This is a Guest Blog from Kate Turner. Kate is based in Madrid and started up the Facebook group ‘You know you’ve lived in Spain when...’ The group now has 73,000 members and is still growing. After reading this go there and have a look at what people really think about living in Spain.
Take it away Kate.
"I first moved to Spain at the tender age of 20. As a Spanish student at university, I was required to spend a year living in a Spanish-speaking country. Not exactly a hardship, but when I had dreamily filled out the application form for the British Council’s English Language Assistant programme, the Southern town of Alcalá de Guadaira wasn’t exactly what I’d had in mind. For a start, it was two hours away from the beach I’d imagined: the first of many lessons about ‘the real Spain’. My mother likened it to Salford. My mother is prone to exaggeration. Alcalá is only like Manchester’s uglier sister in one respect: it’s not exactly scenic. Luckily for me however, it turned out to be a great introduction to life in Spain – great weather, close to the sights of Seville, and most importantly, home to friendly people. The friends I made in Alcalá helped to make my year unforgettable; taking me places, teaching me about Spanish culture, customs and cuisine. It was with them I experienced my first Andalusian feria, a week-long party for the whole family consisting of a wonderful mishmash of flamenco, fairground rides, horses, music and sherry. It was with them I learned to love seafood, speak ‘proper’ Spanish (none of this ‘quisiera una tortilla española por favor’ lark) and appreciate the benefits of a more relaxed lifestyle.
When the time came for me to return to England, I vowed to move back to Spain as soon as possible. However, life had other plans and I decided to continue my studies for a further year. It was during this year that I stumbled across a group on Facebook called ‘You know you’ve lived in France when...’ Written by a former year abroad student just like me, the group contained a short list of observations about life in France that had made an impression on the author. Entertained by the idea, I checked to see if there was a similar group for Spain. When I saw that there wasn’t, I immediately decided to create my own, and so in May 2007 ‘You know you’ve lived in Spain when...’ was born.
Three years later, the group has over 73,000 members from all over the world and is the largest group about Spain on Facebook. It has even appeared in Spanish newspaper 20 Minutos. My little list of the idiosyncrasies of Spanish life, viewed from my vantage point as a Brit, has grown over the years along with its membership. I must admit I never expected observations such as ‘Not giving every new acquaintance dos besos seems so rude’ and ‘Drinking coffee out of a glass is entirely normal’ to strike such a chord with others, but it seems that more people related to my impressions of Spanish life than I expected. I initially invited a handful of friends who had also lived in Spain to join. I suppose they invited their friends too, as within a few days the group had 50 members, including some in the USA. I’ve never attempted to promote the group; it did that itself, providing a forum for everyone who has lived in Spain – including a large number of Spaniards – to share anecdotes and memories, to ask for and offer advice, and to post links to their businesses in Spain. As clichéd as it sounds, it’s become a bit of an online community, in some cases spilling over into real life – through the group I met my Spanish counterpart, Cristina from La Mancha, who is as in love with England as I am with Spain (as long as you don’t mention Birmingham).
In fact, a few months after Cristina moved to England, I finally returned to Spain as a resident rather than a visitor. Since August 2009, I’ve been living and working in Madrid. I had initially planned to work as an English teacher, but thanks to the Spanish phenomenon of enchufe (having connections) I managed to find work in my own field, publishing. The lifestyle is decidedly less laid-back than in Andalucía, hardly surprising given that Madrid is the capital. However, living here is giving me the chance to experience Spanish city life as well as the opportunity to travel – located at the very centre of Spain, Madrid is ideally placed for day trips and weekend breaks. ‘You know you’ve lived in Spain when...’ is still going strong, and I’m actually hoping to organise its first event this summer in Madrid, bringing together all those here who share a love of Spanish life. Although I’m proud of the group’s success, I feel that I can’t take all the credit: most of it should go to Spain itself."
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"I first moved to Spain at the tender age of 20. As a Spanish student at university, I was required to spend a year living in a Spanish-speaking country. Not exactly a hardship, but when I had dreamily filled out the application form for the British Council’s English Language Assistant programme, the Southern town of Alcalá de Guadaira wasn’t exactly what I’d had in mind. For a start, it was two hours away from the beach I’d imagined: the first of many lessons about ‘the real Spain’. My mother likened it to Salford. My mother is prone to exaggeration. Alcalá is only like Manchester’s uglier sister in one respect: it’s not exactly scenic. Luckily for me however, it turned out to be a great introduction to life in Spain – great weather, close to the sights of Seville, and most importantly, home to friendly people. The friends I made in Alcalá helped to make my year unforgettable; taking me places, teaching me about Spanish culture, customs and cuisine. It was with them I experienced my first Andalusian feria, a week-long party for the whole family consisting of a wonderful mishmash of flamenco, fairground rides, horses, music and sherry. It was with them I learned to love seafood, speak ‘proper’ Spanish (none of this ‘quisiera una tortilla española por favor’ lark) and appreciate the benefits of a more relaxed lifestyle.
When the time came for me to return to England, I vowed to move back to Spain as soon as possible. However, life had other plans and I decided to continue my studies for a further year. It was during this year that I stumbled across a group on Facebook called ‘You know you’ve lived in France when...’ Written by a former year abroad student just like me, the group contained a short list of observations about life in France that had made an impression on the author. Entertained by the idea, I checked to see if there was a similar group for Spain. When I saw that there wasn’t, I immediately decided to create my own, and so in May 2007 ‘You know you’ve lived in Spain when...’ was born.
Three years later, the group has over 73,000 members from all over the world and is the largest group about Spain on Facebook. It has even appeared in Spanish newspaper 20 Minutos. My little list of the idiosyncrasies of Spanish life, viewed from my vantage point as a Brit, has grown over the years along with its membership. I must admit I never expected observations such as ‘Not giving every new acquaintance dos besos seems so rude’ and ‘Drinking coffee out of a glass is entirely normal’ to strike such a chord with others, but it seems that more people related to my impressions of Spanish life than I expected. I initially invited a handful of friends who had also lived in Spain to join. I suppose they invited their friends too, as within a few days the group had 50 members, including some in the USA. I’ve never attempted to promote the group; it did that itself, providing a forum for everyone who has lived in Spain – including a large number of Spaniards – to share anecdotes and memories, to ask for and offer advice, and to post links to their businesses in Spain. As clichéd as it sounds, it’s become a bit of an online community, in some cases spilling over into real life – through the group I met my Spanish counterpart, Cristina from La Mancha, who is as in love with England as I am with Spain (as long as you don’t mention Birmingham).
In fact, a few months after Cristina moved to England, I finally returned to Spain as a resident rather than a visitor. Since August 2009, I’ve been living and working in Madrid. I had initially planned to work as an English teacher, but thanks to the Spanish phenomenon of enchufe (having connections) I managed to find work in my own field, publishing. The lifestyle is decidedly less laid-back than in Andalucía, hardly surprising given that Madrid is the capital. However, living here is giving me the chance to experience Spanish city life as well as the opportunity to travel – located at the very centre of Spain, Madrid is ideally placed for day trips and weekend breaks. ‘You know you’ve lived in Spain when...’ is still going strong, and I’m actually hoping to organise its first event this summer in Madrid, bringing together all those here who share a love of Spanish life. Although I’m proud of the group’s success, I feel that I can’t take all the credit: most of it should go to Spain itself."
- Kate Turner is an editor and freelance travel writer. She has contributed several chapters to Rough Guides titles and is also the author of the blog ‘Tales of a Brit Abroad’.
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