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UNDERSTANDING SPANIARDS

The good, the bad and the ugly: What are the regional stereotypes across Spain?

Spaniards often have to deal with stereotypes from abroad which misrepresent them as just party-loving and lazy, but even among the inhabitants of the country’s 17 regions there are clichés that live on to this day which paint people from certain areas all with the same brush.

Published: 1 February 2022 16:06 CET
Updated: 10 March 2023 08:57 CET

Basques, Andalusians, Riojans and Catalans are all subject to regional stereotypes, as are people from all of Spain's other regions. Photos: Ander Guillenea, Cristina Quicler, Josep Lago, Oscar del Pozo/AFP

If you’ve lived in Spain long enough, you may have heard a joke that kicks off with “the curtain rises and an Andalusian, a Catalan and a Basque walk into a bar”.

The chiste (joke) then proceeds towards a punchline that will mock one or all of the subjects based on regional stereotypes, usually ones that aren’t positive.

It may seem like harmless fun but the last time the Spanish Centre of Social Studies (CIS) decided to carry out a survey among the general population asking them about regional stereotypes was back in 1994, perhaps because not everyone was happy with the outcome of the results.

This pigeonholing based on people’s region of origin has lived on nonetheless, as is the case in pretty much any country around the world.

The huge box office success of Spanish comedies Ocho Apellidos Vascos (Eight Basque Surnames) and Ocho Apellidos Catalanes (Eight Catalan Surnames), which deal heavily with regional stereotypes, is testament to these enduring clichés.

Sometimes stereotypes used in Spain can be due to admiration or affection, other times it’s light joshing, but on occasions it can be prejudiced and offensive.

stereotypes spain — Thousands of people in Gijón (Asturias) try to beat the world record of most people simultaneously pouring cider. But do Asturians really deserve their reputation for being heavy drinkers? Photo: MIGUEL RIOPA/AFP

More often than not it’s people from the southern half of Spain who get crossed off as lazy and frivolous, sometimes just because they have a southern Spanish accent, whereas those from the wealthier north may instead be regarded as brutish or rude right off the bat.

At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that a stereotype is simply a generalisation about how a group of people behaves and although it may be true to some extent, it’s not universally valid and defining of a person’s character.

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So without further ado, and with the purpose of our foreign readership in Spain and abroad understanding the idiosyncrasies of Spanish society, here are the main stereotypes Spaniards resort to depending on the region they’re talking about.

Andalusian people: happy, funny, party-loving, lazy

Aragonese people: noble, stubborn, uncouth

Asturian people: patriotic, heavy drinkers

Balearic people: friendly, reserved, untrusting

Basque people: separatist, strong, honest, stubborn

Canarian people: friendly, happy, lazy

Cantabrian people: proud, dry character

Castellano-Leonese people: generous, serious, unassuming

Castellano-Manchego people: pure-blooded Spaniards, brutish

Catalan people: stingy, independent-minded, hard-working, proud

Extremeñan people: village-minded, lazy

Galician people: closed-minded, superstitious, untrusting, affectionate

Madrileño people: cocky, open-minded, proud

Murcian people: fun-loving, crude

Navarran people: noble, brutish

Riojan people: welcoming, heavy-drinking

Valencian people: party-loving, well-groomed, corrupt (mainly their politicians)

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So overall people from southern regions are considered lazy but friendly and fun by their northern countrymen, whereas southerners see people from colder northern Spain as having a drier character and more uncouth manner.

However, even though Spain and its people’s characters, priorities and language are clearly diverse, it doesn’t take long to see that in most cases a Basque or Catalan person has more in common with an Andalusian than with a Brit or German, even though they might not always like to admit it.

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The 10 types of people you always see in a Spanish bar

If you’ve lived in Spain or spent any significant amount of time here, you’ll know that Spain is a nation of bars.

To be specific, there’s 175,890 of them scattered across the country on every street corner and alleyway across the country from the northernmost tip of Asturias all the way down to ferry port at Algeciras.

According to figures from Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE), that works out to a bar for every 270 inhabitants, and there are just 142,781 unlucky people – around 0.3 percent of the total national population – who live in a municipality without one.

And we’re not talking about a pub or some sleek cocktail bar here, we’re talking about the traditional, family-run bars you can find in every barrio (neighbourhood) across the country.

You know the type. The humble ‘local’ where you can get a beer, coffee or tapa at any time of day. A place where you always see familiar faces, whether it be the barman who remembers your order or the old regular glued to the fruit machine, these sorts of Spanish bars are less of a hospitality establishment and more a community living room.

Sadly, these sorts of traditional bars are closing at a pretty rapid rate nowadays, and many are being replaced by chain and franchise restaurants. By the time 2021 ended, Spanish bars were closing at an average of rate of 20.7 bars a day, and roughly 2,000 pull thier shutters down for the last time every year.

For many foreigners in Spain, however, these sorts of humble, family-run places are one of the most endearing things about living in the country.

These bars are typically very simple comprising a few stools and tables, some semi-legible laminated menus, a small number of tapas offerings, a fruit machine, a cigarette machine, and a TV. As you probably know, the basic nature of these bars means that they are often essentially the same, and you are therefore quite likely to see the same sorts of people frequenting them.

