Hi everyone, I am going to write something funny… typical Spanish habits and customs.
After more than 1.5 years in Spain, I realize that the Spanish people are a little different from the Dutch ones. OK, I am not saying that they are all different, but there are some things here and there that we, of course, do differently in the Netherlands. That is not a bad thing at all, but sometimes you have to adjust yourself a bit or just try to worry less.
Well, I have made a list of the habits that I see a lot here in Spain. If you know more Spanish habits, you can leave them in the comments.
Bread, everywhere bread
I don’t think Spain has the nicest bread, (now I’m talking about the “normal” bread), even the cheapest bread from the Dutch supermarket is better than what they sell in the supermarkets in Spain. The bread in Spain is mainly white, with a bunch of crap and a lot of sugar in it.
Of course, they have very good bakeries where you can get a very tasty baguette or artisanal bread.
In the restaurants, almost every time you’ll get bread served on the table, whether it’s for lunch or for dinner. Are you going to eat pasta? They serve you bread so you can dip the bread in the pasta sauce.
Making noise, read: Screaming
Spanish people can make noise. If you put a small group of people together, they can talk louder than 15 Dutch people without effort. Sometimes it happens, that I have to tap my ears because it is such a shrill sound.
In the gym, for example, 2 guys are talking to each other (with headphones on), not even 1 meter from each other. The entire gym can enjoy the conversation. Looked super funny though.
A different daily schedule
In Málaga, people wake up around 8, 9 or even at 10. During the morning it’s nice and quiet, you see many people eating their breakfast at the bars, you see them with “café con churros” or “bread with olive oil and tomato spread”. If you want to eat churros, you can eat churros until 12:30, then again after 5 p.m.
Lunch is from around 2 pm and can last until 16 pm or even later. The siesta is at the same time as lunch. Some people take a nap, go for a walk, or drink a nice cold beer.
By 6 o’clock in the afternoon, it’s time for something sweet. Coffee with a pastry or a brownie for example, then they can keep it up until 10/11 in the evening because then it’s time for dinner. During dinner, they often do not eat that much because they have eaten the biggest meal in the afternoon.
After Dining
Another addition to the text above is that Spanish people like “after dining”. After the big lunch, the booze comes on the table, from coffee with liquor, to cognac/whiskey or mixed drinks (copas).
When I was working in a restaurant, I mainly noticed this Spanish habit in the winter. People are dining longer. They entered the restaurant around 2 p.m. and some left the restaurant around 6:30 p.m. with a splash of alcohol in their mouth.
Tapas
Spain is known for its tapas. In some cities such as Granada, you get a free tapa with your drink. Tapas are small snacks to share with each other, which the Dutch people sometimes don’t do so well ;).
The specialties of Málaga are meatballs in tomato sauce, Rusian salad, patatas bravas with garlic sauce or spicy sauce, squid rings or other kinds of fish, tortilla de patata (potato quiche).
Olives are eaten throughout the day or you get a small bowl of chips or nut mix (frutos secos) when you order your drink. Soon when I just lived in Spain, I was already used to this Spanish habits. (Read here about the amazing Spanish Food Culture!)
–> As I write this blog on the airplane, (at 10:45 AM) a man sits next to me who opens a bag of chips and also offers me to eat with him haha !! What a coincidence.
Free Days Off
Partying… yes, Spain can do that. Spain has the highest number of public holidays in Europe. I remember when I was just living in Spain, there were a lot of public holidays, and every time I thought, “What would this public holiday be?!”.
They have all those holidays because it is a very religious country.
Often it is accompanied by parades with thrones through the streets like in the week of Semana Santa.
Another public holiday (week) is the famous Ferias, which has almost every city and village once a year, where many women with beautiful dresses walk through the streets with flowers in their hair and also having their alcoholic drink in their other hand.
Talking about drinking alcohol on the street, what you see a lot among young people is “bottelón“. Groups of people buy alcohol in the supermarket, big bottles of beer, etc, and they drink it in the streets.
Supermarkets, or in the shop
It can happen that when you want to buy something (in the supermarket or a store), the people at the cash desks won’t look at you at all. Instead of talking to you, they are enjoying talking (or yelling) with the person in front of you who just paid their stuff or they talk with the person behind you.
Sometimes I really thought, “Euhm… Hello?, I am here, I am your client now!“
Of course, this can also happen in other countries, but I notice that it happens a bit more often here in Spain than for example in the Netherlands.
Conclusion
With all said, I think it’s a super nice country to live in (read here “Reasons why to live in Spain). The all-over pressure is less, the sun shines almost every day (Málaga counts 300 days of sun a year), and the food is super tasty.
There are many other Spanish habits that I have not yet mentioned, but these were my favorites that I wanted to write about.
Have you ever been to Spain, or would you like to go there? Which Spanish habits could you get used to?
Leave a comment if you know any other (fun or less fun) habits from Spain.
Xoxo
