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SPANISH HABITS

Are Spaniards really that bad at queuing?

While the British are famous for their love of forming orderly lines, the stereotype from abroad is that Spaniards are impatient and incapable of queuing properly. Here's why foreigners have it all wrong.

spanish bad at queueing
Perhaps it’s not that the Spanish don’t know how to queue, just that they do it differently. (Photo by PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP)

There are many different clichés said about the Spanish. One of the most common that always seems to come up is that they don’t queue properly, and are instead accustomed to just forming disorganised clusters or even pushing in.

Some even go as far as saying that the Spanish don’t know how to queue or are allergic to it and, if there isn’t some type of indication that you need to queue, they won’t do it.

But how true is this stereotype and is queuing in Spain the nightmare that it’s portrayed to be?

It’s generally true that the Spanish don’t like queueing (who does, really?) and may try to reduce their waiting times in a country where things do tend to go slower.

It’s not uncommon to see couples or families queuing at different counters to buy tickets or tills at the supermarket to see which is the quickest, then joining up together when the first one gets their turn.

You may also notice that if someone meets a friend or someone they know in the queue, they will often push in, to queue with them.

And occasionally an abuelo or abuela (grandfather or grandmother) will sneakily jump the queue because they can get away with it.  

While this may be seen as acceptable in Spain, it makes some foreigners very annoyed.

It may be typical to see chaotic jumbles of people standing around in no specific order to catch the metro or bus (and many people still don’t know how to wait to get on before others have gotten off).

But this lack of queuing doesn’t apply to all situations in Spain.

People queue outside the famous lottery office Doña Manolita to buy the “Fat One” (el Gordo) lottery tickets in the centre of Madrid. (Photo by PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP)

The queues may not be systematically as orderly as in the UK or northern European countries, but that doesn’t mean that the Spanish don’t know how to hacer la cola (queue).

In places such as offices and banks where many people are just standing around, it may not seem like there’s any queuing system in place, but there actually is, and it’s really quite clever.

When you arrive somewhere and see a cluttered mess, simply call out “¿Quien va el último?”, translated as “Who is the last?”.

Someone will answer you and you will know that it will be your turn after that particular person.

Don’t forget that when the next person comes along after you and asks “¿Quién va el último?”, it will be your turn to answer “¡Yo!” (Me!).

This nifty way of queuing means that you don’t all have to stand in one line and wait, you could find a comfy chair to sit on, go and stand near the air-con if it’s hot or go and chat to a friend you might spot who is also waiting.

Perhaps it’s not that the Spanish don’t know how to queue, just that they do it differently. Dare we say it’s actually better than the British or northern European way of standing in an orderly line? Is what is said about Spanish queueing just another unfair stereotype catering to Spain’s image abroad of being disorderly and undisciplined?

It’s also quite common in many places in Spain to collect a number or a ticket in advance, which then flashes up on a digital screen when it’s your turn.

This method can be seen everywhere from deli counters for buying cheeses and fresh fish to local post offices for sending parcels.

People queue outside a vaccination centre in Barcelona during the Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo by LLUIS GENE / AFP)

Shift during the pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic took queueing to another level in a country where any form of bureaucracy already involved waiting. 

Queuing became necessary for everything from waiting outside supermarkets, hospitals, shops, restaurants as only a certain number of people were allowed in, to having specific places for each person to stand at the supermarkets.

Queuing became so common during the pandemic that generally speaking, Spaniards have become even more adept at it and now seem to form queues everywhere (even bars!).

“¿Quien va el último?” and numbered tickets are still widely used in Spain, but the Spanish also appear to have a newfound appreciation for standing en fila india as they call it (in line), as well as doing it their own way.

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TERRORISM

Spain sees heightened terror risk amid global conflicts

Amid rising tensions and conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere around the world, a meeting by Spain's National Security Council has identified several threats to national security, some pre-existing and some new.

Spain sees heightened terror risk amid global conflicts

Global conflict and instability has raised the terror and security risk in Spain. This is what Spain’s National Security Council (CSN) has concluded following a meeting with government ministers on Tuesday to approve security reports and outline new anti-terror strategies. A 61-page document was compiled to replace the previous one approved in 2019 and will be valid for five years.

Among the topics discussed, which are outlined here on the National Security Council website, were the ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine and the heightened security threats they pose to Spain.

The war in Gaza, the Council states, presents “a real and direct risk” of an increase in “the terrorist threat, violent extremism and the emergence of new movements that promote a radical and violent ideology.”

READ ALSO: Spain could enforce conscription of ordinary citizens if there is war

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the document stresses, is also “a potential catalyst for terrorism”, as it “has led to an increase in the circulation of arms and explosives [in Europe], as well as the participation in the war of volunteer fighters of other nationalities”.

These uncertain global conditions could be exploited by groups or individuals “to undermine public security”, the document adds, and suggests that “state actors could carry out terrorist actions,” in what appears to be an allusion to the assassination of a Russian soldier in Alicante earlier in the year.

READ ALSO: Mystery surrounds death of Russian helicopter deserter in Spain

The meeting and report also outlined broader “risks and threats to national security” grouped into 16 categories, some older and long-established, some much more modern. They range from terrorism and violent radicalisation to the effects of climate change, space vulnerability, cyberspace, organised crime, migratory flows, foreign espionage and interference from abroad.

The CSN detects growing dangers to Spanish airspace, namely “events of commercial satellite launches from aerial platforms crossing controlled airspace, events of re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere of satellite launcher debris, uncontrolled hot air balloon overflights and an increase in drone overflights over military bases,” things that have all been noted in Spain in recent years.

In terms of terrorism, despite the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine Islamic terrorism remains the greatest threat to Spanish security. “The repeated dismantling of the leaderships of Daesh and Al Qaeda has not succeeded in eliminating these groups, which act in a more decentralised manner than in previous years,” the report states.

During the period covered by the previous security strategy (2019-2023) “more than 110 [security] operations related to terrorism activities have been carried out,” more than 90 of which were linked to jihadist terrorism, the document details. Just 5 percent were linked to domestic terrorism.

Foreign spies operating in Spain were also highlighted as a threat. The CSN report stated that the decision to expel 27 Russian diplomats from Spain at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was useful in this regard. “These expulsions significantly reduced their ability to operate on European territory, which led to a notable decrease in the rate of activity of foreign intelligence services in Spain,” the report states.

READ ALSO: Judge in Spain extends probe into Catalan separatist’s ‘Russia ties’

However, the potential threat from the Kremlin is again mentioned as the driving force behind the barrage of hoaxes and disinformation campaigns. In the case of Spain, Moscow reportedly “focuses on trying to spread a distorted image of migration in the Mediterranean and the situation in Ceuta and Melilla”.

But it’s not just the Russians attempting to misinform the public in Spain. The report also points to “official Chinese media and their propagandists on social networks in Spanish have amplified many pro-Russian narratives”, with messages “based on expressing a rejection of the US and the current international order”.

The report lists 83 Russian disinformation incidents and 12 Chinese in the last year alone. Among these, several were aimed at “creating mistrust” in Spain’s electoral processes.

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