# Why are the Spaniards so damn impatient?



## Snunkie (Mar 21, 2011)

Went up one of those roads yesterday that looks like its gonna be okay then the beads of sweat start when you realise that the road has started to narrow to the point where you've got no option but to reverse back the way you came  

Anyway, I got out to try and explain to the car behind that the reason we were going backwards was because we could go no further and would they kindly pull into the space at the side whilst we reverse past them. Well, you would have though I'd tried to murder the woman the way she started screaming and swearing at me saying they wanted to get past. Had they just pulled over we would have been gone in less than a minute but oh no, that was far too easy. 

We find this often over here, what is the problem? Do they not like English or is it just any inconvenience that they dislike?


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## hogan (Oct 31, 2006)

Any excuse to have a row and they will take it. They do not mind the English but go mad if they have to reverse. Half of them can't drive forewards.


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

I hope this is something new and not that we've been lucky and not met any of them ! 

I remember the old lady in the laundry at El Garofer in Barcelona. I was faffing about complaining about my washing taking forever. She took me by the arm, made me sit down and then told me that I would have a heart attack if I carried on like that. 

Also the taxi driver in Valencia. We'd already made a mistake and asked him to take us to the wrong campsite. When we got to the right one we only had a 50 euro note, he had no change and Reception was closed. OH went to raid the toll money box in the van and I stayed with the driver. I was apologising and getting in a flap. He was so calm and calming, saying that it was nothing and no problem.

Now ask why everything they say has to be said at full volume....!

G


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## tonka (Apr 24, 2006)

It's just the way they are.. 
Like parking on corners and zebra crossings, They think nothing of it ...

Slightest delay and they hit the horn..


Morocco was similar, soon as lights are green someone hits the horn but later realised that it's really a help because all the scooters and push bikes get in front of the lights so they cant see when they change..


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## rocky1968 (Nov 10, 2011)

*moan*

I never moan


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Interesting to see how you lot stereotype the Spanish.

We are in the UK just now but when we go back to Spain I will ask some friends there about their stereotype of the British. That may be interesting too I think, Alan.


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## hogan (Oct 31, 2006)

erneboy said:


> Interesting to see how you lot stereotype the Spanish.
> 
> We are in the UK just now but when we go back to Spain I will ask some friends there about their stereotype of the British. That may be interesting too I think, Alan.


They think we are all lazy 
The reason they all shout when they talk is left over from the Franco years. If the guardia could not hear what they were saying the guardia would arrest them on suspicion of spying. Still can't sort out why they play music at a deafening level though.


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hi.

The Spaniards are pussycats compared to the italians. And the funny thing is if I got out of the van and towered over them they would babber their pants.. :lol: :lol: :lol: 


ray.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Just lazy, Hogan. Surely there must be more to it than that? Alan.


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

erneboy said:


> Just lazy, Hogan. Surely there must be more to it than that? Alan.


Frankly looking at some of the English visitors to Spain that those in the tourist industry meet in summer I can imagine only too well what their stereotypical Brit must be like !


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## rosalan (Aug 24, 2009)

My moan!
A couple of nights ago we were at the Aire in Calpe, my next door neighbour was Spanish and very middle aged. At 11pm his tv was playing a rather loud disaster movie with guns and explosions, we were British and patient. At midnight it was still playing loud enough to limit sleep in our van, it was the gunshots and screams that most affected us; we are British and stoic (for stoic read stupid). At just gone 1am the film must have ended, for silence finally reigned. I should have apologised the next morning when I over-revved my engine just a tad, but they were still asleep and I was loathe to disturb them.
Nothing anti-Spanish here for the previous night at another place, a French family continued talking outside our van until 6am... really!
We are now parked in one of the quietest places you can imagine but I am not letting on where until we catch up on much missed sleep.

Alan


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## dovtrams (Aug 18, 2009)

I had a similar problem last year, but not in Spain it was in the NW of Scotland. The woman in the car sounded just like the Spanish woman ie screaming blue murder, but she was Welsh! Sad people of all races.

Dave


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## hogan (Oct 31, 2006)

We live in a forested area with around 30 other houses,we can't see any neighbours houses for the trees and each house is in a 3000 sq mt plot.

1 house near us is only used as a weekender sometimes they party until 4 or 5 am and the music is so loud I can hear every word in bed.usually after one of theses party's I get out in the forest as close as I can to there house and cut up a few logs with my chainsaw some times as early as 8 am


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

We spent Easter 2010 at a campsite near Barcelona. The site was full of Spanish families and the setting up, cooking, eating, partying and noisy ball games went on all night. Most of us, in the little enclave of foreign motorhomes where we were parked, went to bed late anyway, hoping the disturbance would not last too long. By about 3 am, when floodlit ( by car lights) football was going on literally using our vans as markers, you could actively _ feel _ the anger from many vans ! An awful lot of stereotypes were reinforced that night.

What really amazed us was that, next morning, bright and early, they were all up and clearing away.

G


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## Snunkie (Mar 21, 2011)

Sorry Alan, didn't mean to offend. Was just letting off a bit of steam. It's stressful enough getting into a situation like that with 4 very noisy children in the MH but the situation is made far worse for us by the impatience of the driver whom we had to put out for 5 minutes at the most. I can't understand how they can't be more sympathetic seeing the size of our vehicle, a English number plate and we'd very obviously misjudged our route, accidentally.


