Spanish Culture

One of the best things about traveling is experiencing the local culture. Spain is a beautiful country filled with vibrant people. While they are often shockingly loud, the Spanish always seem to be having a good time. Pretty sure the Spaniards have a solid love for life and it shows in how they walk, talk and interact with each other. A friendly hello includes a “kiss” to each cheek. People are always touching each other, a friendly pat on the back or slinging an arm over someone’s shoulder. We need to normalize this back home.

As with all new things, there are aspects I love, some that baffle me and a few I just can’t seem to come around to. This post goes into my thoughts and observations on Spain itself.

Meal Times

Spaniards eat late. And are never eating and always eating at the same time. It’s confusing. I’m not sure I fully understand it all but here goes. I think they’re secretly related to hobbits.

If eaten at all, first breakfast, or desayuno, is eaten around 7-9am. It’s meant to be quick and relatively small. Churros and chocolate or grated (yes, grated) tomato on toast. Churro’s are a solid no go for this girl. Bleh. Haven’t tried the pan con tomate yet. I think I’ve eaten more tomatoes on this trip than I have in the past 10 years combined. I’ll stick to coffee for my early breakfast.

Second breakfast (see? Hobbits!), or almuerzo, is between 9-11am but generally seems to be at 10. Or at least that’s when I’ve noticed all the construction workers stop to eat a bite. A ham (or jamon) sandwich seems a popular choice here. Sometimes it’s accompanied by a beer. And it’s totally acceptable. Odd to see beer’s at 10 am.

That brings us to Vermú, between noon and 1pm. Think of it as a light pre lunch snack or tapa with the possibility of a Vermouth as well. If you’re someplace traditional, they wont serve coffee/latte’s after noon. Though it may be possible to have one after lunch or dinner.

Finally we get to lunch. Lunch starts around 2pm and can go to 4pm or so. This is a bigger meal I believe. Restaurants are packed with Spaniards out enjoying each other’s company over Comida (lunch). While many go home, those with commutes generally head out. Often restaurants won’t open until 1:30, so if you’re hungry early… good luck. Should have brought a snack. Maybe pop in a market and grab a pick me up snack. Comida can go straight into Sobremesa, which is an after lunch sweet/drink.

My favorite meal time is between 5-7pm. Around 5pm ice cream shops are booming. Every fifth person has a cone or bowl. Kids, women, grandparents, men in suits, construction workers and tourists alike. It’s fabulous. Can I just say we need to normalize men randomly eating an ice cream cone together back home? Not a massive cone, just a bit to get you to dinner. This sweets hour is called Merienda and is generally the time to have a sweet treat, such as ice cream or cheesecake, or a savory snack such as Jamon or cheese. If your snacking gets out of hand dinner may be skipped.

Finally, we come to dinner, or Cena, traditionally served between 9-11pm. Tapa’s may be enjoyed beforehand should you desire. Dinner, being so late, is generally a lighter meal. Maybe salad and a Spanish tortilla (a potato omelette). If you’re in a touristy place, some restaurants will certainly be open earlier. In our little Pueblo, one of the popular restaurants seems to be filled with tourists by day and all the locals by night. Night is much more lively and fun.

Food

The food is not what I expected in Spain. I’m not certain what I did expect, but what I’ve experienced is not it. Spaniards like to fry just about everything. At home I really don’t fry anything. It took quite awhile for my stomach to adjust. It got to the point where if we were going out I’d request “not fried”. At the beach there’s fried fish of the day, squid, anchovies. If it comes out of the ocean it can be fried. Even the veggies. Fried padron peppers with flaked salt or fried eggplant with “honey”. Though both of those are rather delicious I will admit.

Let’s talk garlic. If you like it, Spain is for you. If not. Well. It seems to be their primary spice. As a lover of garlic, I’m happy with the over abundance of garlic. However, spices in general? Not so much. You can get every single color of pepper here. Green, black and pink peppercorns. Paprika in vast quantities, though they call it pimenton.

Should you go to the market, you will find: salt, pepper, paprika, cinnamon, garlic, curry, some yellow thing called “coloring” and oregano. That’s about it. If you want something else hit up a farmers market. Or head to the hills. There’s an over abundance of rosemary, thyme and lavender growing everywhere. We picked rosemary for a chicken dish.

I’ve learned that Spaniards do NOT do spicy. Sorry if I offend the Spanish here, but paprika is not spicy. Your padron peppers are not spicy. Nothing is SPICY at all. Spiced, sure. Spicy, no. I miss spicy. If I ever moved here I’d lug Costco sized containers of chili and cayenne powder over seas. You can’t find them here period.

We were in a nice little restaurant in Malaga, sitting next to a lovely Spanish couple eating lunch a few days back. She tried eating the patatas bravas and no joke, it was too spicy for her. She waved her face and exclaimed to her partner how spicy they were. Now, patatas bravas are fried (of course) potatoes with a “spicy” aioli. This aioli, as far as I can tell, is basically mayonnaise with garlic and paprika. Not spicy. But to this gal, she was nearly choking over the spice.

