If you ask to a foreign person what does he thinks about Spanish people and their habits, probably he will describe them with a wrong idea: just bulls, paella and flamenco. When can we talk about habits and when about stereotypes?
In this article we can find some stereotypes which often have characterized the Spanish culture.
–All Spanish know how to dance flamenco. It is true that it was born in the South of Spain during the XVIII century, but this does not mean that every Spanish person wants or know how to dace flamenco.
–Spanish sleep the “siesta” every day. It is not true that companies finance siesta, and especially you cannot find beds in offices. At the same time, it is scientifically proved that sleeping after lunch has many benefits: it improve your health and the circulation.
– All Spanish have dark skin, eyes and hair. There are also Spanish with blonde hair and blue eyes: a good example can be the football player Gerard Piqué who has not these characteristics and he is Spanish.
– In Spain is famous for its hot weather. It is not hot all the year, in particular in some areas of the country. There is a big difference between the North and the South. In the North – such as in Galicia- during summer it rains a lot, while in the center – as Madrid – during the winter it is cold, with snow and ice.
– Paella is the typical food. It is the typical food in the Valencian Community.
… At the same time it is also true that
– Spanish know how to cook. In addition to paellas, Spain also presents a wide range of gastronomy such as gazpacho, empanada, migas, the cocido and tortilla de patata.
– Local festivals. In Spain there is a great tradition of local festival. Indeed every year millions of tourists come to Spain in order to visit and live these local festivals. Some of them can be: las Fallas, los carnavales de Fiestas de Moros y Cristianos, las Hogueras de San Juan, el Descenso del Sella, la Feria de Abril, el Carneval de Cadiz… .
– Life. Spanish use to go outside and in many different places – for tapas, to have a walk or for shopping, .. – at every time of the day. Usually you can find people on the streets at every time of the day, where shops close late and restaurants have flexibles schedules.
– Having tapas. You can find tapas in the majority of the bares, where with few euros you can taste different dishes.
– Family life. There are many festivities during the year that reunites all the family: Christmas period, Saints and even Birthdays. In many families Sunday it is also a family day, where they visit each other and they have lunch or dinner together.
– Time. You start the day starts late, you have lunch and dinner late, and you go to sleep even later. In this way Spain is very famous for its unique timetable, because it differs from all the other European countries.
To conclude, habits represent a typical actitude of a community that make it different from all the others. Many of these habits are transferred during the time from one generation to the other, becoming a kind of tradition. In this article we have noticed how Spain is a country of traditions and strong habits, which during centuries has received a great influence from other cultures: nowadays, thanks to this mix of different cultures, Spain represents one of the most singulars countries of the world.