Here are ten people you always seem to see in a Spanish bar, wherever you go, at whatever time of day.

The old boy with the carajillo

In the early morning, as fellow sleepy eyed locals tuck into their tostadas, Spanish bars always seem to have an older Señor sipping quietly on a carajillo (a coffee with some kind of liquor added to it, usually cognac, rum, whisky, or aniseed).

Often there are several older men sitting a few tables apart from another, each sipping a carajillo, though some prefer to have their coffee in one glass and booze in a shot glass, but you get the idea.

Think of this as Spain’s answer to Irish coffee, except that some men in Spain seemingly drink this every morning as opposed to only on special occasions. If they’re a real regular they will arrive in the early morning with a newspaper tucked under their arm and have their carajillo brought wordlessly over to them before they’ve even made it past the front page.

It’s not uncommon to see people ordering beer or wine early in these types of bars either.

The seasoned barman

That brings us to our next Spanish bar archetype: the grizzled (often slightly grumpy) barman who owns the place, or if he doesn’t, behaves like he does.

You know the type: pot-bellied, greying, tea towel over his shoulder, a three-day stubbled man who could be 40 years old but could be 60 – you never can quite tell. If not behind the bar they are invariably smoking outside or arguing with the delivery driver.

At times a little brusk with non-regulars and sometimes downright rude with tourists, but always chatty with locals and children, these are the sorts of barmen who know everyone in the barrio have seen it all and always, always remember your order (if you’re a regular).

It’s not uncommon to see people dinking beer or wine in the mornings in Spain. Photo: Les Argonautes / Unsplash

The older Señora with perfect hair and makeup

One customer the barman will always be sure to be polite and respectful towards is the older Señora dressed to the nines with her hair freshly dyed and blow-dried hair, and makeup done immaculately at 9am. She’s often found drinking a café con leche (coffee with milk), sometimes a glass of wine, depending on the time of day, and is so well presented that she looks as though she could be stopping in before heading to a wedding, but is really just wanting an excuse to dress up.

You can often smell her perfume from across the bar, and she is usually waiting for the rest of her friends to arrive so they can pass away the morning gossiping about everyone in the barrio (and the bar).

The man who spends all day on the tragaperras

Most Spanish bars have tragaperras, slot or fruit machines, and there always seems to be a man (usually an older man) obsessively feeding coins into it. He can spend hours standing there zombie-like as the world goes on around him, and the trusty barman keeps an eye on his caña (small beer) and refills it without interrupting his focus.

Whatever the time of day, he always seems to be playing.

The guy smoking with one foot inside and one foot outside

Smoking indoors is illegal in Spain and has been for a long time, but in some local bars, you wouldn’t know it because of the regular who always straddles the threshold, one foot inside, one foot out on the street, blowing his cigarette smoke in a haze across the bar.

Often this guy can be found watching the man on the tragaperras, offering pieces of advice between his drags of his cigarette.

The cleaners having an after-work beer in the morning

Often friendly with the older men drinking early morning carajillos, most Spanish bars will also have two or three florescent jacket-clad rubbish collectors or road sweepers celebrating the end of their shift with an after work caña (or two) as most people are dropping in for a tostada (toast) on their way to work.

Another peculiarity of Spanish bars is that these workers usually bring tin foil-wrapped bocadillos (filled baguettes) to eat with their beers, and the usually grumpy barman says nothing about it. Rest assured, if you were to try this, you’d certainly get an earful.

The person in charge of cutting the jamón

One item that’s never lacking in a typical Spanish bar is a leg of jamón (cured ham) either hanging from the rafters or sitting behind the bar.

Sometimes the grizzled older barman takes the responsibility of doing the meticulous slicing, but as jamón is such a serious thing in Spain, often there’s another employee whose sole responsibility seems to be to cut the jamón and nothing else.

And how seriously they take it, slicing away as though they are performing open-heart surgery.

In Spain slicing ham is a work of art. Photo: Ben Kerckx / Pixabay

The kids having breakfast on their way home from a night out

Another regular fixture among the early morning crowd is the table of teenagers or uni students having breakfast in a drunken stupor on the terrace after a long night of partying. Some will go for coffee, admitting defeat that the night is over, and others will try and power through with another caña.

They are all, invariably, smoking like chimneys, and the various other regulars will exchange knowing nods of the heads and quips about being young.

Someone throwing napkins on the floor

You’ll also inevitably see someone tossing their paper napkin (along with an olive stone or cheese rind) on the floor as they eat. This is another peculiarity of Spanish bar culture, and some more traditional Spaniards might even say a bar littered with crumpled napkins is the mark of a good place.

This is another tradition that seems to be dying out, and again, if you aren’t a regular perhaps don’t try this one.

The abuela who spoils her grandchildren

When Spanish abuelas (grandmothers) aren’t gossiping away in a group, they can often be found spoiling their grandchildren and ordering endless sugary drinks, donuts, pastries and ice cream for them.

If you hang around in the bar long enough, you’ll probably see the Mum or Dad arrive and scold their mother for spoiling the kids.

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