Spanish customs you may find strange...

1. Their Timetable or "Horario"

The Spanish are known throughout Europe for the strange hours they keep. You'll realise this when out late in the evening with your friends you look up to see young children chasing each other round restaurant tables as the clock strikes 11pm. Shouldn't they be at home tucked up in bed? Where are their parents?

We've all heard of the Spanish siesta which involves taking a short nap at around 3 or 4pm in the afternoon during the baking heat of summer (A tradition I made the most of during my time away). Not everyone also knows that going to bed before midnight in Spain is practically unheard of. They still manage to get up early enough to get to work and school every day; it amazed me how people could survive with such little sleep.

Meal times are vastly different from England with my grumbling stomach usually piping up round 1.30pm only to be satisfied by about 3.30pm when I got home from work. Dinner is hardly ever before 10pm and can go on for hours. The Spanish actually have verbs that mean "to stay up all night" and "to get up very early" - "trasnochar" and "madrugar".

Don't be surprised if shops shut in the afternoon to make time for siesta or if nobody arrives at the club before 2am - they're probably still eating...


2. Eating Standing Up

Speaking of eating, how often would you expect to go out for a light meal in England and find the restaurant has no chairs? This is a regular occurence in Spain with many restaurants like "El Tigre" in Madrid having a kind of shelf around the walls to perch your drink on and not much else. That being said these places are often mainly serving tapas or light bites to go with your drink; all the food at El Tigre comes free with a glass of cider/beer!


3. Throwing your dirty napkins to the floor...

This Spanish quirk was just so against everything I've ever been taught about manners that I just couldn't bring myself to take part. In many bars there are napkins on tables which you are encouraged to use and then...THROW ON THE FLOOR! There may be a kind of trough running along the base of the bar but more often than not you're expected to just screw up your tissues and drop them where you stand. Throughout the night a member of bar staff pushes a huge broom around the tables gathering up all the rubbish and carries them away. Would it not just be easier to put them in the bin in the first place?

Though often, the more napkins, the more popular the bar with the locals and the better the food!


4. They don't do cards...

This was something that my friend Cat and I discovered early on. The Spanish just don't do cards in the same way the British do. If you're looking for a tasteful birthday, valentines, anniversary, thank you or Christmas card you'll certainly have to begin the search with time to spare. El Corte Inglés, the main Spanish department store, has a pitiful selection and newsagents just don't stock them. There are postcards everywhere but be warned these are VERY unlikely to reach their destination! If you want a card/message to reach home it pretty much has to be in an envelope; all the postcards I ever sent never arrived.

If you're feeling entrepreneurial there's definitely a gap in the market for expats who desperately need a last minute card!


5. YOU buy the cake on your birthday

Unlike in England, where it's customary for your colleagues to club together and bring in a cake or a small treat of some sort, in Spain you're the one parting with the cash. When your birthday rolls around make sure to have a box of chocs ready to share out at work to celebrate. It's just the Spanish way; when its their birthday you'll be given your share of cake too!

Have you noticed any strange customs while in Spain? Leave me a comment below or tweet me - I'd love to hear about them!

The Chino - A Spanish Institution

In my first few weeks in Madrid I discovered what would later become an essential part of life in the city; the Chino. These are the equivalent of the corner shop in England and sell everything from stationary and food to bed linen and crockery. We were forever popping out to the Chino for something or other.

If you're on the hunt for one you won't have to look far; any shop with the words "Alimentación" or "Bazar" on the sign is more often than not a Chino. They also often make a play on the famous Spanish department store El Corte Ingles and call themselves "El Corte Chino". The unequivocal king of the Chinos in my opinion is La Casa de Pin on the Ronda de Atocha; an absolute palace spread over three floors devoted to homeware, knick knacks and everything else you could want.

In Spanish the word "chino/a" means "chinese man/chinese woman" or can simply be used as an adjective to mean chinese e.g. "la tienda china". It's not surprising therefore that these shops are run by chinese families who have migrated over the years to Spain. Coming from England, where we're all so desperate to be seen as politically correct, I was a bit reluctant to use the word Chino at first, it just seemed a bit rude somehow.

We've all heard someone say that all English corner shops are run by "pakis" or make jokes about "Mr Patel" something which often comes across as racist even if it's intended to be funny. Here, just like in every aspect of their life, the Spanish take a more direct approach. The shops are run by chinese people or "chinos" so they use the same name for the shop. This might seem a bit demeaning but it's really innocent. I'm sure if they were run by russians or greeks they'd call them "rusos" or "griegos". Throughout my year in Madrid I never once heard anyone be racist towards a chino (person or shop).

If you're living in Spain for any length of time "chino" will just become part of your new Spanish vocabulary. Need a new lightbulb or adaptor plug? Head to the Chino. Forgotten to buy pasta or need some decorations to jazz up your new room? The Chino's got you covered. I even bought an emergency suitcase from La Casa de Pin the day before flying home as my mountain of stuff refused to be squashed into the two I'd brought with me.

What's more these shops are often open long after the supermarkets shut on a Sunday or Saint's day; something you will be eternally grateful for when you check your cupboards that morning and find them empty...