I'm thinking of living in this country for a bit. Is it an good place to live. I heard people are super chill here. What's it like for a Foreigner? (US)
SpainGAF: Please tell me about this country.
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I lived and worked there for a year in the mid 2000s, in Madrid US citizen here. Great country, people are super fun and chill and live for going out and having fun. Most people live with their parents until married so they tend to go out at night a lot and hang out, either just chilling in parks and drinking and talking/smoking or tapas, drinking and smoking. Jobs can be extremely difficult to get, like super super hard. While I wouldn't exactly say spanish are racist, in the classic American sense, they will treat darker skin people as a bit inferior or maybe having a shady background so if you are black or brown it may not be very fun. Like I had a black friend come visit and stay with me for a month and every time we'd go out people would ask if he was selling drugs. He would have a super hard time getting into clubs and stuff too, with bullshit extra charges and stuff.
Living expenses are pretty cheap compared to American living but the standard of living is "lower" I'd say, in that most people don't have a car, multiple room house, tons of electronics and stuff in their home, etc. However free healthcare (for natives, not sure about foreigners?) and everyone feels pretty healthy which is crazy considering how much they smoke and drink, and I'd trade out having fun with friends most days of the week over working 60-70 hour weeks like a lot of young Americans.
Work hours tend to be morning - 1pm, break till like 2-3pm, then work again till like 8-9pm. Thats changed a lot I heard though in the last few years to match more western work hours, especially multinationals.
The sheer number of national festivals and holidays and occasions to be outside is overwhelmingly awesome, especially for Americans who usually only have a few holidays. I think the standard vacation across Europe is also 4 weeks a year compared to the 2 weeks in USA.
Definitely try to learn the language, I speak english/spanish/some italian/some chinese and I found spanish the easiest, lot of words sound the same and of course you can watch infinite hours of spanish TV in the USA to immerse yourself first. Spanish pronounciation and slang/idioms is different than Mexican but once you pick one up its not that hard to switch. Hope you can roll those Rs.
Living expenses are pretty cheap compared to American living but the standard of living is "lower" I'd say, in that most people don't have a car, multiple room house, tons of electronics and stuff in their home, etc. However free healthcare (for natives, not sure about foreigners?) and everyone feels pretty healthy which is crazy considering how much they smoke and drink, and I'd trade out having fun with friends most days of the week over working 60-70 hour weeks like a lot of young Americans.
Work hours tend to be morning - 1pm, break till like 2-3pm, then work again till like 8-9pm. Thats changed a lot I heard though in the last few years to match more western work hours, especially multinationals.
The sheer number of national festivals and holidays and occasions to be outside is overwhelmingly awesome, especially for Americans who usually only have a few holidays. I think the standard vacation across Europe is also 4 weeks a year compared to the 2 weeks in USA.
Definitely try to learn the language, I speak english/spanish/some italian/some chinese and I found spanish the easiest, lot of words sound the same and of course you can watch infinite hours of spanish TV in the USA to immerse yourself first. Spanish pronounciation and slang/idioms is different than Mexican but once you pick one up its not that hard to switch. Hope you can roll those Rs.
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My gf from the US loves living here if that helps you.
You will probably find strange all the touching and kissing to meet thing at first but you will get accoustumed fast.
Food is pretty amazing with lots of variety and healthy options.
We have lunch and dinner later than any other country, lunch 2-3pm dinner 9-10pm.
Lots of historic places to visit if you love that kind of stuff.
From the 4 big cities, Madrid is the biggest and a melting pot in a good way and a bad way. Barcelona is more cultural and is also pretty big. If you want acity that has everything but still doesnt feel to big or polluted you can try Valencia or Seville.
Spanish is a little hard to learn at fist because of words havibg masculibe or femenine terminations and every community having different words and accents for coloquial talk.
We speak loudly but we are mostly a friendly bunch.
You will probably find strange all the touching and kissing to meet thing at first but you will get accoustumed fast.
Food is pretty amazing with lots of variety and healthy options.
We have lunch and dinner later than any other country, lunch 2-3pm dinner 9-10pm.
Lots of historic places to visit if you love that kind of stuff.
From the 4 big cities, Madrid is the biggest and a melting pot in a good way and a bad way. Barcelona is more cultural and is also pretty big. If you want acity that has everything but still doesnt feel to big or polluted you can try Valencia or Seville.
Spanish is a little hard to learn at fist because of words havibg masculibe or femenine terminations and every community having different words and accents for coloquial talk.
We speak loudly but we are mostly a friendly bunch.
It also is going to depend where you are planing to live, there are some differences in characters, climate and costums, i live in the north of Spain in Asturias and i can asure that you can forget about the sun and good weather topic,
I got a tax question, I was looking online about income tax rates and got really confused with the whole EU nationals, non-residents and the whole thing.
The women are beautiful and charming, sunshine, sea, Sangria and the Bacarra Club. What's not to love?
More like
La lluvia en Sevilla es una maravilla
is our direct translation for that phrase here :p
and good weather, if you hate the 4 seasons chaos of snow, ice and freezing rain. Spain's weather is more on par with coastal California's,
you still need a coat sweater for winter but don't expect to need winter boots, winter tires or all wheel drive.
you still need a coat sweater for winter but don't expect to need winter boots, winter tires or all wheel drive.
