but it's been rare, in most cases they have been really helpful, in fact I would say that on many occasions I'm sure that I've been given preferential treatment because I'm a 'foreigner'.
I've always tried to be patient and respectful with everyone and really tried to help and assist everyone , regardless of their origins and quite frankly I've received more thanks from local people than from some expats, even here on the forum there are a few down right rude people and resentful characters..But that's life. :)
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patricia
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Re: Spanish attitude to guiris & vice versa - chicken or egg?

Postby patricia » Wed Jan 18, 2017 9:45 am

I agree with that wholeheartedly, but the thread is about Spanish attitude not brits verses brits. There are some lovely ex-pats though, but there are also those who are not so lovely and who you avoid at all costs. :!:
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Re: Spanish attitude to guiris & vice versa - chicken or egg?

Postby markwilding » Wed Jan 18, 2017 10:34 am

So basically, you are agreeing with most posters who say there are good and bad in every nationality. It's very easy to form an opinion of a whole nation when you've had a bad experince with just one person from there.
When I take children to the UK in the summer, one of our objectives is to make sure the experinence living with a family is positive. A bad experience can form an opinion of the English which can last a lifetime.
Last edited by markwilding on Wed Jan 18, 2017 12:55 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Spanish attitude to guiris & vice versa - chicken or egg?

Postby BENIDORM » Wed Jan 18, 2017 11:20 am

Patricia,
I can see that you have very similar views to me and I wasn't trying to start a 'comparison discussion', just trying to point out that often it is the attitudes and behaviour of expats that creates the friction, and as I'm always stating it's really about creating mutual respect to have a better understanding within mixed cultures.

Mark,
And your statement is correct...

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Gordon.

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patricia
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Re: Spanish attitude to guiris & vice versa - chicken or egg?

Postby patricia » Wed Jan 18, 2017 2:18 pm

Absolutely. I remember a time when the Spanish were not so welcome in the UK and we all know the name we used to call them which was a derogatory term. But the point I am making is that there are some Spanish who are not so enamoured with foreigners all over the place and why should they be! At times the Brits as well as other Nationalities do not behave well towards the Spanish people, but I suspect that those people do not behave well towards their own nationality and are probably a pain in the neck at all times to all people regardless of Nationality.
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Re: Spanish attitude to guiris & vice versa - chicken or egg?

Postby elusive » Wed Jan 18, 2017 4:12 pm

*beep****** come in all nationalities religions colours creeds etc etc its not restricted to one set of people.

Re third world country.thats pretty insulting interms of the suffering of those in the third world but interms of the way things are run ie corruption and things such as the way the job market is run (illegal contracts tax dodging etc) i'd say second world. Oh and putting loo roll in a bin :shock:

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Re: Spanish attitude to guiris & vice versa - chicken or egg?

Postby patricia » Wed Jan 18, 2017 4:28 pm

I agree it refers to the amount of corruption within all the organisations and yes I know there is corruption in all countries it was rife in Spain. Also their mentality with animal welfare and yes I know there is cruelty all over the world and in the UK but the bullfighting and other "cultural" activities using animals and shocking and not in keeping with the 21st century and it is this which people are referring to when they call Spain a third world country.
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Re: Spanish attitude to guiris & vice versa - chicken or egg?

Postby Torrox_campo » Wed Jan 18, 2017 5:52 pm

The labeling Spain as third world country perhaps was due to the fact that Spain suffered so much poverty and starvation during the Franco years. Books written by Gerald Brenan clearly illustrated this situation! Sometimes I still found sighs of what he described in South from Granada or The Face of Spain.

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Re: Spanish attitude to guiris & vice versa - chicken or egg?

Postby patricia » Wed Jan 18, 2017 6:05 pm

There is no doubt that at that time Spain was third world and also under Franco who would not allow industry to thrive and it was only after his death that saw a huge and rapid transformation in Spain's economic growth and with that the Spanish peoples fortunes and their life's changed. Education became a part of their lives and I know people now who have become Doctors and lawyers whose parents were goat herders and labourers. In the short space of time Spain has shot forward, but there are obviously areas that are still "evolving" for want of a better word.

But its fortunes of course is its climate and affordable living. It does need, and especially Andalucia, more industry so that it does not rely solely on tourism and construction which led to such a disaster in 2007 onwards.

But we all know that part of Spain's charm is that you can drive a few miles inland or indeed around Torrox and still see goat herds and people using mules and oxen to farm the land. :thumbup: Long may it reign :D
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Re: Spanish attitude to guiris & vice versa - chicken or egg?

Postby Lavanda » Wed Jan 18, 2017 6:36 pm

Gosh! This is a HUGE subject. Do we really want rural people to stay in backward poverty so that we can think how picturesque they look and take some photos to send to the folks back home? Long may it NOT reign. However, times are changing and even someone like me — in love with rural Spain — accepts that the reason why the pretty dirt track I walked last year is now a concrete lane. People do not want to walk to their fincas leading donkeys to collect olives. They want to get to their fincas quickly, do the work and leave. Hence the gradual concreting of tracks and lanes from villages up to the point where the last finca that needs access is located. Incidentally, it's many a foreigner who buys a rural finca down a dirt track, builds a house and then wants a tarmac road to access the house. The whole subject is complicated.


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