El Bueno, El Malo y El Feo

We had reached the end of our six month journey of discovery in Spain and it was time to retreat back to the comfort of "home" in the Netherlands to get some distance and perspective.  We´d met some wonderful people and visited some beautiful places but we we weren´t tourists - we were looking at the country with a more critical eye.  Could we live there happily?  Could we find people we could call real friends?  Could we picture a successful future for ourselves there?

We made our lists:

The Good (El Bueno)

• Cheap food (the menu del dia!) and wine (and MUCH better Spanish wine than what you get outside the country!)
• Free tapas in certain parts of the country
• Warm, generous and friendly people who love to have fun and provide assistance
  Several times, when asking for directions or just looking at a map, people would actually walk us to  where we needed to go.  We also spent many nights staying in the homes of wonderful people we´d met at our Pueblo Ingles programs.
• Lots of sunshine (very handy since we´d like to use solar panels to produce electricity)
• Charming and picturesque white-washed villages that would make excellent tourist destinations (should we decide to start a tour company - which is one of our possible ideas)
• Lots of opportunities for English teachers (another possible job idea)
• Stunning mountain scenery in the north of the country
• A beautiful and useful (in the world) language - but with MANY regional dialects
• Because Spaniards are so socially focused, they consider living remotely and quietly in the country as something only poor peasants do.  Therefore, the demand for property is mostly within the villages.  Land in the countryside (outside of Catalonia) is relatively cheap (unless the prior owner is a foreigner!) 

The Bad (El Malo) - otherwise known as The Irritating

• If I had to use one word to describe Spanish culture, it would be "adolescent".  We got the sense that drinking, smoking, being with friends (and family), making lots of noise, ignoring laws and restrictions, being overly dramatic, and focusing on one´s appearance (or talking about the appearance of others) were the hallmarks of life in Spain.
  
  [Of course, not all Spaniards are "adolescents".  We certainly met some thoughtful, intellectual, mature, introspective, well-travelled and well-informed Spaniards who certainly don´t fit the cultural observations we´ve made here.  To those special people (and they´re probably reading this!), we hope you understand that we are making generalizations based on our interactions all over the country.]
  
  
• Lack of world view.  Travel abroad is a fairly new concept to Spaniards and many haven´t even seen much of their own country.  There seems to be little interest in knowing what goes on in the rest of the world unless it´s to be able to say that Spain does it better.
• In a similar vein, insular, regional pride that in some areas has led to separatist movements and violence.
• The lack of foreign travel means that there is a corresponding lack of interest in foreign food.  Even large supermarkets in most places have a meager selection of food items.  For example, since they don´t use fresh basil or cilantro in their cooking, there´s no demand for it and, therefore, the farmers don´t grow it. It is also nearly impossible to find ingredients to make "ethnic" foods in any place other than the big cities or in expat enclaves (and I´m not just talking about coconut milk, but also something as simple as pesto).  
• Rigid compliance with the way things have always been done (ex. meal times, recipes, taking the evening promenade).
• The lack of customer service in just about all business situations.  Spaniards haven´t learned the art of dealing with customers, but instead see them as a nuisance and interruption.
• Automatic timers on the lights in restaurant/bar bathrooms that are ALWAYS too short! (this is merely an observation, not a real issue...but strange nonetheless)

The Ugly (El Feo) - otherwise known as The Things that Really Make Us Think Twice

• Corruption in some political offices especially with regard to land and property
• Lousy economy.  With 1.5 million empty new homes and close to 20% unemployment in some areas, is this a country we want to make our future in?
• Extreme climate.  The summers are really too hot and the land too dry in most of the country.  In what we think is the most beautiful part of the country, we could expect to experience as much rain and as many cloudy days as England.  In the rest of the country, getting enough water is or will be a real issue.
• Much of the countryside isn´t very attractive.  The interior of the country is a high, dry and dusty plateau.  In the south, much of the land has been overgrazed by goats and has very few trees, with the exception of rows upon rows of olive trees. And on the coasts, rampant overdevelopment has resulted in communities of soulless concrete apartment blocks.

In a nutshell, we wholeheartedly recommend Spain as a place for your next vacation.  It has a fascinating history, beautiful cities and villages, friendly people, cheap food and wine and (in most places) lots of sunshine.  However, when we look at the lists above and consult our hearts, we don´t feel like we found what we are looking for.  This isn´t to say that we won´t revisit the idea of living in Spain, but we know that if we DO choose Spain, we will struggle daily against the irritations of Los Malos and the real issues of  Los Feos.

In the meantime, we´ve decided to continue our search for our perfect place in mid- and southern France.   After a brief hiatus, we´ll be back on the hunt.