I find that if you make an effort to speak to them in their own language no matter how bad you are they will always respond in a friendly manner....yes some of the older generation can be a bit rude but then so can British pensioners.....take as you find I say after all you are in their country

I agree Tango I like to make an effort and speak a little of the pigeon Spanish I know, but some folks go and then expect the Spanish to speak to them in English and eat English food and drink English beer, makes me wonder why they don't stay in England -each to their own.

Totally agree with some of the comments said, blimey, you get arrogent and rude people all over the world, ( had a run in with some of these said people of an american nature in mexico, if you get me drift ! ) though these people were tourists and spoke to the mexican waiters and bartenders in the most derogitary way.
To be honest, I can't abide bad manners in any nationality, but I also understand that what I consider 'rude, or bad mannered' may just be considered normal in their country.
One of the mums at school is a belgian lady and when I first met her, thought she was very 'abrupt' and a tad rude, but I have got to know her over the years and she is so lovely, and would be mortified if she thought she came across as such !
anyway,I digress from the original post, having been to a fair few areas of spain, on the whole, I have found the spanish to be absolutely lovely, I always try my limited spanish out when trying to converse with them, so, I think that helps.

Hi Juby

Agreed, I just love to speak my Spanglish to them, they love it, and atleast they can see Im trying to make an effort..I love spanish people...mind you Im half spanish so Im biased :O) Im off on august 5th cant bloody wait..... whens your jollies senorita... :O)

Hi Kazza, all them hols in fuengirola, you must be considered a local by now ! We had our big mexico holiday at easter, but we are going to see my best friend in spain in 3 weeks, i've just had 10 weks of spanish lessons ( she lives in a little town in murcia, so will have to try my new, improved, spanish in the shops and bars and along with hand signals, hope to be understood !! )
have a great time Karen x

Hola juby

Murcia is lovely my partners mums boyfriends parents have a villa out there. hey you can speak espanol thats brill it does help alot though doesnt it?? yeh fuengirola is my 2nd home when I land at malaga I always feel like im home..sad arent I xx Canny wait til 6 wks, already buying stuff I dont need...haha xx enjoy murcia Tómese una copa de vino tinto para mí, y disfrutar de su hermosa que el sol caliente hacia fuera allí en la noche buen regalo ..that means have a glass of red wine for me, and soak up that sun its hot out there at present Karen :O)

Out of the many places we have traveled to around the world I would definitely put the Spanish as the most unwelcoming people, They really do seem to have a chip on there shoulder when it comes to serving people.

It would be interesting to see this thread and the comments on the general forum rather than on a Spainish based sub page.

MilleMiglia wrote:

Out of the many places we have traveled to around the world I would definitely put the Spanish as the most unwelcoming people, They really do seem to have a chip on there shoulder when it comes to serving people.

It would be interesting to see this thread and the comments on the general forum rather than on a Spainish based sub page.

It's funny isn't it - I have never experienced that at all, quite the contrary in fact I love the spanish folks and if money would allow me to I would live there

Miss Pink wrote:

MilleMiglia wrote:

Out of the many places we have traveled to around the world I would definitely put the Spanish as the most unwelcoming people, They really do seem to have a chip on there shoulder when it comes to serving people.

It would be interesting to see this thread and the comments on the general forum rather than on a Spainish based sub page.

It's funny isn't it - I have never experienced that at all, quite the contrary in fact I love the spanish folks and if money would allow me to I would live there

Yes funny, We have just returned from a 2 week stay in Ibiza and the hotel staff were awful!!

Yet I have just had a conversation via facebook with a Mexican we met 2 years ago .

What a shame you did not enjoy your holiday, when you have a bad experience it's not great, and holidays are so important to us all we save for them long and hard. We can only speak from experience can't we and I can honestly say I have not experienced that at all - when my son was very young I was travelling alone and my son became sick Thomson and the hotel staff were superb they were bringing mne food to the room for both of us, bringing me drinks and and even collected medication from the pharmacy for me as I could not leave him.

Miss Pink wrote:

What a shame you did not enjoy your holiday, when you have a bad experience it's not great, and holidays are so important to us all we save for them long and hard. We can only speak from experience can't we and I can honestly say I have not experienced that at all - when my son was very young I was travelling alone and my son became sick Thomson and the hotel staff were superb they were bringing mne food to the room for both of us, bringing me drinks and and even collected medication from the pharmacy for me as I could not leave him.

We had a great holiday it was just the attitude of the hotel staff I commented on.

The Spanish just let themselves down IMO

We had a great holiday it was just the attitude of the hotel staff I commented on.

The Spanish just let themselves down IMO

Well maybe the Spanish can't please everyone

I was down in Edinburgh this weekend and had an awful experience in a restaurant - one of the waiters in particular was clearly incompetent, messed up the table booking and ordering etc and couldn't even get the bill right (we had to point out to him that we had been undercharged), was barely civil with us and was extremely unwelcoming. Perhaps if it hadn't been a restaurant that I've used before without problem I would have been tempted never to go back there in future. But I know that our experience wasn't typical of this restaurant, let alone all restaurant staff in Edinburgh and certainly not of all Scottish people so I will eat there again in the future. He was probably a temp taken on for the Festival, they were far busier than I've ever known them to be of an early Sunday evening and the kitchen was having problems too because they had evidently underestimated demand and were running out of 'specials' already (at 6.30pm?). As far as we were concerned, we had coaght them on a bad night and that's all - a combination of circumstances that all came together to add up to a 'perfect storm' of an evening for them. My pal and I both work in service related industries and left thinking 'There but for the grace of God go I' and in the end had a good laugh about just how the catalogue of problems had unfolded - it could have graced the stage as a farce. What did we do? As we left we mentioned the issues to the duty manager who was clearly not having a good night himself and left it at that.