I mean, i you are living right now anywhere but the coastal cities of the mediterranean you could find a huge snow storm where you need chains for your tires. We've had an incredible hot christmas but right now in february temperatures have gone down below 0°C in most of the country with snow and rain everywhere.
But thats climate change for you lol
Oy yeah OP, talking about temperatures, start learning your metric and celsius systems because we dont use that wacky imperial or farenheit you americans are so fond of lol
But you will probably thank us when you learn it ;)
but half the salary
I love Portugal to death but the wages are still way too low
Where in Spain?There is a very big difference between the regions.
If you are not going on a holiday but to stay I would say either Madrid or Barcelona which are a pretty much an international city, but with less people speaking english (and when they do, a really small number speak it really well), so some level of spanish is a must (although people tend to try to help even if they dont understand).
The Vasque Country is also a pretty nice place to live but it is not what you would expect of Spain (much more rain and less sun / warm).
If you are not going on a holiday but to stay I would say either Madrid or Barcelona which are a pretty much an international city, but with less people speaking english (and when they do, a really small number speak it really well), so some level of spanish is a must (although people tend to try to help even if they dont understand).
The Vasque Country is also a pretty nice place to live but it is not what you would expect of Spain (much more rain and less sun / warm).
also, if you move to Barcelona, you have to learn two languages not just one LOL.
you could get by just learning Castilian (Spanish) but the locals will be grumpy knowing that you are a foreigner not learning Catalan LOL.
you could get by just learning Castilian (Spanish) but the locals will be grumpy knowing that you are a foreigner not learning Catalan LOL.
Huh, this is the first time I hear this. Also most people I know have cars, and all my friends’ houses (and mine) are multiple room houses. Can’t think of any electronic thing in the US that people here don’t have in their houses (that is, for people living in an apartment).
Anyway, I’m from Madrid. I haven’t lived there for a few years now but personally I recommend it. Learn the language and the customs, and don’t go expecting to be exactly like where you live. If you manage that, it should be fine.
Most people are quite open and nice to everybody.
Also, unless you really look like a tourist (not a foreigner, but, again, a tourist), you shouldn’t have any safety problem in general. Spain is actually fairly safe, or at least more than what some people say. Most stuff happens to tourists though...
I was there in 2002 so probably very different 14 years later, but back then TVs tended to be smaller and few house holds had multiple cars and the shit load of electronics thats proliferated around US homes. Its not super uncommon in the midwest to have 2200 square foot (~200 sqm) homes with 4-6 cars, 6-10 TVs, multiple fridges, and even more stuff in a vacation home and even multiple vacation homes. Of course its not like every family in the USA has this, probably less than 20%, but just the sheer amount of stuff my parents and all their friends had was something I rarely ran into in Spain except for the very wealthy who had vacation homes in Marbella/Tenerife. Probably very different now I imagine as EU integration prosperity has taken hold, back when I worked there the Euro was still pretty brand new.
Oh and yeah multiple room houses comes across as something stupid when I wrote it, I didn't mean literally spanish people live in a single room house (lol) but more that a lot of US houses tend to be bonkers massive, the so called McMansions where you have 6-8 bedrooms plus massive living/dining/etc and 4-5 car garages for a family of 3 or 4. I rarely saw that in Madrid or Barcelona, simply due to how expensive land was I imagine. You rarely see it in NYC or LA either, but McMansions are common in Texas, Ohio, etc.
OP
OP
Not true. 99% of people don't care if you only speak spanish.
Wait what?
No
Ending with Z can sound like th for english speakers, but we always pronouce S like an S.
Why is there no SpainERA thread to talk about Spain? I'm planning a big nationwide tour of the country (I hear the Renfe train system is now one of the best (if not THE best) in Europe) so it would be good to talk about things. Maybe I should create one if there isn't one?
ITS BEEN OVER A YEAR
German trains vs Spain trains - which are better, lets go?
I was bamboozled
Anyone here hike the camino del santiago?!
its the thing i must do before i kick the bucket
Come here.
We have great weather, we are lovely people and our food is the best... In the World!
Seriously, we have such a variety of gastronimies.
We have great weather, we are lovely people and our food is the best... In the World!
Seriously, we have such a variety of gastronimies.
Not a Spaniard but Madrid was one of my favorite places to visit. Such an open minded and tolerant city with so much to see. And very good and cheap food as well
If you’re planning on renting and living in a place like Madrid or Barcelona, just keep in mind most of your salary will go towards rent. If you plan to buy a house, you’ll finish the last payment in 2060 if you’re lucky.
Unless you’re rich of earn 2500€+ each month in one these magical positions a most of the Spaniards have only heard of in fairly tales.
Wages here are pretty low, unemployment is super high. Just recently the new government approved a raise for the minimum wage and now is 900€. 900€ won’t get you a big place in those cities, and people still need to eat and everything.
But yeah we have dinner at 10 and we’re fun I guess.
Unless you’re rich of earn 2500€+ each month in one these magical positions a most of the Spaniards have only heard of in fairly tales.
Wages here are pretty low, unemployment is super high. Just recently the new government approved a raise for the minimum wage and now is 900€. 900€ won’t get you a big place in those cities, and people still need to eat and everything.
But yeah we have dinner at 10 and we’re fun I guess.
