A word of caution to anyone who eats out regularly, before you decide to eat anywhere, and I mean anywhere, please make sure that the first thing you do when you walk in to a place is to go and check the standard of hygiene in the washrooms, WC, Toilet, Lavabos, Servicios, Aseos, Ladies, Gents, etcetera, and if they don’t look 100% clean & dry, no signs of the place having been abused by those who have got a hygiene problem and don’t know how to use the Loo properly, my advice is that you walk straight out and go somewhere else, because you don’t realise just how easy it is to contract some pretty nasty diseases from those place, and specifically Hepatitis A, a viral Liver disease which is easily passed on in such places, and even more so if they are in a filthy condition, with many individuals going in & out without having washed their hands after, which is something that I have noticed a hell of a lot in Spain over many years, far too many people (specifically Men) just do not wash their hands after taking a pee, and it makes me furious up to boiling point when I go into so many places with big international names like MacDonald’s & Burger King, and the first thing I do is check out the WC, only to find the places is absolutely swimming in urine, and bits of used paper all around the place, and I see guys zip themselves up and walk straight out of their and sit back down at their table.
Those places are the Pitts, they are filthy and unhygienic, and absolutely crawling with bacteria & Viruses, one of the main ones being Hepatitis, which can be found all over the door handles, Taps on the sink, and probably the tables & chairs too, after they have been touched by those who don’t like washing their hands for some reason, if they are not constantly kept clean by wiping then with a germicide, but I find that all too often the proper level of hygiene is NOT being maintained at all, and particularly in the WC, and I just want to warn people to be very careful where you eat now, as I have had a conversation with someone recently, who works in statistics, and he assured me that there are millions of people with Hepatitis in this world, and most of them don’t even know that they have got it, and are carriers.
Well anyway, I don’t want to be ranting on about it, but I’m just saying be careful, because I have seen some really disgusting places in my time, particularly in the big cities like Barcelona and Madrid, and I’ve sent quite a few letters of complaint to the head office of two extremely big Hamburger companies who have franchise outlets in Spain, and two Bocadillo joints, along with photographic evidence of urine & used toilet paper all over the place, and what I got back each & every time was exactly nothing, and why? Well because they don’t give a damn if you catch something or not, that’s why, and that’s why you have to take care of your own health & safety, I do, everywhere I go, I have a good look first, and if I don’t like what I see, I’m out of there. Just try having a look at the underside of any table before you sit down, and you will see what I mean, it is totally crawling with thick sticky brown greasy finger marks, germs, bacteria, viruses, and god only knows what else, I’ve seen it with my own eyes and complained bitterly about it to the manager at one place in Barcelona, I made him look underneath every table just to prove my point, and he was shocked to see what I was going on about, he thanked me profusely, (after apologising) and the next night he had 5 people in there scrubbing them with bleach. But that’s just one place, there must be thousands just like it, with hundreds of thousands of people using them each & every day, and not realising just how much risk their health & safety is being put at, by people who couldn’t care less, both public and staff.
Okay, in a moment I'll put in a link to a news report that I saw today, and I’ll put a few more in later, but I won’t even mention the subject of ‘e coli’, it’s far too frightening a subject to get into, hepatitis is bad enough, so instead I’ll put in a couple of links, and you can read all the gory details (if you can stand it).
Is this scare mongering? NO, definitely not, believe me, the problem is much, much worse than you want to know. I've seen what lives on the average toilet seat, door handle, grab rail on the Metro, and keyboards in an office or Internet Cafe, and it's nasty, real nasty.
What do I care? I was professionally trained in an apprenticeship to become a Chef for most of five years during which time I attended one of the most prestigious catering colleges in Europe at that time, (in the 1970’s) after which time I worked as a Chef in various places, then as a Manager, overseeing all aspects of literally every type of food catering under the sun, and believe me I left no stone unturned until I was satisfied that the place was totally spotless and germ free, after having learnt what I had in all those many lectures at college, I could not do any less than maintain the utmost standards of hygiene, health & safety, and went on to attend even higher level courses of public health & safety, in which I acquired some qualification, having passed some very stringent exams, and was considering taking a job as a Public health Inspector, but other interests came along, so that didn’t happen, so yes I do care, and it does bother me, lots/plenty, and I am worried too about it, and not just for myself, but for others, because too many people just simply are unaware of the risks that they are being subjected too when they eat out. I know what to look for, and where to find it, do you? Do you care? If not about others, what about your own health & safety?
Have you got any thing that you can tell us about, have you seen any filthy places in Spain, do you know of any cases of food poisoning, of any places to avoid? Let us know, lets talk about it, it is an important subject, and we should not ignore or avoid it like it doesn’t exist.
Two things you expats do not want to do while living in a European country like Spain, is (1) do not run out of money, and (2) especially, is, do not get sick. Don't let others put you at risk.
**************************************************** "Even the cleverest formulas are worthless without the animating spark of genius, a quality for which there is no formula, only Serendipity."
