Culture shocks in Spain | What you HAVE TO know about Spain if you ever come for a visit

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Күн бұрын

Combining my so far half year of stay here in Madrid and my previous travel experience, I've concluded 5 culture shocks for a foreigner like me. I hope what I've shared here would help you learn more about Spain and make your experience in Spain a lil bit easier

Пікірлер: 58

@victoriamuniz8958 3 жыл бұрын

The thing about paying to go to the bathroom in public places, is because there are people who make a lot of dirt, throw the paper on the floor, etc., so when they pay, people think better of it and tend to get less dirty. And paying at MacDonalds and other businesses is because there are people who only enter to use the bathroom and not to consume, causing the company to spend more on cleaning, but at the same time not sell products.

@xlenaqz 3 жыл бұрын

Me being Spanish I'm always in shock when people say they've paid for using a bathroom because I've never seen that xD

@CeciliaCao 3 жыл бұрын

Hahaha well clearly in restaurants or shopping malls no, and most restaurant owners are kind enough to let you use the bathroom even if you don’t consume there, but la estación de Atocha sí, which came to me as a surprise too😂😂😂

@RubenCorle 3 жыл бұрын

@@CeciliaCao Haven´t been around Madrid in a while, but i think the payment for the bath usage in Atocha must be quite recent.

@Filipinospanishwalk 3 жыл бұрын

Hola Buenas, great sharing 👍 watching here from Spain

@CeciliaCao 3 жыл бұрын

Holaaaaaa! Gracias por el comentario!!! Salud🥰🥰🥰

@Garvm 3 жыл бұрын

You hit the point there. We are not having lunch and dinner late. We are having them in the usual hour but with a displaced time zone.

@CeciliaCao 2 жыл бұрын

Hahahaha well actually I feel a bit sorry for this especially because of the dinner time. It’s just not easy to keep fit while eating so late but it’s equally difficult to have any desire for dinner when the sun is still shining so brightly at night😂

@Mohameskouri 4 жыл бұрын

I'm from Valencia Spain, it's a pleasure to see you taking about Spain in this video. I like . I'm following you🇪🇦

@CeciliaCao 4 жыл бұрын

Holaaaa! Encantada! Gracias por seguirme😃😃😃😃 todavía aprendiendo español ahora

@dydydymond237 3 жыл бұрын

In Spain specifically I've never payed for a bathroom and I've been here for almost 12 years, in restaurants some let you use it for fre and some only let you use it if you are eating something in the restaurant, so what I do is get in, ask for a coffee which is 1-2€ or a shot of something which normally is 3-4€ and then I use the bathroom, specifically McDonalds is the easiest place to use bathroom without paying or ordering anything as they tend to be big and with too many people to know if they are clients or not...so maybe outside yes, bu here in Madrid you got that somewhat wrong.

@CeciliaCao 3 жыл бұрын

Yeah yeah Restaurant owners in Spain are pretty nice, most of them would just let you use for free. One exception in Madrid would be Atochaaaa😂😂😂 tbh before I thought public bathrooms in Spain are all somewhat free but for the one inside Atocha you do need to pay😭😭😭 but generally speaking spain is a lot friendlier in this matter than other European countries🥳

@maroua9279 3 жыл бұрын

I love watching ur videos

@CeciliaCao 3 жыл бұрын

Thankssssss!!!🥳🥳🥳

@maroua9279 3 жыл бұрын

@@CeciliaCao welcome!!🎉

@Nachopm88 3 жыл бұрын

In regards to the floors it is so true and can even go further. I’m from spain and I used to live in a “first floor” that was actually physically like a fourth floor because underneath there was the “bajos”, un entresuelo y la planta principal which neither of them are called by the number of floor that they are rather other things that have to do with architecture (bajo is ground level, entresuelo is sometimes if the ground floor is particularly tall maybe and there’s a little apartment built between the ground floor and that upstairs and “la planta principal” is a concept that is very much united to the idea of apartment buildings in which the first floor was the biggest and most luxurious and usually belonged to the owners of the building so the rest of the floors upstairs were the ones numbered)

@CeciliaCao 3 жыл бұрын

Wowwww thank you for the detailed explanation! I think I’ve seen this entresuelo once or twice but this is the first time I heard that first floor can be on the “fourth” floor😂😂😂 this really can be very confusing for people from other countries 🙈🙈🙈🙈🙈

@afasico9669 3 жыл бұрын

The thing with the first floor not being the ground floor is the same in most of Europe, including the UK. So "first floor" means something different in the USA and in the UK, even if they speak the same language. I have no idea how is it in general in the rest of the world, but it's not a particularity of Spain.

