Our recent trip to Spain spanned three weeks and included business in Barcelona, a cycling trip from Seville to Cadíz, and a few days relaxing in Madrid. The length of time and multiple locations gave us a chance to immerse ourselves in this phenomenally beautiful country. Here are five things I noticed about Spain.
Spain takes meat seriously
Turkey sandwich for lunch? You’d have to make an effort to find that in Spain. It’s all about the delectable specialty cured ham called jamón. There’s the run-of-the-mill stuff called serrano, and the top-end stuff called ibérico. The latter is considered the highest rated. Pigs used for ibérico jamón are black with black hooves. They are free-range and eat nothing but succulent acorns. Seriously. The stuff is not cheap either – up to 100 euros per kilo! We ate a lot of the basic jamón and it was delicious. Not being foodies, we didn’t splurge to try the ibérico. I know, we’re lame. Sorry, foodies.
Left: Snack size meat and cheese on the go. Right: Ageing jamón a Ferpal Cafeteria.
It doesn’t follow the crowd of tourists
We cycled through several towns and cities, and although we were treated very well as tourists, we didn’t feel we were in touristland, if you know what I mean. We didn’t see place names in large letters or upside-down umbrellas hanging atop a street to attract Instagrammers. That was nice. After a while those touristy tropes make you feel that you could be anywhere.
What we did find in one town –Arcos de la Frontera—were streets decorated in knitting and crocheting! A knitter friend of mine explained that this was called “yarn bombing.” How cool is that?
Spaniards eat dinner ridiculously late
When you’re rising at 7 a.m. for a day of cycling, the Spanish custom of dining at 9 or 10 p.m. is a bit of a strain. I know, I just extolled Spain in the point above for being unique, but the dine-before-bedtime is a practice I just cannot get into.
Taken at 9:45 p.m. — the start of dinner hour in Cadíz.
Why do they do it? I’ve heard two different reasons. Steve’s Spanish colleague told us that during Francisco Franco’s reign, Spain’s economy was so poor that workers needed two jobs to make ends meet. They would go to one job in the morning, come home for a break and then head to a second job, which would end in the evening. By the time people got home and organized for dinner and socializing it was very late.
The other explanation has to do with Spain’s time zone. If you look at the country’s position on the map, it should be on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), but it operates on Central European Time (CET). Why? Still Franco’s fault. He switched the time zone in solidarity with Germany. Compared to other CET countries, Spain’s sun rises and sets later—making the natural rhythm of meal times in contraction to the time on the clock.
Bunk!
Where I live in Canada, the sun rises around 5 a.m. and sets at 9:40 p.m. during the peak of summer. Canadians eat lunch around noon and dinner around 6:00 (8:00 would not be unusual if dining out).
I’m not saying that these late-night dining origin stories are lies, I just think that there is nothing about the time zone that is preventing Spaniards from eating earlier. I mean, who am I to dictate how another country’s people should eat, but I think it’s a hard way to live – even with that two-hour siesta break (which not everyone can take) in the afternoon.
Every time we saw a crying baby or child having a mini tantrum in the street, I joked to Steve that they were cranky because they went to bed too late. In reality, many Spaniards would like to have dinnertime earlier. In fact, a few years ago, there was a movement afoot to shift the rhythm of the Spanish day, including moving primetime television from its start time of 10 p.m. Advocates cited health and productivity gains as motivation to make the switch.
But drinks always come with olives!
All is forgiven about the late hour of dining because every time you sit down and order a drink in Spain, a waiter presents a little bowl of olives. I adore olives, and Spain produces 250 different varieties! At every stop for drinks or dinner, I looked forward to trying the olives because most times they were different from the others I’d had. Note, sometimes our bill revealed a nominal charge for the olives and bread that accompanied a meal, but other times they were gratis. Always worth it, in my opinion.
A lot of Spaniards smoke
According to Spanish newspaper El País, 34% of Spaniards smoke cigarettes daily in 2018. The prevalence of smokers is noticeable when compared to Canada’s 16% smoking rate. Spain does not permit lighting up in restaurants and bars but does allow it on outdoor restaurant patios. That’s where we noticed it most. The trend is moving down, though, since legislated smoking restrictions came into effect several years ago. If you are sensitive to cigarette smoke, you might be best to dine inside or on a patio where the tables are not as close together.
Grocery tote cart stations
I know this is number six — consider it a bonus! I LOVE that grocery stores in Spain have a secure grocery tote cart area. We stopped to get picnic supplies at grocery stories regularly on our cycling tour and I was surprised to see how many people walked to get groceries and used a cart to get their purchases home (way to live active lives Spaniards!). How clever for stores to provide a secure area to lock your cart so you don’t have to drag it around the store while you’re shopping. I had never seen this before.
Have you visited Spain? What did you notice?
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makes me want to pack my bags and leave tomorrow. thanks deb