Hi Santi!!! Hmmmmmm, not sure whether you might be going a little over the top here (just my opinion of course ). Here in Lanzarote it is the absolute norm not to put paper down the loo, but to either put it in the bin, sometimes provided, or to throw it on the floor. And if men don´t wash their hands after using the loo, well, unless they touch my food, how are they going to transmit Hep A to me? Myself, I wash my hands under the, usually, press on tap and leave them to dry naturally. Perhaps rather than insisting someone looked under the tables of his bar your time would have been better spent in looking at the cleanliness of his kitchen? Did you get sick in his restaurant? All kitchen staff have to take regular health and safety awareness courses, so I am sure they are aware of the problems.
There is a theory out there somewhere which says that people are becoming so neurotic about germs that their bodies are not being given the chance to get natural immunity from various diseases. I support that theory wholeheartedly!! I have just spent two weeks in Tunisia, one of them off the beaten track, and have suffered no ill effects whatsoever, though all the advice I was given was to the contrary!!! I was told to take germicidal wipes (which I did, but didn´t need to use), don´t use the loos in certain places (which I had to) etc etc etc! I brought my children up the same way, a bit of dirt doesn´t do any harm, and so far, they are fine!!!!!!
________________________________________ Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional
Well, okay, you too, just like me and millions of people are entitled to believe in whatever you do believe, and live your life in whatever way you see fit, but I think that you're wrong, and you have not clicked on those links very much, and spent a little time reading up on the statistics, and the facts, and read about the thousands of people who die each year from Liver failure caused by Hepatitis. You try telling all those millions who have got it right now, and who know they are going to die from it eventually, try telling them & their families that they should live like you, and carry on regardless, and to not be concerned about what they put into their mouths, or the places they go to eat in, because the greatest number of cases are food borne, meaning their infection was traced back to something that they ate in some place, prepared by people already infected, who didn't wash their hands properly after taking a crap.
Anyway, I'm not going to be drawn into arguing the toss over it here on this thread, your criticisms are noted, and I haven't taken offence at all, but do feel strongly about what I have said, just go and check the facts within those links, or alternatively, if you feel that you will never change your mind, or be convinced, and you are committed to your Beliefs, just ignore this whole thing and move on to something more to your liking.
Okay, so now I've had my say, you've had yours, now lets move on. Fair comment?
Un saludo.
".......Surfing on the Wings of Serendipity"
**************************************************** "Even the cleverest formulas are worthless without the animating spark of genius, a quality for which there is no formula, only Serendipity."
Like I said to Sue, live your life as you see fit.
Life is for living, live life to the full, or - waste - it, the - choice - is - yours.
I wasn't suggesting living like a Monk or a hermit in a cave, I suggested that people exercise caution in where they eat out, as I've seen some very bad places, and I too have suffered a very bad case of food poisoning back in 1985, after eating out, since then I urge people to be careful.
The facts are contained there within the links provided, those dozens of Russian workers have contracted Hepatitis after eating lunch, (think about it) just one simple lunch, and now their lives are changed forever, some might even die from it in a few years. Do as I told Sue and go & check out the statistics. This is May, and May is Hepatitis awareness month this year, and people need to start paying attention to things like this, it is very serious, as is the appalling level of food poisoning in the world, particularly from ‘e-coli’ which they still have not got control over yet, and why, simply because people just will not pay attention, will not listen to reason, and this is exactly why the problem in the world is as big as it is, because of the attitudes that exist, and until attitudes change, people are going to keep on dying.
I’m just trying to do my little bit to help, by posting about it on here, and bringing the facts to the attention of whoever sees & reads it, in the hope that it might do some good, that’s all, but if my efforts are not going to be appreciated, then I’ve wasted my time here, but if I can save the life of one person or one child in this world, then it was worth it.
".......Surfing on the Wings of Serendipity"
**************************************************** "Even the cleverest formulas are worthless without the animating spark of genius, a quality for which there is no formula, only Serendipity."
I understand what you are saying and appreciate your advice about eating out etc. I have looked at your links. The problem is that a restaurant or bar serving food is quite a way down the supply chain. The restaurant may be clean, the staff may be well versed in hygiene procedures but who has handled the food before it has reached the restaurant? I'm always aware of hygiene and often look to see how clean a place is but at the end of the day you can only do so much. There is always going to be risks in the preparation of food products. I bought some meat recently with a nice pubic hair attached. I hate to think what the person who packed this meat was doing with their hands. Its not just about eating out but the place you buy your food from. How clean is your local supermarket? You quote "Life is for living, live life to the full, or - waste - it, the - choice - is - yours." In a way it’s just the luck of the draw. Our health is often in someone else’s hands!
). Here in Lanzarote it is the absolute norm not to put paper down the loo, but to either put it in the bin, sometimes provided, or to throw it on the floor. And if men don´t wash their hands after using the loo, well, unless they touch my food, how are they going to transmit Hep A to me? Myself, I wash my hands under the, usually, press on tap and leave them to dry naturally. Perhaps rather than insisting someone looked under the tables of his bar your time would have been better spent in looking at the cleanliness of his kitchen? Did you get sick in his restaurant? All kitchen staff have to take regular health and safety awareness courses, so I am sure they are aware of the problems. 
