Spanish stereotypes: fiestas and siestas

 Spanish stereotypes: fiestas and siestas

As with every culture, there are all kinds of Spanish stereotypes floating around the people of Spain and their traditions. You may well have heard of most of these Spanish stereotypes, but it’s always fun to go through them and maybe debunk a few.

What comes to your mind when you think of Spaniards? Exactly. Stereotypes. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, indeed they give us a vision – a more or less accurate one – of what to expect when visiting or moving to Spain.

But… which of these clichés are accurate and which ones are not exactly like that? Here we give you some examples of stereotypes that we Spaniards have to face day in day out:

Spanish stereotypes

We are always drinking and partying
Spanish stereotype: drink and party

It’s a really common knowledge that we Spaniards love a drink and a fiesta above everything else. This is not incorrect, but still, we don’t party as hard and as foreigners often believe. When we go out, we stay out until really late and maybe we drink a bit (not as much as some!), but our lives don’t consist of one party after another.

We are really loud
Spanish stereotype: being very loud

Ok, I will not be the one to deny this. Our voices are louder somehow, plus we like to shout and express ourselves in a higher pitch. What can I say, we’re a passionate race with a lot to say!

We sleep – or siesta – all the time
Spanish stereotype: siesta

Even though siestas are maybe one of the most known Spanish words and habits, the truth is that modern life leave little time for an afternoon nap – as much as many of us would enjoy one! This is one Spanish stereotype we can, unfortunately for us, debunk.

We only eat paella and tortilla, and we always drink sangria
Spanish stereotypes: paella, tortilla and sangria

I know it sounds difficult to believe, but we have a wide range of recipes in Spain besides that two – don’t mess with them Jamie Oliver! And most of all, we don’t often drink sangria. In fact, ,many of us don’t do it at all. It’s way more common to see a Spaniard drinking beer or wine than sangria, which is drunk primarily by foreigners.

Everyone dances flamenco
Spanish stereotype: flamenco

It may be a beautiful art but we actually have many different traditional dances and music genres besides one of the main Spanish stereotypes. Flamenco is, indeed, enjoyed with passion in Southern Spain, but in the rest of the country, we have no idea on how to dance it.

Bull fighting is the national sport
Spanish stereotype: bull fighting

Bull fighting is actually one of the most controversial topics to discuss here in Spain and every day more and more people turn against this practice. In fact, figures say that only 8.5% of Spaniards go to a corrida annually (and the numbers are decreasing).

We are Mexicans
Spanish stereotypes: being mistaken with Mexicans

Pretty obvious, right? Well, the truth is Spanish and Mexican cultures are often mistaken. Just to clarify it: tacos, mariachis and sombreros are items from Mexican culture. And, by the way, maybe they could make it into another post about Mexican stereotypes…

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