That brings me to another point. Potato’s. Now, I’m a good Idaho girl and I love potato’s. But, good grief. They are served with just about everything here. Generally as fries. My least favorite way to eat them, aside from a plain baked potato. So boring. Need a lot of stuff to doctor that up.

Any bread lover will be in heaven in Spain. It is just amazing. Little shops and bakery’s sell loaves all over. Most is without sugar. And the bread is divine. I’m going to need a full on bread detox when I get home. Good thing we don’t have a real bakery anywhere near our house. At least nothing to compare.

Grocery shopping in Spain is different. There is produce, just limited variety. Always tomatoes, eggplant, onions, garlic, potato’s, the biggest bell peppers I’ve ever seen, some sort of wide bean looking thing and much to my delight, asparagus. I love asparagus. Now, should you want broccoli? Solid maybe. Cauliflower? Half the time. On to fruit. Strawberries, oranges, lemons, grapes, plums and apples are a solid yes. Blueberries are as shockingly over priced here as at home. Other fruit? Not so much. Though they did have some rather delightful pears the other day. All that aside they have avocados by the bushel. And they are not nearly as expensive as at home. So, I’m enjoying avocado on anything that you could put avocado on. Yum!

As for finding other items in the market, it is best to go in with an open mind. Most markets are significantly smaller than the ones back home and thus simply can’t carry the variety of supplies. That being said, I had quite the time finding sour cream. And certain things are shelf stable here. Milk and cream come in shelf stable boxes and don’t need refrigeration until opened. Eggs are in cartons to be kept on the counter.

For a country internationally known for paella, they don’t really eat rice. Weird. Seems paella is the exception. Not much else comes with anything resembling rice, unless you go with an Italian risotto. They do sell a bit in the markets, though there’s a far wider selection of pasta’s.

Drinks Galore

I am a coffee addict. My expectation for glorious coffee stemmed from travels in nearby countries. Italy has fantastic espresso/coffee. Portugal’s coffee culture is superb and the coffee is to die for. Slovenia had lovely coffee. Austria has amazing coffee. Thus, I was surprised to find I don’t care for Spanish coffee. It is bitter. More so than Starbucks. I’ve tried it more than a few times, espresso, cortado (espresso with roughly the same amount of warm milk added), cappuccino. And not so much. I’ve gotten used to it in my morning coffee. But I certainly don’t bother when I’m out anymore.

Alcohol can easily become a habit here. It doesn’t cost much more to have a beer or glass of wine with your meal than it would be to order a bottle of water. Because you do not get free water with your meals. You must pay for a bottle or simply go without. The beers are light and refreshing. The wine is generally quite delicious. Vermouth is tasty. Sangria is always an option. Water is water. Bad habits can easily be made.

Restaurants

Eating out is always fun. I’ve learned that tapa’s are expensive. Little pricey dishes are fun but for the overall cost you can order a whole meal. Depends on what you’re feeling. We have certainly done both. Tapa’s really are quite fun.

As for variety of establishments, at least in the Costa del Sol, Spanish food is number one. There’s a ton of pizza places, Italian and Indian food. The latter will not be spicy, though the flavors are good. I ordered a 5 star and it was less than a one star at home. I had Thai food (it was terrrible) and was warned away from Chinese restaurants. There are a shocking quantity of weird mixed places, the most common being: Indian, Italian and Mexican. Eh, no thanks. And there’s a lot of British food.

Brits and Other Tourists

Southern Spain is FULL of British people escaping their winter weather. Technically there are loads of Canadians and Scandinavians as well, but the Britts are by far the most obviously prevalent. There are British and Irish pubs all over the coast. Sun burnt Britts roam the streets looking for the culinary delight of beans on toast, Sunday roast and whatever else it is they love. It’s a full on redcoat invasion. And is tolerated to varying degrees by the Spanish. For once it’s not the American’s being spoken of in mildly irritated tones, which is a rather pleasant reprieve for us. Sorry Britts. Your turn to be grumbled about.

Siesta Time

Ok. I know it’s a cultural thing but I’ve struggled with Siesta the most. Traditionally, workers would go home and eat/relax during siesta. Today many people commute and choose to stay in town as it’s not worth heading home. I get it. I used to have a long commute. If I went home I would have had to immediately turn around and head back to work.

My trouble is with shops. Most grocery markets remain open. But want to pick up fish from the Pescaderia, a cut of meat from the butcher or fresh veggies from the small produce shop? Not between roughly 2-5pm. And after that? Depends on the day. It’s just one of those things I have not gotten used to in the month plus of being here.

Sometimes attractions close. We tried to see a cemetery in Malaga only to find out it was closed by 2. Poor planning on our part. Who knew cemetery’s closed? Many shops close, the local Bazar (which has every random item you might need) closes. The tobacco shop (where you buy bus tickets, oddly enough) is closed. Pharmacy? Closed. In the city tourist trinket shops are often open, small boutique shops are often closed. Maybe if I lived here longer I’d eventually get used to it. Maybe.