@CeciliaCao 3 жыл бұрын

Hahaha yeah yeah I did realize that the flooring system in Europe in general is kinda different than that in China or US😂 I struggled a lot when I traveled to Spain hahaha! Yeah I heard that in the UK it’s even more complicated but I haven’t got a chance to visit the Uk yet!

@yasmine9571 3 жыл бұрын

Here in Egypt we have the same meal schedule and architecture system as in Spain 🙌

@CeciliaCao 3 жыл бұрын

Really??? Hahaahah well then I won’t have much trouble fitting in the meal schedule in Egypt when I visit Egypt one day!

@khlavkalash1343 4 жыл бұрын

Public bathrooms are free, I only know the Atocha Station one (because in the past it was a mess), and I’ve been living here for 11 years. The best if you have an “urgency” is go into a big store. The schedule is crazy and it has to be fixed but people here are used to it.

@CeciliaCao 3 жыл бұрын

hahahaha yeah truly! the one in Atocha charges! and Corte Ingles is the way to go haha! I think Spain is doing so much better in this than Italy tho. Once we were in a shopping mall in Rome and you'd have to pay to use their bathroom! We also have had experience borrowing the bathroom in a little restaurant in Madrid and the owner was very welcoming but in Italy they all said to us oh you'll have to be a customer to use the bathroom

@khlavkalash1343 3 жыл бұрын

Cecilia Cao great to hear that. 🙂

@carriesun6508 4 жыл бұрын

Way to go girlllll!!! Love your Vlog!!!!

@CeciliaCao 4 жыл бұрын

hhahaha long time no see a🤣🤣🤣🤣

@AVCA92 3 жыл бұрын

Hey loved your video! Im from Spain, idk if someone said it already but we have 3 meals and 2 snacks per day: Breakfast = desayuno (7ish am) some ppl just have coffee tho Snack #1 = media mañana (11.30-12) Lunch = almuerzo (2pm) is the most important meal of the day for us Snack #2 = merienda (4pm) kinda like tea time Dinner = cena (9pm) my friends and I usually start to drink alcohol right after dinner and thats why bar and clubs aren't open earlier. I moved to UK and I had the opposite culture shocks 😂 like not having time to eat properly (you're always on the go here) and meals are too early, I'm never hungry by the time I have my breaks.

@CeciliaCao 3 жыл бұрын

Heyyyy thank you for the comment!!! Hahahaha yeah the truth is I’m not adapting a little bit too well to the Spanish schedule that I don’t feel hungry before 9:30 or 10 at night😂😂😂 which is probably bc I have lunch at 2:30-3:00, but it’s inevitable cuz I have class till 1pm😂😂😂 and now I even wonder if I go to other countries, will I even be able to change back to my old schedule??😂😂😂

@AVCA92 3 жыл бұрын

@@CeciliaCao I know! Same here 🙃 but time will tell... the longer you stay, the more habits you'll adopt

@manuel-nu8wz 3 жыл бұрын

Best video about culture shocks i've seen, beautifully reseached and explained.

@CeciliaCao 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the comment!🥰🥰🥰 oh dear lord the bank thing is a pain in the neck especially for people who go to school or work!

@CristinaPerez-ib2uu 3 жыл бұрын

Spain's first floor is like UK first floor, same concept. Sunset in Spain is at 9:30 only in the middle of the summer, it is at 5'30 pm in the middle of winter and varies according to season. Franco was not a product of WW2 but of the Spanish Civil War which ended in 1939. Bars open way before midnight, in fact between 6 and 7 pm. Nowadays restrooms in important train stations are not free, you either pay to use them or can use them if you have something at the bars or restaurants in the station.

@CeciliaCao 3 жыл бұрын

Wow thank you for all the information! Yeah yeah sunset in winter is definitely a lot earlier😂😂😂 oh I think the kind of “bars” that my friend told me about are more like pubs

@daviddavid4230 3 жыл бұрын

6:34 That's Alcala de Henares my hometown, right?. Cheers from Hong Kong.

