Are Spanish People Rude?

[Cato]

I agree with you 100%. The differences are small but noticeable within the confines of our country.

Well, you have to know of the stereotype of "the lazy south," where everything is laid-back and quaint. This is s stereotype that goes back to the pre-Civil War era, when firebrands in the north painted the south as backwards, underdeveloped, etc. Conversely the southern radicals painted the north as a land of mercantilism, money-grubbing, crass industry, carpetbagging, etc. The south viewed itself as a genteel culture in comparison to the north, with its big, dirty cities and wageslavery.

The northern mentality has always been a bit revolutionary, but in an entirely different direction than that of the south.

[Comte Arnau]

Well, you have to know of the stereotype of "the lazy south," where everything is laid-back and quaint. This is s stereotype that goes back to the pre-Civil War era, when firebrands in the north painted the south as backwards, underdeveloped, etc. Conversely the southern radicals painted the north as a land of mercantilism, money-grubbing, crass industry, carpetbagging, etc. The south viewed itself as a genteel culture in comparison to the north, with its big, dirty cities and wageslavery.

The northern mentality has always been a bit revolutionary, but in an entirely different direction than that of the south.

I wonder if that Northern/South mentality exists in every country. A lazy laid-back underdeveloped but more open South vs a working serious North. I know it exists in Spain, Italy and France, although not really in Portugal.

[Cato]

I wonder if that Northern/South mentality exists in every country. A lazy laid-back underdeveloped but more open South vs a working serious North. I know it exists in Spain, Italy and France, although not really in Portugal.

Count,

In my country's case, I wonder if the emergence of the southern American attitude was in any way influenced by its closer proximity to the overseas territories of Spain (Cuba, Texas and so on). The northern part of America had stronger transatlantic ties to Britain, which was very the Industrial Revolution largely began. So, the northern part of the U.S. rapidly developed due to transatlantic trade with Britain and other parts of western Europe; the south's only real export of note was cotton (and other textiles to a lesser extent). It's not as if the south lacked the ability or resources to industrialized; it simply chose not to and instead rely on a "cotton is king" economic policy.

The majority of European immigration to the U.S., 95% of it, wound up in the north. The south, obviously, didn't receive this groundswell of immigration. The south had the majority of the negros in the country, almost all of them enslaved (a tiny minority was free), and the negros in the north were free and productive citizens for the most part. When the American Civil War began in 1861, the north had about 3 times the population of the south (which also had a sizeable portion of slaves) and a vastly greater industrial base with a more productive workforce.

[Bridie]

It is absolutely false that all Spaniards address you 30 cm from your nose and that they constantly kiss each other, tap each other and such. When I first moved to Sevilla at the age of 17, it took me years to adapt to that kind of behavior, and even today I still find it more unconfortable and faux than "friendly" and "warm".

You probably weren't referring to my post where I said that I find the Spanish to be warm and friendly etc. but just in case, I'll make something clear... I wasn't referring to Andalucians, since I've never been to Andalucia.

I wonder if that Northern/South mentality exists in every country. A lazy laid-back underdeveloped but more open South vs a working serious North. I know it exists in Spain, Italy and France, although not really in Portugal.

Maybe it exists in most countries in the Northern Hemisphere due to climate differences? (Colder north, warmer south.)

[Cato]

Maybe it exists in most countries in the Northern Hemisphere due to climate differences? (Colder north, warmer south.)

How do you explain the attitude of the Romans then? Their culture was certainly Mediterranean in origin, as were the Romans themselves, but their monumental achievements, to say nothing of their monumental architecture, is a bit of a proof against the "climate theory" of a north/south divide.

[Bridie]

How do you explain the attitude of the Romans then? Their culture was certainly Mediterranean in origin, as were the Romans themselves, but their monumental achievements, to say nothing of their monumental architecture, is a bit of a proof against the "climate theory" of a north/south divide.

It wasn't a theory, it was a suggestion.


There can be no doubt, warm weather is conducive to lower physical activity levels and psychological relaxation, as well as being favourable for the creation and maintainance of a vibrant social environment. The opposite is true for cold weather, of course.

[_______]

here, the south is warmer, wealthier, better educated, more civilised

[Bridie]

here, the south is warmer,

Don't you mean "less freezing"?

[Cato]

It wasn't a theory, it was a suggestion.


There can be no doubt, warm weather is conducive to lower physical activity levels and psychological relaxation, as well as being favourable for the creation and maintainance of a vibrant social environment. The opposite is true for cold weather, of course.

Perhaps, but the reason that I mentioned the Romans lays in the fact that the Romans were far more industrious and organized than any people in Europe prior to the Industrial Revolution, and they were of a southern extraction (unless the Prisci Latini were, as some fools claim, of Nordic background).

Compared to the Greeks, the Romans lacked a vibrant social culture; they were a people, to me, very closely akin to the northern ideal: robust, sober, hard-working, perhaps lacking creativity, dour, but far more likely to achieve practical results.

[Comte Arnau]

Compared to the Greeks, the Romans lacked a vibrant social culture;

Hmm, I don't think a society with such thing as the thermae, the fora, those well-known games and so on, can be said to lack a vibrant social culture. Come on, they'd even come to agreements while squatting together in the public baths!