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## thieawin (Jun 7, 2006)

And these things don't happen in UK? People being cussed about reversing when you are blocking, noise etc and some of you admit you do it yourselves to get your own back, Shame. Nothing to choose me thinks; pots and kettles springs to mind


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

thieawin said:


> And these things don't happen in UK? ....noise etc


Of course there are nasty incidents of road rage in UK but, in 40 years of camping I've never found a UK campsite where amplified music and ball games would go on for the duration of a night. From the comments made by the other campers next day it was clear that it does not happen in the Netherlands, Germany, France or Belgium either ! It was Easter. They were on holiday. We understood ( most of us!)

I think it is reasonable to assert that noise is a more prominent feature of Spanish life than in many other European countries and that this is surprising. Given the crowded nature of the living conditions of many- urbanisations, flats etc- it would lead you to expect that they would be naturally quieter and more understanding of the needs of their neighbours for sleep, peace etc.

This is not a criticism of the Spanish, merely an observation and an attempt to understand them more.

G


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## Telbell (May 1, 2005)

A bit off topic, sorry, but on the subject of stereotypes:

We have good friends who are German; in truth they are Anglophiles, and prefer the Brits to their own!

I asked them what they reckon was the German stereotype of the English.

"No hesitation", they said..."arrogant, always drunk, and a weird sense of humour"

Interesting.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

OK let's add to the "how many groups can we upset".....

one observation about French drivers is about their inability to reverse - anywhere,......

they struggle reversing out of a parking place, cannot reverse park parallel with the kerb and if they have to go back due to traffic (or the priorite au droit rule) they tend to just sit there and speak volubly...... until eventually someone works out how to get around the other......

Dave


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Penquin said:


> OK let's add to the "how many groups can we upset".....
> 
> one observation about French drivers is about their inability to reverse - anywhere,......
> 
> ...


I wouldn't say that this is stereotypically French though ! What we Brits tend to have is a more developed sense of tidiness. We spend ages zig-zagging around to parallel park. No more or less skill than the average Frenchman or woman but, I suggest, a greater feeling that we have to be neatly lined up rather than strewn about. It seems to matter more to us.

G


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## ob1 (Sep 25, 2007)

Strange, all these posts about the level of foreign drivers. Why is it then that when we return from most anywhere abroad and offload onto British roads it's like returning to the madhouse?


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

ob1 said:


> Strange, all these posts about the level of foreign drivers. Why is it then that when we return from most anywhere abroad and offload onto British roads it's like returning to the madhouse?


Where do you live ? Quite civilised round here.

If madhouse=accidents then the UK has the one of the lowest accident rates in Europe. Clearly you've not been stuck in French or German traffic jams !

G


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## hogan (Oct 31, 2006)

It's one thing coming to Spain for a two or three week motorhome tour it's another thing living here. 
Some things I have noted. 
Indicators never used (unless its a fiesta day)
They have to overtake you even if they slam on the brakes after going past you to turn off. 
The forward planning extends to only 25 Mtrs. 
They will overtake on a roundabout. 
It's not unusual for them to go straight across a roundabout or around it the wrong way. 
Women / girls are more dangerous than males. 
If a big accident happens the press report it as poor weather conditions as the cause, floods,ice,fog etc. never driving too fast for the conditions.
The local driving test is driving around Denia for 15 mins on a market day with 2 others in the car waiting to take there turn. 

Oh how I wish I could sell up and move back to good old Blighty.


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## ob1 (Sep 25, 2007)

Grizzly said:


> ob1 said:
> 
> 
> > Strange, all these posts about the level of foreign drivers. Why is it then that when we return from most anywhere abroad and offload onto British roads it's like returning to the madhouse?
> ...


Your joking Grizzly, I've actually broken down on the Peripherique in the middle of the rush hour and lived to tell the tale! 

Ron


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

ob1 said:


> Your joking Grizzly, I've actually broken down on the Peripherique in the middle of the rush hour and lived to tell the tale!
> 
> Ron


But that doesn't make UK roads a madhouse. I'm sure had something similar happened to you on any UK road you'd have been fine as well.

We used to live near Fontainebleau. On the outskirts of the town itself there is a huge roundabout where several major roads join, including the ones from Paris and the ones south to the sun. Every Friday night, when the holiday makers used to flock from Paris, the locals used to take garden chairs and sit round this roundabout to enjoy the sheer mayhem. I swear they used to score accidents on a points system. That roundabout is still there and, amazingly, it is still busy with ambulance watchers on Friday evenings. That was " madhouse" and not something I've ever seen the like of in UK- and that includes being a regular on the Magic Roundabout in Swindon..

G


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## tony50 (Oct 16, 2007)

ob1 said:


> Strange, all these posts about the level of foreign drivers. Why is it then that when we return from most anywhere abroad and offload onto British roads it's like returning to the madhouse?


Because most of the population of the world would probably like / seems like want to live here , not that I am racist just think the country is full enough,as for the Spanish spent 3 weeks in northern Spain we enjoyed being amongst them. but not wanting to be offensive or rude to anyone if any Brit. don't like the UK and it's faults don't come back or live here the rest of us will survive ! :lol: 
Tony A.


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## peaky (Jul 15, 2009)

Spanish local driving is pretty hairy, they never look on roundabouts, not even a glance to see if its clear, no indicators, double parking is common, if they see their friend coming in the opposite direction they think nothing of stopping in the middle of the road and strike up a conversation !!! there are no road rules as to roundabouts, my friend has just passed her driving test and was taught to speed up at roundabouts and get on there first !!! I always drive round the outer edge no matter where I want to go as I can get out of trouble, they think nothing of cutting u up on them, its made me a lot more tolerant though and not a lot phases me anymore


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