@paulaguiu4254 3 жыл бұрын

I thought our day schedule was the same for everyone until I saw this kind of videos haha

@CeciliaCao 3 жыл бұрын

Hahahahahaha the first time it confused me was when I first visited Spain in high school, and I couldn’t help noticing that it got dark in Spain way too late for its latitude. Then three years ago when I visited Spain again in winter I realized that the sunrise was way too late as well so I did a little bit of digging online and leaned about this😂😂😂

@paulaguiu4254 3 жыл бұрын

@@CeciliaCao ooooh wow I really never thought about latitude. For example when I went to scotland in summer the sun is not down by 10:30 pm yet! I found it very strange

@CeciliaCao 3 жыл бұрын

Hahaha yeah cuz Madrid is more or less on the same latitude as my city in china, so I find the sunset hour wayyyyy too late😂😂😂

@BeaFullbuster 3 жыл бұрын

I love to see these kind of culture shocks about my country because it's so normal to us that I never thought about it!! Btw I swear some years ago you didn't have to pay to use the restroom anywhere but then bum! you have to pay, specially on train stations and so. That's why I always buy a beer or something in a bar so I can use their restroom (sometimes if you ask they let you use it but I always buy something) or wait until I get on the train to use that toilet xD

@CeciliaCao 3 жыл бұрын

I know!!! It really surprised me when I paid for bathroom in Atocha! I had always thought that public bathrooms in Spain were almost always free!!! Jajajaja yeah using bathroom in a bar is always a good idea😂😂😂kill two birds with one stone hahahahahaha

@adin19 4 жыл бұрын

You deserve much more viewers! 加油！ 😃

@CeciliaCao 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the pep talk😭😭😭 I will 加油

@adin19 4 жыл бұрын

Cecilia Cao I have to use dictionary again while talking with you hah

@CeciliaCao 4 жыл бұрын

While talking to me in English???

@vigodrakken7916 3 жыл бұрын

I have paid to use the Bathroom in Rotterdam, Oporto, Venice and Paris, havent had to in Spain yet.

@CeciliaCao 3 жыл бұрын

Hahahahah yeah I think Spain is better in this case, I only paid for bathroom in the train station in Madrid, Atocha, which actually came as a surprise to me cuz honestly before that I had always thought that in Spain you never needed to pay for bathroom😂😂😂

@ZoyasKitchen 4 жыл бұрын

Like11

@alvaroadrados268 3 жыл бұрын

Paying to go to the toilet is something a little bit unusual, I think. I live in Barcelona and I have used the mc donalds and other fast food restaurant toitets a lot of times. And malls have always free toilets, too. But you are from shanghai , aren't you? I know things are different now but I remember paying in train stations and other places in China to go to "shocking toilets" ;-). What you say about banks was true, but now most of them work all day (but not weekends).

@CeciliaCao 3 жыл бұрын

Well as to the toilet matter I think Spain is doing A LOT better than other European countries, especially Hebe I traveled to italy! Even in a mall in Rome, you’ll have to pay for it🤷🏻‍♀️I didn’t try any public bathroom in Barcelona tho but it surprised me the other day that I need to pay for the bathroom in Atocha in Madrid 🙈🙈🙈 I thought in Spain it was always free haha.

@alvaroadrados268 3 жыл бұрын

@@CeciliaCao lol, now that you say it, it is true, in Barcelona train station you need to pay too if you want to go to the toilet. It seems the train managers are greedy people.

@eaglenoimoto 3 жыл бұрын

Ground floor and first floor is different in all of Europe 😶

@shalafichg1 3 жыл бұрын

Well, Spain is not exactly as you describes. schedules depends A LOT of your work type. you can usually go to the bank on Thursday afternoons. "Everything Closes on Sunday" its wrong. Shops, restaurants, and leisure areas are open. Supermarkets like Carrefour or Lidl are opened too. I never paid for go to the bathroom but it's usual drink something in the pub/cafe. I do not recognize the Madrid you speak of.

@CeciliaCao 3 жыл бұрын

Well I admit that the schedule varies from job to job, of course people who work in restaurants and let’s say in El Corte Inglés do work during these hours, but it’s equally true that there are a lot of people who don’t work in the afternoon, let’s say the real estate agents or some government bureaus. I’m not judging or anything, I’m merely sharing what has come as a culture shock or a surprise to me as a foreigner cuz for a lot of the countries that I know of, I would say there’s no such a break in the afternoon at all, doesn’t matter what job you do. So don’t get me wrong here :) also about Sunday, well probably cuz in my neighbourhood there’re only Mercadona and ahorra más, both of which close on sundays, so it was a bit inconvenient for me when I first came to Spain. About thw bathroom I agree that Spanish restaurant owners are very nice and they’d let you use the bathroom anyway(which is a lot better than some other European countries that I’ve traveled to) and I had actually believed that you never needed to pay for bathroom in Spain for quite a long time until one day I was waiting for train in Atocha and needed to use the bathroom, and yes you had to pay😂 makes me wonder if all the major train stations in Europe are the same, that you always need to pay to use, which was a surprise to me cuz outside of Europe, so far I’ve never been charged for using public bathroom de todos modos. Everything I’ve shared in this video comes from the point of view of a foreigner who had never lived in europe but has traveled a bit and had experience living in other countries :) Just sharing what I find interesting and different :)