But reading recent posts here has made me think - I hope that there were no overseas visitors there last night who are now going away having decided that all Scots are surly and rude as a consequence of their experiences last night. One cannot judge a whole nation on the basis of a few hotel and catering staff during one of their busiest times of year. When I think it over, I've had more bad experiences in the UK with hotel and bar staff etc than I've had abroad. Does this mean that the British people as a whole are arrogant and the most rude and unwelcoming of peoples to visitors? I don't think so - even if we do seem to have some waiting on staff who regard it as demeaning to actually provide good service to paying customers.

SM

Miss Pink wrote:

We had a great holiday it was just the attitude of the hotel staff I commented on.

The Spanish just let themselves down IMO

Well maybe the Spanish can't please everyone ;)

SMa wrote:

I was down in Edinburgh this weekend and had an awful experience in a restaurant - one of the waiters in particular was clearly incompetent, messed up the table booking and ordering etc and couldn't even get the bill right (we had to point out to him that we had been undercharged), was barely civil with us and was extremely unwelcoming. Perhaps if it hadn't been a restaurant that I've used before without problem I would have been tempted never to go back there in future. But I know that our experience wasn't typical of this restaurant, let alone all restaurant staff in Edinburgh and certainly not of all Scottish people so I will eat there again in the future. He was probably a temp taken on for the Festival, they were far busier than I've ever known them to be of an early Sunday evening and the kitchen was having problems too because they had evidently underestimated demand and were running out of 'specials' already (at 6.30pm?). As far as we were concerned, we had coaght them on a bad night and that's all - a combination of circumstances that all came together to add up to a 'perfect storm' of an evening for them. My pal and I both work in service related industries and left thinking 'There but for the grace of God go I' and in the end had a good laugh about just how the catalogue of problems had unfolded - it could have graced the stage as a farce. What did we do? As we left we mentioned the issues to the duty manager who was clearly not having a good night himself and left it at that.

But reading recent posts here has made me think - I hope that there were no overseas visitors there last night who are now going away having decided that all Scots are surly and rude as a consequence of their experiences last night. One cannot judge a whole nation on the basis of a few hotel and catering staff during one of their busiest times of year. When I think it over, I've had more bad experiences in the UK with hotel and bar staff etc than I've had abroad. Does this mean that the British people as a whole are arrogant and the most rude and unwelcoming of peoples to visitors? I don't think so - even if we do seem to have some waiting on staff who regard it as demeaning to actually provide good service to paying customers.

SM

I have replied to the thread with my own opinion on these people based on 6 visits to the country over the years, It is "my opinion" that was requested and "my opinion" that was stated, can we leave it there now please?

I have replied to the thread with my own opinion on these people based on 6 visits to the country over the years, It is "my opinion" that was requested and "my opinion" that was stated, can we leave it there now please?

MilleMiglia no one is 'getting at you' we all have our own opinions, good, bad and indifferent thats why the forum is so sucessful we learn from others experiences thats all

I have Spanish friends in Benalmadena and Ibiza and they are all lovely people. The ignorant people, in my experience, are usually the tourists. They turn up in a foreign country and expect to be understood in their own language. In holiday resorts there may be an argument for that, but many British tourists speak English using localised slang.

Why should a Spaniard be expected to understand someone speaking in a broad Glaswegian / Geordie / Yorkshire / Cockney / Brummy / Liverpudlian accent using regional vernacular?

People who can't be bothered to speak English slowly and properly, in order to be understood, should not be surprised when locals are surly with them.

Don't get me wrong, I have met some ignorant Spaniards in my time, but then again, I've met ignorant peole in every country I've ever visited, including my own.

Hi

We have been to Benalmadena 4 times in the last 3 years (just returned a couple of weeks back) and I have the following comments on this discussion:

1. Tivoli world - The staff that look after the rides (especially the younger ones) I find are the most miserable, disinterested
and unwelcomming people I have come accross on any holiday. There have been a few times I have had to bite my tongue the way I have seen them speak so abrubtly to children especially my little boy and don't get me started on the rip of prices and ride restrictions.

2. Dog Mess - I found this year the pavements were as bad as ever, but I did notice that most of the british dog owners I saw, cleared the mess up after their dogs, however I can honestly say that I never witnessed one spanish dog owner clear up after their dog (have they no pride in their own town?)

3. I find that most of the Spanish (especially younger women) appear to have no concept of please, thank you or excuse me!

Despite the above we still like Benalmadena however unless attitudes improve things will only get worse and the Tourists will get fed up and go elswhere, which judging on how quiet it was in August already appears to be happening.

I also think that in the current political climate/recession in Spain that they need to understand that they cannot afford to damage or lose their Tourist industry.

Come on Spanish buck your ideas up and make an effort because it will benefit you in the long run!

Cheers

BillW