Spain, I have learned, is rather pro cat. They have kitty colonies everywhere, presumably to alleviate any possible rodent problem. These colonies are cared for by the community. In Benalmadena, each has a wind and rain proof “house”. The kitties are fixed and, I’m told, taken to the vet if ill. They are fed. There are cats all over. Some are delightfully friendly and will demand attention. Other’s prefer to maintain their distance.

As a cat lover I am in heaven with all the fluffy kitties. So. Many. Cats! I brought my own cat to Spain as we are spending far too long here to leave her at home. She has adjusted marvelously. Thinks she owns the place we are in. Has her preferred napping spots. Loves rolling around on the tiles. Zipping up and down the stairs like a maniac. Typical happy cat stuff. Oh, and demanding our attention of course.

Not all towns seem to be equal in kitty care. Benalmadena and Malaga have very healthy cats. I saw some in Cordoba that were dirty and sad looking. I wanted to adopt those babies. Granted I would have had a heck of a time getting to them, down a stone wall to a river by an old water wheel house. If I could have even caught them. Good thing I don’t live in Spain. We’d have 10 cats for sure.

Driving Habits

For the most part, driving in Spain seems pretty easy as the drivers are chill. Motorcycles have no real rules and will zip past you in roundabouts and on the freeways. Kind of like in California.

The most entertaining driving habit here is parking. Want a coffee but there’s no space in front of the shop? No problem. Just double park and leave your flashers on. It’s perfectly acceptable. You see it everywhere. I even saw people parked in a round about. And for that matter, there can be stop lights IN the round about.

Someone double park you in? Simply honk until they get the picture and move. Most honking seems to be in parking lots. There was always someone beeping their horn in the little parking lot down the road from us in Benalmadena. Eventually it just became background noise.

The main rule seems to be, always stop for pedestrians. At least pedestrians in crosswalks. There are crosswalks everywhere. I will admit I’m still hesitant. I’d rather not get run over so when I see someone barreling toward me, I pause. I’d rather know they’re stopping before heading out in blind faith. Self preservation and all.

Flora and Fauna

There are some weird things in Spain. There are hellish toxic caterpillars that form a Congo line of creepy crawlers that are best to avoid. They will send your pet straight to the vet and aren’t much better for humans. The hairs on these suckers are toxic and they kill a large number of pets yearly. Steer clear, they come out mainly in the spring.

Ants are relentless on the coast. I hate ants. I know it’s warm and coastal, but good Lord. I terminated their lives plenty in all the places we staid. Nothing can be left out. Not one crumb. Everything must be sealed or in the fridge. We took the trash and recycling out every day to help. Swept and wiped down counters relentlessly. Lucille just stared at them. She is no help.

Springtime is Spain is astounding. There are flowers everywhere. Granted, this has been a spectacularly wet year and there’s a super bloom situation here. The hills are green. Everything is flowering and thriving. The olive tree’s are going crazy. Meaning pollen. And more pollen. The pine tree’s have clouds of pollen coming out of them. So, yeah, allergies. For a few days I thought I was getting sick. Nope. Wildly active allergies. I sounded like a smoker. Not so attractive. Bring buckets of allergy meds with you. I’m just about out of my normal meds. You can’t necessarily get the same things in Spain. Maybe I’ll find my magic cure medication when I run out and head into the pharmacy for help.

Smoking…

Smoking is more prevalent in Europe than in the States. Spain is no exception to that generalization. As a non smoker I find smoking and vaping repulsive. We all know what it does to your body and lungs. My grandfather died of smoking related diseases. It stinks. Your clothes reek. You get weird wrinkles around your lips and yellow fingers from holding a cigarette. And vape. Let’s be real. You are not macho with your tutti fruttie flavored vape. And why the sickeningly sweet flavors for vape? I don’t get it. Sorry if you do either. It’s still gross.

As in other European countries, it’s normal to smoke outdoors. No big deal to light up while in a plaza, waiting for the train/bus or on a restaurant patio. It’s one of my biggest hang ups with Europe. Maybe from seeing what it did to people I dearly loved. Maybe from knowing what it does to the body and having worked in healthcare for so long. I’m solidly in camp no smoking.

That’s a Wrap

Spain is delightful. Full of life and busy into late hours. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here and naturally don’t want to leave. I’ll miss the general vibe in Spain for sure. I’ll miss walking to the market. I’ll miss going into the Pescaderia and picking out fresh shrimp for dinner. Having the owner tell me exactly how to cook things. I’ll miss taking my number at the meat counter and ordering whatever cut in any way I desire. I’ll miss ice cream hour. I’ll miss being surrounded by genuinely happy people. That’s something we could work on as American’s. Being happy and content. I’ll miss the sense of community here. Where all the locals know each other and greet each other on the streets. Stopping to chat and catch up. Spanish life is a beautiful thing and I count myself blessed to have had this opportunity. Spain I will miss you!