Spanish Pride

The people I've met are filled with pride for the place they live. When I was in a car dealership and asked the salesman how he liked living in Sant Cugat, he answered that, “Sant Cugat is the most beautiful place in the world.” It's great that people feel this way, but it seems to be taken to an extreme where everything here is unquestionably the best. For example, I went and was inquiring about joining a tennis club and I asked whether they had any covered courts. The man answered that they don't need covered courts because, “this is Spain and it is always beautiful in Spain”. I pointed out the window where the rain was pouring down, and he said, “well... todays an exception”.

People are also always bragging about the food, but honestly, a majority of the places we've tried have pretty mediocre food. The food in Raleigh tends to be much better and a lot less expensive. There are some exceptions. The fresh fruits and fresh fish are good, the fish being best when the Spanish cooks do as little to them as possible. If you like ham sandwiches, they have a gazillion types of ham and salami. My wife and I were at a midieval village and ate at a restaurant that advertised O.K. Paellas. We agreed.

While looking with an uncritical eye at your surroundings strikes me as odd, it might have something to do with the Spanish history. It wasn't that long ago that Spain had a dictator and people got hauled off in the middle of the night when neighbors turned each other in for being too critical. I'm told that talking about politics is still avoided in social situations. But despite this history, I still get the feeling that the underlying consensus here is that everything Spanish is the best in the whole world.